Helping an overweight child

[rsa001]

How can I help my son lose weight? He is 8 and overweight - not stocky.
He seemed to gain the weight during lockdown last year, I had assumed he'll lose it as he grew and returned to school. He has grown taller but his weight has kept up.

He is very active, we go for lots of walks and trips to the park, he goes swimming once a week.
I don't want to nag him or keep telling him he is overweight. I don't think i can make him any more active so its his diet.
Its normally ok expect he drinks lots of milk, he'll have a glass of milk before bed, in the morning, when he comes home from school and in the early evening.

My 4 year old is the exact same. We've switched to skimmed milk purely because of tht reason and try and convince him to drink water rather than milk. We've also switched yoghurts to plain Greek yoghurt with less sugar as my health visitor said that with a lot of kids it's sugar content but other than that we're just trying to fill him up with plenty veg and fruit mainly veg though its difficult as sometimes u dnt realise how much sugar is in certain things until u properly look. My sons always been big, he's on 99th centile for weight since birth so tbh I'm not expecting him to be tiny but as long as I can get it down slightly to avoid any health issues then I'm happy and as long as I know he's eating a healthy diet with plenty exercise I honestly don't know what else to do.

Can you give a run down of his diet throughout the day?

Morning - 2 biscuits with milk
Breakfast - omelette (one egg)
School lunch
Home time - apple
Tea - pasta or beans on toast or soup
Dinner - small snack.

Isn't too bad - just the milk is the blue bottle one, so add 4 glasses a day and he'll sometimes snack on 1 or 2 packets of crisps on the weekend.

Why is he having biscuits before breakfast? Cut them out and give him a 2 egg omelette or porridge - something more filling. And what is the small snack at dinner time?

He's almost eating 5 meals a day OP. No biscuits before breakfasts, and either dinner or tea, not both.

Remove the biscuits before breakfast, cut down on milk.

Do you mean he eats beans on toast and then has a separate dinner or that the beans on toast is his dinner? If he has both I'd cut one of those out.

Look at portion size too, that's what I've been doing recently, my meals were so big and I was always told to finish what was on my plate. I've been following serving sizes etc and I'm starting to realise how big my portions were.

He eats around 4:30 and around 7:30 he sometimes says he is hungry - so he is eating twice in the evening.

If he has a glass of milk and an apple when he finishes school does he really need beans on toast or pasta an hour later then more later too? I think I’d look at giving him perhaps and apple and some popcorn after school without the milk and then skipping the ‘tea’ and having dinner between 1830 and 1900. What are his portion sizes like for the tea and dinner? I think I’d be tempted to go to one milk drink a day, water the rest of the time.

Try to cut down to 3 proper meals and, if he's still hungry, a healthy snack after school.

White bread, pasta, beans and tinned soups are very processed, can be quite high in sugars and probably aren't filling him up. If it's possible, eat a proper meal together later on and cut out this additional snacky meal.

Focus on making sure his meals are well balanced, swap refined grains for whole grains and ensure he is filling up on plenty of veg as well as getting healthy sources of protein to help fill him up.

Cut out the Biscuits and Milk in the morning. Just give him Breakfast.
School lunch fine. Or give him a healthy pack lunch.
Apple after school then 1 evening meal at 5.30/6pm.
Then don't eat again until the next day. 1 glass of milk a day is fine. Water other times. 1 glass of squash is fine too.

Oh also. Soup or beans on toast everyday?!
What about a proper meal? Like chicken breast with broccoli, peas and potatoes. Or stir fry, lots of veg. Or Salmon, veg, potatoes. Or cottage pie with veg. Even salad with wraps and dips.
But Beans on toast nearly everyday is not a meal.
He needs at least 5 veg a day and a piece of fruit.

Ok biscuits before breakfast and 2 evening meals but you are blaming the milk?

His milk intake is not a huge problem but I would get semi or skimmed rather than full fat.

No biscuits before breakfast (how does he even have time?)

Lots of veggies with his evening meal will stop him needing a second meal.

My six year old is a milk fiend, too, and also says she's hungry late at night.
I have explained to her that milk is a food, not a drink and that's why she doesn't get to drink it now because she's not a baby. She's needs to have a reason 'why', so I was honest.
I also try and up her water intake generally, so that she doesn't mistake thirst for hunger.
When she says she's hungry after bedtime I explain that tiredness sometimes feels like hunger, encourage her to drink water. If she keeps complaining then sometimes I'll give her a banana or plain porridge or plain greek yoghurt - filling, but not 'exciting' foods, because otherwise she'll stay awake and ask for food because it's treat food. It's a constant battle. I suspect she has ADHD like her brother and comfort eating is common to try and find a dopamine hit.

She's a bit squidgy, but I am trying to teach her nutrition and healthy eating reasons so she can make good choices, not just cut her off - if that makes sense?

Sadly my ex is a bit of a Disney dad and it's hard to stop him feeding them sugary food, sweets and cakes when they're with him, but we are having the conversations.

Hope some of these strategies might be helpful?

His evening meal changes each day so its pasta, beans on toast, lentil soup with vegetables, salad with veggie sausages.

I think i will start him on semi skimmed, have tea a little later and cut out the evening meal.

I think tea is meant to be the evening meal !

Does he play any sports ?

If he’s having a hot meal at lunchtime as his school dinner he probably doesn’t need a big meal at night too.

Does he have any fruit or vegetables?

I’d cut the pasta and the beans on toast and do him a lean protein + vegetables main meal for the evening. No wonder he is hungry later, the carb crash must be huge.

It's really difficult, isn't it? My son is the same age and like yours out on weight over lockdown that I thought would shift naturally as he grew.

It hasn't. He's insatiable and a complete carb fiend. I've stopped buying biscuits. I've been giving him protein bites and apple as his after school snack. Small changes. Slowly and surely wins this one I think.

Cut out the biscuits and the milk and give him a better breakfast than a one egg omelet. He's not having much in way of fibre or vitamins. Beans on toast is fine but make it wholewheat bread to up the fibre.
What kind of things does he have at school? And what is the dinner time snack?

I would book a appointment with gp there could be something wrong with him that's making him gain weight have you tried protein shakes

DD is hugely tall, but definitely put a bit too much weight in during lockdown. We cut out all snacks, bar a very small one after school, and upped her exercise. I also think she mistakes thirst signals for hunger, so have been encouraging her to drink more water.

She continues to grow up, but has stopped growing out now!

@rsa001

Morning - 2 biscuits with milk Breakfast - omelette (one egg) School lunch Home time - apple Tea - pasta or beans on toast or soup Dinner - small snack.

Isn't too bad - just the milk is the blue bottle one, so add 4 glasses a day and he'll sometimes snack on 1 or 2 packets of crisps on the weekend.

Two breakfasts and two evening meals? No wonder he’s struggling.

Increase protein and reduce carbs a bit.

Skip the morning biscuits and do a two egg omelette.

Skip the pasta and get Lower carb bread and beans with sausages or bacon.