To take DD back to the GP for her weight

[christmassedout]

DD has just turned 9 and is very overweight. We've been trying to tackle it through diet and exercise since xmas. Her belly has been huge for a while now, if it was smaller she still wouldn't be slim, but it looks enormous in proportion to the rest of her. We were really struggling to buy clothes to fit her because of it.

She's had a growth spurt since Christmas and seems to have slimmed down around her arms and legs. Her weight has dropped slightly. But she's measuring even bigger around the belly.

I've taken her to the GP before and they were very dismissive. I would really like them to do some kind of tests to make sure there isn't anything else going on, DP thinks it's only been two months and they'll say she's just overweight.

I'm another one who thinks getting taller and having lost weight should not result in a larger waist measurement.

It could be bloating and I think your GP test.

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The weight being centred on the belly does suggest there could be something else going on but until you can cut out the shit her dad is giving her you'll not know for sure.

Name change fail. Her dad will not listen. I've tried and tried. We've gone down the route of junk at his house and healthy foods only at our house which I didn't want to do, but she has been losing weight since we did that. It's just her belly.

It's definitely fat, not bloating.

She's starting to get very aware of her size now which is another reason I'm desperate. I think because she's slimmed down elsewhere, her belly looks even bigger. It's so big at the moment it seems to be limiting the activities she can do, so she's more aware of that too.

Ffs her dad needs to get on board and stop stuffing crap into his child.

One thought - have you tried swimming as an activity? It’s really good for toning so it might help with her changing body shape as she loses weight.

Can you give an example of a day of eating in your home? Just sometimes people think they are eating healthily but perhaps aren't (as I've been learning myself recently).

Also, could you afford to pay for food intolerance testing? Perhaps the belly is bloat? Is it flatter at the start of the day and becomes distended?

However no, YANBU to approach the doc to discuss it. The only thing I would say is be careful as this is the age where your daughter could really develop issues with food. Good luck OP!

She's 9 FFS

she still eats a lot of fast food, doughnuts, milkshakes etc at her dad's, which I can't control

Then there is no point taking her back to the Drs. Everything listed is calorific and, if it’s wobbling rather than firm, it’s simply fat.
Disgusting that her ‘D’F cares so little he would feed her in this way. Poor DD.

Can you get her active so it limits the damage done at her dads? How much time does she spend there?

How does her stomach look in the morning when she first gets up, compared to at the end of the day?

I would give it another month or two before going to the GP again unless she has other symptoms, but try to get her dad on side.

What's her posture like? A tighter core rather than letting it all relax can make a huge difference to the visible size of a belly. Ask her to stand straight and tighten her muscles to get a better idea of whether it's actually disproportionately distended.

If it's just her tummy that is big then you might find after she starts puberty she slims down naturally.
My DD is similar, looks slim from behind, rest of her body in proportion, however her tummy looked bigger. She hasn't started her periods yet either and is older. Her friends who have started look slimmer and look less plump. I've also been worried about the same, however have noticed many friends daughters have gone from chubby at 9-12 then slim after periods start. Just based on what I've seen, no medical back up.
The GP could do blood tests to check for allergies to put your mind at rest.

Can you get her to be more active? Daily walks to the park or something , walking to and from school make it regular and routine. When I was growing up my mums boyfriend moved in and his children had awful diets (they could help themselves to anything in their house which was sometimes 5 bags of crisps in one day). One daughter was 7 stone at 7 years old. When we went away camping one summer my mum purposely set up the tent at the top of a hill, far away from the toilets and we ate really healthy. She lost quite a lot and then and then gradually lost more and then kept it off. I was a few years older and none of us realised my mum had sort of put her on a diet. She told me years later.

It's a shame she's now become aware of her tummy. Encourage her to perhaps ask for a healthier option when she's at her dad's? I also second a pp. Swimming is fantastic.

Also little changes can make a difference without stopping treats as such. Some crisps have 60 calories and some have 200, snacks try to aim for 100 calories or less.

I think you need a conversation with your ex and he needs to support your decisions surrounding food. Tell a white lie and tell him the GP or dentist is concerned etc,

It's a round pregnant belly shape but loose and wobbly, not firm. It used to be more of a normal pudgy shape but it now seems to be expanding outwards too. It's the same size in the mornings it is in the evenings.

We have started swimming twice a week and I do think that's helped her lose weight. But it hasn't stopped her packing on fat on her belly.

A normal day with me would be unsweetened porridge with a banana, school lunch and something light like soup, pasta salad, a wrap etc for dinner. Fruit for dessert.

It sounds like she's not getting enough nutrition when with you in that case, does she get fruit, yoghurt etc for snacks? You may be setting up a binge starve cycle with these 2 approaches.

How overweight is she? Like she's wearing 11-12 or she's in an adult size 16 or somewhere in between?

I think her posture is ok. She dances, so she must have some core strength from that. She has started trying to suck it in a bit because she's had friends commenting on it recently.

Have you considered food intolerance tests for her? Has the GP suggested this?

When I was a kid the girl up the road looked like you describe it turned out she had an ovarian cyst growing for years years. Raid this possibility and ask for it to be documented on her notes that you queried ovarian cyst. Hopefully they will offer a scan however I had an ovarian cyst diagnosed when I lived abroad as it was routine to do an internal US when you had your smear test not sure what they would do for a 9 year old to diagnose?

She's just turned 9, 143ish cm tall. Next age 11 plus fit leggings fit her if she just pulls the waistband up to under her belly and lets it hang over the top, but she can't fit her belly into them. We've tried going up to age 14, those are too big in the thighs and bum but still don't fit her middle. Anything with a button waistband is hopeless.

Agree with this and I feel like alot of people are not reading this thread properly