How to lower my child’s BMI?

[Poolofjoy]

She is currently on the 99th percentile. About 4 months ago, we cut out takeaways. We had a dominoes every week, sometimes a curry too. Sometimes a McDonald’s as well. Food was pretty processed and crap. Now I cook homemade, healthy meals. No takeaways. I also enrolled her on two after school activities which are great exercise. This is the new lifestyle now, that we are fully sticking to. But, her weight does not look like it’s gone down at all.. will it gradually? I weighed/measured her in July ( under the guise of testing the machine at the leisure centre before I had a go, as I don’t want to make her self conscious ) should I weigh her again to check? I just don’t want her to worry that I’m weighing her again. Should I make more changes?

If she's on the 99th centile I'm sure she would meet the criteria for a weight management referral. It sounds like you're doing great but professional support will help. Often our (Joe Public's) ideas of what's healthy aren't entirely accurate. In my experience (I'm a nurse but have worked alongside Dieticians) they actually take some of the pressure off to lose weight fast and encourage the right balance between enjoying treats and being healthy. Speak to your GP or School Nurse or Google your local NHS Weight paediatric management serviceas they often accept self-referrals. Child obesity is a hot topic right now so it's a good time to get the NHS on board. Good luck. Xxx

She doesn’t have fizzy drinks at all, just because she doesn’t like the fizzing sensation!
She really does have a sweet tooth though and loves junk food, so it’s tough. Pudding is now sugar free jellyor fruit and yoghurt. Any other pudding ideas which hit the spot, without being too high in fat/sugar?

I just don’t understand why her friends seem to eat the same/worse and are string beans

Honestly; just stop the cereal altogether. It's not filling enough and it's sugar for no reason. If she likes a pudding after dinner, save her sugar allowance for that.
Scrambled eggs and wholemeal toast for breakfast. Give her a good bit of protein and energy to last longer.

I’ll speak to GP if it doesn’t look as though our changes are having an effect in a couple of months time. Again, I don’t want her to feel like she’s at the point of going to a special club for overweight children. I know Pool, wake up and smell the coffee

Fifty, that’s a great idea

if they have smaller portion sizes though that could quickly add up to a few 100 calories a day which over the week would be into the thousands.

I doubt her friends were having a dominos plus another takeaway every week if they are all a healthy weight.

Don't compare her to her friends. And don't plan your meals based on what they eat. You need to create a calorie deficit for her. Ignore what her friends eat and concentrate on meal planning.

Bare with me a sec, I’ll see if I can sign in to Tesco, there was an excellent bar of chocolate that was low cal and I swear to you she’s asked me to go and buy more because she ran out... hoping it’ll show up on recent purchases.

We also make cacao hot chocolate too- only a little but she likes it- I find it a little bitter.

Treatsize choccies are excellent if you wanna give her a treat but many are under 100 calories, as are mini milks!

Sugar free jelly is a great one like you’ve said.

We’ve made sugar free jelly sweets before. We used Pepsi max and gelatine we threw it all in a pan, and added gelatine until we were sure they’d be good then they them in the fridge, they made good jelly sweets.

Breyers Ice creams also a Goodwin- 250 calories for the tub, sounds like there’s 3 of you, so if you share it’s less than 100 calories each!

I’ll ask DD when I collect her from football if she has any ideas.

Not sure how grown up your DDs tastes are, but baked pears with cinnamon and a natural yoghurt or cream is also very decadent and not the most unhealthy of options x

Would she eat something like melon instead of wanting ice cream? Then at least there is goodness in there as well as sweet.

But don't cut out all her treats; it's going to be hard as it is and if you stop her having any treats then it will be impossible as she will rebel. An adult can simply cut them out but it's different with a child. A bit more flexibility is needed so she doesn't feel like she's being targeted.

Chocologic chocolate is no added sugar.

And protein ice cream is a big thing now. The mint choc chip tastes amazing and it's so low in calorie she could have half the tub and it would probably fit in with your daily meal plan.

What is her height percentile?

Fifty shades! You’ve got it... the chocolate we bought a few weeks ago.

Did you mean the breyers choc chip? I was v impressed with it. I couldn’t even tell the proteins taste
DD went mad for it OP.

Both of my DSs put on weight around their middles aged around 11/12, after being slim through childhood and tall and slim as teens.

I think it's not abnormal to put on weight during puberty. However, diet and exercise are super important no matter what weight or height DCs are.

We predominantly have home cooked meals, don't drink fizzy drinks, rarely have takeaways, don't eat fast food. We try to keep active but it's hard with work/school commitments.

I think just focus on feeding your DD a healthy diet as she goes through puberty, encourage her to keep active, cut out junk food and her weight/height should hopefully all even out.

@Beargoesgrr

I can't even remember the make. I got it half price at Tesco and it was a white tub with green pattern on it and a green on the lid. I got a caramel one too which was a white tub with caramel coloured patterns on it. There's a few brands doing the proteins ice cream thing and i don't know the name. Will know it when I see it in the freezer aisle!

My metabolism felt like it changed overnight when I got my periods between Y7 & Y8 - whats that, 12? Suddenly the weight just stuck on the way it never used to, despite how active I was. Thoroughly miserable as I'm short and pear shaped and suddenly I had hips and curves and couldn't shift the weight. I wish my mum had helped me, the way you are.

I think some fab suggestions here. My niece put on loads of weight having massive portions at her childminders just because it was there, once she stopped going and had smaller portions and started swimming she tells me how healthy she is!

How much physical activity are you doing? twice after school is not nearly enough.

• walk to places (school, supermarket, ...). every day.
• go swimming and cycling and a long walk every weekend. and some more. Local parkruns are great, runners of all sizes are at out junior parkrun

Gradually reduce her portions as she grows . It should even out . She has a massive appetite because you have over fed her and she needs to adjust . If she is hungry after dinner offer her an apple . If she is hungry later offer her a slice of Wholemeal toast . Up her exercise .

Just for illustration: my oldest is one of these kids that eats a lot but is very slim. but, he moves a lot.
walk to school and back every day. 30 minutes
playing football at all breaks - 60 min
2 times PE a week - 150 min per week
1 a week dance (45 min)
1 a week judo (45 min)
2 times a week swimming (70 minutes per week) plus walking there and back
Parkrun every sunday, walk there and back :45 min per week
plus cycling, scootering, football, playground, park, ...

The slimming world teen programme looks good. It's free if a parent is a member and from the little I know encourage shealthy eating with a few treats. Might be worth goggling x

I’d download MyFitnessPal and input what you know she eats (breakfast, dinner, dessert, snacks at home). You can add your own recipes, so you can see exactly how many calories your home cooked dinners are (a lot of healthy things are nonetheless extremely high cal).

If you do that for a week or two and it all seems fine for an 11yr old, then it’s the school dinners.

Don’t underestimate how many calories can be in a school dinner. My kids used to have pizza, pasta, chips and dessert most days and the calories for that were something huge like 1500. That was fine for them since they were tall and always extremely active, but for the kids who weren’t it was a recipe for childhood obesity.

I had a thread a while ago about telling my 12 year old that she was putting on weight. I was a less careful than you and thought I'd get a MN telling off, but people were generally supportive.

It's worth pointing out that when my DD knew there was a bit of a potential problem we dealt with it sensibly together.

She's currently the same weight she was when I posted but nearly 4cm taller and paying more attention to healthy choices out of school. It worked really well so perhaps don't worry about letting your daughter know that she might need to think about eating better.

I think it's quite a damaging myth that we shouldn't talk APPROPRIATELY and kindly to our children about weight and diet.

http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/amiibeingunreasonable/3231397-i-told-my-12-yo-dd-that-she-was-putting-on-weight

If the changes you've made are as drastic as you say and you and your OH have lost weight then I would say she is secretly snacking.

As a growing 11 year old, the weight loss should be visible in 4 months. I would speak to your DD and see if she opens up.

Well done for taking the plunge and making changes. That's always the hardest bit

I wouldn't cut down on the cereal as that's not THAT much, but change to ones that will keep her fuller for longer (porridge, whole wheat ones like Weetabix, Shredded wheat, muesli).

Has she grown in height? Obviously taller but same weight = smaller BMI.

Pudding I'd go for fruit and/or natural yoghurt - fruit yoghurt is quite sugary.
Can she be having seconds/larger portions at school? I think the portions at school vary quite a bit.

We do go for a walk every weekend and quite often swimming too. We also got a trampoline this summer which she’s out on most days. Just added chocologic, the brewed ice cream, pears and a melon to my weekly shop!