In asking what to feed my overweight child? :(

[emelsie]

My DD is 9 and today when she was was in her swimming costume I noticed just how much weight she really has put on, I have been aware but kind of stuck my head in the sand and today was a big slap round the face , I need to deal with it for her own health and well-being. I am pretty health conscious when it comes to myself which makes me feel all the more guilty but i find it hard to translate what I eat and do for exercise for a child.
Honestly I am quite disgusted with myself for letting it happen , but all I can do it be proactive in a solution.

She does a few out of school clubs that involve exercise/activity, what could I add to this ?
Any one give me an idea of what is a good balanced diet they feed their child ? Does this include snacks ? Also what kind of portion sizes?

I have such an interest in nutrition and health but when it comes to DD I just lose sense of what to do :(
TIA xx

@Passthecake30 your son might be super skinny but that isn’t really a daily diet to emulate. Low in veg and high in sugar.

D would have been my guess from looking at the abdominal fat of the figures but I think what's considered "overweight" has changed.

Yes and getting rid of desserts except for Saturday nights. They can have fruit and a yogurt. We have full fat Greek yogurt the kids ones are full of sugar.

I think the breakfast is ok, maybe not the croissants but a whole meal English muffin with any kid of egg even a fried egg can be healthy. Would she eat it with a few tomatoes on the side or maybe some spinach?

I'd try and make her meals more healthy but filling so she doesn't need the sweet stuff in between.

Doesn't anyone feed green vegetables to their children?
As in At Least 5 a Day.

She'd eat green beans or salad, and kale in a smoothie. Broccoli. Cabbage in Chinese noodles. But that's it for green!

fluffy I realise that today's meals were low in veg, but over the course of the week he does eat a lot more (he likes meat and veg type meals and eats about half a plate full of 4 types of veg). He's an extremely slow eater, particularly at breakfast and packed lunch so I've learnt to pick what gets eaten fast (rather than savoured slowly like an apple!) so long as over the week it's balanced.

Hi OP, please remember that at this age they may be pre-pubescent and often pad out a bit before puberty hits and then have a massive growth spurt and grow in to their bodies. They are also at an age where they become incredibly body conscious so please do not mention dieting or her body image, take things easily and provide gently encouragement to make healthy choices - the last thing you want to end up with is an eating disorder.

5 green veg every day? That's kale, green beans, broccoli, a different cabbage, spinach...every day?
I'm not sure many 9 year olds would eat that daily.
Like most I imagine, mine has all that list, just not in one go.

frozen peas
frozen green beans
broccoli
carrots
more carrots
tinned tomatoes
frozen grilled veg
chopped onions and peppers and mushrooms in any sauce

it should be 5 portions of fruit/veg a day. more veg than fruit. the more colour variety the better.

5 fruit and veg - not 5 green veg!

Looks like the government need to target healthy eating again.

Mine would typically eat banana, blueberries, potato, apple juice and a little bit of broccoli as an example

OP, I'm honestly surprised that no-one so far has asked how tall your DD is and how much she weighs. Is she a little bit chubby round the middle, or do you mean seriously overweight?

I agree with lots of the advice above about diet, but I came on here to say that if it's a bit of weight round the middle, it may well be a pre-puberty thing.

My DD at 7 was tall and lean, by 9 was getting a bit bigger, by year 6 (10.5) she had a big layer of fat round her middle and I was quite concerned. At nearly 11 she weighed about 7 stone and was into the overweight category.

Zoom forward a few years, she is now nearly 15, less than 8 stone, quite a slight build but tall, about 5 foot 8 and no fat around midriff. Her diet hasn't really changed. She wears size 6 or 8 or 10 clothes depending on shop. She just grew upwards and used the fat deposits to grow height!

Just wanted to wish you well. Great you’ve identified it. I am a massive fan of exercise and never underestimate the power of walking xxx

Ditch the croissants, ditch the treats in the lunch box, ditch jam in sandwiches.

I would give her a high protein breakfast- egg on toast, yoghurt and fruit, low sugar cereal such as shredded wheat and milk or porridge.

Lunch would be a sandwich (no more than 2 slices of bread for her age) with a protein filling such as tuna, chicken, egg or cheese. Some veg sticks like carrot, cucumber, peppers or tomatoes. A piece of fruit and maybe a yoghurt, a baby bell, or some nuts (if allowed)

I would allow a small snack after school such as a plain biscuit, some fruit, or cheese and a cracker.

Tea would be whatever I was having which would be a balanced meal with veg, maybe a small dessert and her portions would be at least a third smaller than mine.

My dd is 12 and is a healthy weight. Many of her friends are too fat. Treats and snacks are kept to a minimum which is difficult when everyone else seems to want to overfeed your child at every opportunity. That's why we have a problem with child obesity as so many people treat food as a reward and treat and the culture is to overeat.

I found it interesting to add up the added sugar my kids were getting in a day. Should be about 25 g. Horrified to find 1 yogurt was 12g and they were often having 3 a day. Made me much more aware of giving sweet stuff and bread

And salt - so many people giving their kids a cheese sandwich for lunch which contains about 3g of salt! That’s the entire days salt content for a child under 6.

My DD wats similarly to yours, OP. Today was a typical day;

Breakfast- Child bowl of cereal- bran flakes & small chocolate brioche

Snack- satsuma

Lunch- ham and cucumber sandwich on wholemeal bread, handful of crisps, granola bar and petit filous

After school- carrot sticks, blob of hummus, few apricots, small cup of milk

Dinner- chicken stir fry with veg and rice noodles (served on small plate) couple squares chocolate for pudding

Water mainly to drink.

I'd say portions might be the way to start? Get some smaller plates?

I'm sorry I haven't read through all of the comments so sorry if this has already been covered.
My DD was starting to look podgy. So instead of sugary cereal every morning she started having it twice a week, small snack size pancake with fresh berries and yogurt 2/3 times, scrambled egg on whole meal toast.
Morning snack- she was having crisps everyday:-( but instead she gets crisps twice a week usually a Tuesday and Thursday, and Monday Wednesday Fridays it's now fresh fruit.
Lunch box is now a sandwich thin instead of normal white bread, carrot sticks, pot yogurt and the days she has fruit snack I will give her some tiny peace of choc (like a Cadbury rose etc)
Dinner is normal and no concerns there. With pudding often being a little low fat custard. Or jelly, or ice lolly.
She has lost about half a stone and is now a much better weight for her. She didn't even notice the changes as we never even told her. Things have slacked over the Christmas holidays so I'm looking forward to getting back to the school routine.
I hope this helps. It just seemed like a lot of little changes have made a big difference.

@Passthecake30 that’s great re all the veg over the week. And I reckon being a slow eater is a huge benefit because you recognise you’re full. Unfortunately I’m a speed eater, v annoying!

It certainly does take some effort/planning to get at least 5 veg/fruit (mainly veg) into your/your children’s daily diet I think.

Apparently Australia guidelines are TEN veg/fruit portions a day. Now that is tricky!

Sorry for any misunderstanding.
The guideline is 'At least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day'
It doesn't have to be just green vegetables.

www.nhs.uk/Livewell/5ADAY/Pages/Whatcounts.aspx

I also think kids are not immune from eating through boredom. As I mentioned, my DD is hugely active and does loads of sport, but on the occassions she’s at home watching TV for example, if allowed she’d eat though habit/boredom. That’s why we introduced the 1 snack after school and 1 snack after dinner if she’s at home.

Our range for breakfast is pancakes/ beans or scrambled egg on toast/ porridge/ boiled eggs with soldiers. Once piece of wholemeal toast on a serving.

We sometimes have a snack after school on request, usually something savory- we eat later than average.

Gradually reduce the frequency of desserts.

We don't tend to have much sweet, picky stuff in and when we do, it's up on top of the units so less accessible. I tend to find that plenty enough treats come from the likes of school to avoid them being deprived.

It's easy to overestimate the benefits of organised sporting activities. I'm not dismissing their wider benefits, but they can often spend a lot of time waiting and taking turns rather than being active. General informal activity is important too.

It should be straightforward to tweak with a swap here, or reducing a portion size there. As PPs have said, they need chance to grow into their weight, not drastic changes.

Try the prepear app for healthy snack/breakfast ideas