Should I be worried about dd's weight?

[Dancergirl]

Dd is 9.5. She was always quite skinny as a toddler but over the next few years started to fill out a bit.

About a year ago I realised she might be overweight

Anyway she is now about 4'8" tall and 6 st 5lbs. This varies depending on which website I look at from the top end of 'normal' weight to a bit overweight.

I'm a bit worried. But you have to be so careful about body image, there's no way I want to convey to dd I am worried about her weight. She does have a big appetite though and I'm sure it's to do with portion size rather than what she eats.

[Bogburglar75]

She's a similar weight and height to my 10yo DS who is always built like a rugby prop forward, but lately is more 'well covered' than I would like - he also comes out one side or the other of the overweight line on BMI calculators.

The usual advice in this situation is that children should 'grow into' their weight. So I'm not trying to get DS to lose any weight, but just want to hold his weight steady until he has another growth spurt and things sort themselves out.

I'm chatting to him about the importance of eating healthily and taking exercise, but certainly not saying that You Are Overweight! Just a general 'no DS I don't think a second helping is a good idea because it's important not to eat too much of ...' and also applying that logic to Dh and myself who are no string beans.

It sounds as if you can make some fairly subtle changes, just serving a bit less if you think portion sizes are the issue, and maybe limiting junk? Most of the really unhealthy food has mysteriously disappeared from our house - if it's not there then nothing needs saying but it can't be eaten by DS or me

Can you up her exercise a bit? Is there anything she enjoys doing that's active?

[Dancergirl]

Thanks. She's actually quite active, she does 5 dance classes a week.

She's quite a fussy eater though and doesn't eat as much fruit and veg as I would like her to. I cook most nights with the occasional night of fish fingers etc. But she went through a phase of having a huge appetite. She would finish her dinner, have some cheese and a yoghurt and then say she was still hungry! I think that must have been a growth spurt and puberty has definitely started.

[Bogburglar75]

Yes that sounds like DS about six months ago! If it stayed still long enough he ate it I also suspected the hormones were on the move, although no other signs yet. I've been trying to encourage filling up on fruit and healthy stuff after a certain point.

Sounds to me as if with some gentle restraint on portions and the active life she has anyway it should all iron itself out. Best of luck.