To let my son know his BMI is now in the overweight range?

[Discoveringpluto]

My 15 year old son has said he wants to lose a bit of weight. He's def put on some weight this year and has developed a bit of a belly.

He wanted to weigh and measure himself as a starting point. I just did his BMI and he is now in the overweight range (only just).

He has asked me to do his BMI.
Do I tell him it's in the overweight range or say it's only just below it, so it's a good idea to watch what he's eating? Don't want to give him a complex but I also don't want him to get any more overweight for his health etc.

Thanks

I'd be honest.. he's asking, he can see he has put on weight. I'd say he is just edging into unhealthy and that it's fab that he is wanting to take responsibility for his health and body, and you will support him in making healthy choices.

If your son were oblivious and apparently content I Could understand your hesitation but you've already said he's aware of the situation and has personally expressed as desire to change - I genuinely don't get why you'd consider lying to him?

At 15 he will go off and find out himself anyway so I would tell him. Have a look at the graph together and talk about what it actually means.

As an adult I know when my BMI was just below overweight I was far less inclined to do anything about it that when it tipped over.

I also think that, sounds nice he’s asked, it’s better to be honest with him.

Just give him the number. He can look it up himself if he wants to. Or you can sit down with him, show him how you did the calculation so he can do it for himself and show him the scale used.

I would have said no, but if he's asked, I would give him the honest truth.

Be honest but also be clear about the limited use of BMI. It's not an accurate measurement of whether someone is healthy or not, or whether they are overweight. Many GPs now tell you to take it with a large pinch of salt.

I wouldn't lie to him, I assume he has access to the internet so could very quickly work it out for himself.

I told ds(14) who was at the high end of normal his bmi, nearly over, and we spoke about making good choices (mostly stopping sugary drinks and cutting back on treats so they arent daily, save for weekend). It's helped there had been so much in the news about sugar recently, especially the sugar tax here in Scotland, and we talked about the news stories.

Also a few chats about balance between school, study, activities first and then xbox to fill in the gaps instead of xbox which was getting a bit too much over the winter. We also spoke about his Nat 5 choices and I told him if he wants to take Nat 5 PE he needs to be fit for it or he won't pass and he is really at risk of being dropped from his football team as he has slowed down.

He's taken it all on board and is being very sensible, has mostly stopped sugary drinks and now mostly drinks water, is really trying to eat more veg at dinner, and has smaller treats including more fruit . He already does pe 4 times a week at school and football training twice a week but still doesn't seem fit so has started interval training on the treadmill for 30 mins 2 times a week followed by some beginners strength exercises (push ups against the wall, squats, dumbbells, planking) and also goes out with friends more to kick a ball about at the local astroturf.

He sounds as if he knows he is a bit heavy and wants support to resolve it, its whether you tell him his bmi and he targets lowering it, or talk about choices and targeting being healthy and the importance of taking time for activities, or a bit of both. What do you think he'll respond best to?

I would definitely tell him, and then have a big talk (with many more discussions in the future) about his health and the effect carrying too much weight will have on it. Be his partner in making healthier choices.