Helping 4yo lose abit of weight..

[Thedarksideofthemoon30]

My dd is chunky. She always has been. She’s tall at 3ft8 but weighes 4 stone 2.

She’s started gymnastics last week and next week she starts tap and ballet which she is so excited for.

She eats cereal (normally shreddies or multigrain shapes) with soya milk

Snack she normally has a fruit pouch but now takes a cheese string or grapes

Lunch is whatever they have at school and pudding

Tea is things like chicken curry and naan bread, sausage and mash, fish with veg and mash, pizza, pasta..

And then she has a yogurt or something similar for pudding

She drinks sugar free squash (very little as she takes water to sxhool).

I feel like an awful parent 😭

Pic of her..

Have you checked her bmi on the children’s bmi calculator?

She looks fine 🤷🏾‍♀️

Diet seems perfectly fine so you need to look at portion sizes and/ or activeness

She’s classed as overweight..

@Thedarksideofthemoon30

She’s classed as overweight..

Really?

It's been a while for me to know a child's height and weight but I thought that was fine and she looks fine.

I think she looks fine OP and it definitely doesn't sound like she has a bad diet

Are you and her dad particularly tall and / or larger sized?

@DownWhichOfLate

Are you and her dad particularly tall and / or larger sized?

Yes, I’m 5ft9and broad, my dad is 6ft5. My husband is rugby built as well x

That child looks fine and you shouldn't be aiming to help a 4 year old lose a bit of weight.

Children often go through puppy fat stages as they grow.

What is with threads about overweight children recently? There seems to have been loads..

Anyway o/p children shouldn’t “lose” weight. Your aim is to keep her weight stable while she grows until she is the correct height for that weight, iyswim.

Increased activity is the way to go. Limiting children’s intake is very difficult as you have no idea if they’re in a growth phase and need the calories.

Gymnastics, tap and ballet is a great start :). Look at half term courses too to boost her activity- you can nearly always find swimming intensives and lots of gymnastics clubs run childcare/activity days...

I’ve just changed that to kilograms and centimetres so it makes mire sense to me! Yes, that does sound heavy but also sounds like she will be tall and broad! I suppose she probably has large feet as well? Try not to worry too much and definitely don’t feel bad. Does she walk / run / cycle at all? Do you have a junior Parkrun near you she could do?

Both my DC were chubby as toddlers/early primary but are reasonably well. DS was classed as obese when he was in reception. Hes always been active, but I increased sports/activities and by the time he was about 7 or 8 he was fine. Hes never had a sweet tooth -he doesnt like cakes or sweets and rarely has a pudding. although would eat his own bodyweight in pasta given half the chance Now hes 11 and hes quite sporty and not at all chubby and just under the 50th centile.

Sorry that should have said ate reasonably well!

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with her.

She looks fine, if anything try to up the protein in her meals (not for weight loss but just because then it will be more balanced).

Stop calling her chunky.

I went for a parents lunch 'taster' day at my DD2s school (precovid). It was a full on main (Sunday roast) with a full on pudding (cake and ice cream and fruit). The portions were huge - I couldn't even finish it- and seemed to be the same size for the 3/4 year olds as the 11 year olds! DD is a ravenous eater though and would demolish the plateful (unlike her sister who picks and faffs around and leaves most of it) Prior to this I was giving DD a full cooked meal on an evening, but we swapped to a fruit snack after school and then something lighter like beans or scrambled egg on toast for tea. Could this be the case at your DD school and she doesn't need much for tea? I'm not suggesting your DD is actually overweight but it just resonated with me.

Rather than what she is eating, it may be portion sizes.
The caroline walker trust website has great info on calories needed at different ages (and different sexes) and pictures of appropriate portion sizes. So my 8 year old needs about 2/3 of the portion of my 12 year old.
Well done for being aware of it and trying to do something about it.

@noscoobydoodle was this just a normal state school? I went to a similar thing and the portions were absolutely tiny!

I think you should take her photo off and, unless you are feeding her constant crap, stop worrying about it. She looks fine and she is 4 years old.

Her diet is fairly carb heavy and there's not a lot of veg in there. Rather than losing any weight, you could aim to just maintain where she is now so she grows out of it. As she gets older and eats bigger meals, increase the quantity of veg and protein, while keeping carbs the same. It's good for you to eat loads of veg anyway.

Try not to compare her with other kids, she's not going to look elfin and petite like some others her age, she will take after you and her dad.

She is beautiful and 4 year olds DO NOT need to lose weight. These threads are irresponsible IMO.

WTF She looks normal. She probably has a bigger build as it's in her genes.

You shouldn't be trying to get her to lose weight but if you want to improve her diet, try and increase vegetables, protein and healthy fats, and avoid too much sugar and sweeteners.

She does look very tall for 4. Maybe the photo is deceiving with the bricks but I would say DD is only slightly taller and she's almost 8 & one of the tallest in her class. But again looking at the picture she doesn't look to be carrying too much weight for her frame at all.