Dd is gaining weight rapidly and I don’t know why

[megabrilliant]

I weighed my dd today she is 10 and weighs 7 stone 2 at 4 foot 8 which puts her at 96 centile.
I weighed myself at the same time and I was 7 stone 1 which at 5’2 makes me marginally underweight but only by a couple of lb.
My 8 year old was only 4 stone something and smack bang in the healthy range.
I just don’t understand and I know people must think I feed her junk but I give them both the same breakfast, same packed lunch and cook them the same dinner and so if anything the youngest eats more for her age as she eats the same size meals.
I walk them to and from school each day which is about 15 minutes each way so that’s half an hour exercise and they both do activities out of school plus we go swimming and are quite an active family generally.
No sweet drinks or junk food.

An average day will look like this.

Breakfas
2 pieces of toast and spread or bowl of porridge or very occasionally a croissant or hot cross bun for a change.

Packed lunch
Sandwich or wrap with ham or cheese.
yogurt
piece of fruit
cereal bar for snack at break and water.

Dinner
Meat, all fresh like chicken breast or pork chops, veg, potato or rice or pasta, occasionally beans but rarely.

If they are hungry later they have fruit or cheese or cracker type biscuits but other than that I can’t see how she is ballooning in weight.
I used to give her size 6 clothes I didn’t wear anymore because she fitted in them and now she doesn’t and I’m buying primary school uniform in age 15 online and she’s in teen clothes, I bought a coat in age 15 and she’s struggling to do the zip up.
Her teeth are good, she isn’t a good sleeper but is there anything else I can do for her or is she just a bit bigger but can that still be healthy, I think people think it’s neglect and I’m giving her the wrong food but we all eat the same.

Hey @megabrilliant , my son went through this at approximately 10-12yrs. I never weighed him as I didnt own scales but I could see he was getting chunky ( he ate the same as his twin brother who was stick thin)
Then, he turned 13 and all the weight just fell off him and he is a very tall and slim 14 year old. His cousin has done the same and she's a girl.
When you have twins who both eat the same but one is chunky and the other is stick thin ,both do physical activity etc it makes you realise that other things are at play.

If you are worried, see what the gp thinks, there's no harm in asking.

OP, you'll get nothing but accusations of fat shaming on here, it's quite understandable you're concerned

I would guess she is secretly binging sweets/chips etc bought with pocket money. That's what I did at that age.

I’m a similar size to you op and I would be concerned if my daughter had gained weight rapidly as that’s not how our family is genetically. I would be asking for blood tests to look at hormones

I mean this with as little disrespect as possible, OP

Your weight is more concerning than your daughter's.

Why are you expecting your child to be of the same body type as yourself?

My DD is 9 and in the 96th percentile for height and weight , she has a health condition and the hospital do weight and height checks as part of her appointment. She has gained a lot of weight in the last year mostly hips and tummy . I fully expect a growth spurt soon , I too was worried as it happened so quickly but she runs track and is very fit . I am short and slim . My husband is very tall and has an athletic build , he told me that he too put on a lot of weight at this age and then grew almost a foot in less than a year .

she’s in she 12/13 clothing , we don’t mention sizes or weight and to be fair she is oblivious about weight which is great . All the women in my husbands family are tall and athletic , well built women she will likely be the same . She is twin sizes bigger than me in shoes ! This she does mention and is almost as tall as me , I just joke you are going to be an Amazon my darling not a pixie like mummy . (My family call pixie because I’m short with kind of pointy ears ) 😂

The similar numbers on the scale might’ve made OP’s eldest daughter uncomfortable. It’s quite obvious when a child is overweight.

No wonder so many children are overweight. OP says her daughter looks fat, has to wear age 15 clothes despite being only 10 and quite short, and the main responses are that she's fine, it's just puberty and accusations of giving her body issues.

Why on earth are you weighing her. You are going to cause so much damage. If you are concerned speak to the Dr but given your weight and the fact you are so panicked about this it’s hard to think you don’t have your own problems around weight/eating. Whatever they are for the love of god don’t pass them on, whether it be through shocked noises when she gets on the scale or anything of a similar nature.

If it helps, my daughter is weighed for medication she’s on. She gained weight rapidly in the few months to Aug last year. She’s lost weight even more rapidly from then until now.

Absolutely no change in what or when she eats, how interested she is or is not in food, we don’t discuss weight or size and have a genuinely healthy overall attitude to food in our house.

From my experience it was entirely puberty related. She was a beanpole when younger and is a beanpole again now.

I was really concerned (privately) until I thought it through and realised there was genuinely no change in her appetite, no attempt to control calories etc. It was just her body developing.

I'd imagine she'll get a growth spurt soon. I was always very very hungry aged between about 8-13!

The only thing I can think is reduce portion sizes. But I'm sure she's spending a bit of money on junk food. I know I spent nearly all my pocket money on stuff like that as a kid!

I'm sure she's fine. You are on the slim side and if that's genetic at least partly it's true there could be genes on the other side that make someone a bit bigger. It's not usually a case of obese or skinny. Just that some people kind of hold a few more kgs than others at their 'natural' weight.

I think don’t weigh your kids..I’m a bit surprised you’re weighing your 10yo.
Any concerns, see the GP.

I will add that a packed lunch like you say isn’t great as it’s all UPF rubbish; probably even the cereal bars. However that’s not a huge problem really unless you care about UPF.

It might be worth checking in with her that she's not eating anything from friends packed lunches. You do get those kids that just don't like eating at lunchtime and try to palm things off on other kids so they can get outside to play and avoid the nagging of not eating enough from staff or parents once home.

A girl in DS's primary got quite big this way. She just became the designated 'finisher' of many kid's food.

I think when you don’t sleep, your body starts producing cortisol, which makes you fat in the stomach

It’s probably puberty. And regardless I would be genuinely careful about how you talk to her - remarks by my mum at similar ages have stuck with me my whole life.

however, it could be an interactive thyroid. If you notice a sort of “puffy” face, dry skin, feeling cold, odd hair/hair loss then worth seeing a doctor. Though I would be careful about letting her know it is “for” weight - in case it turns out this is puberty (or indeed just she is fatter than you expected in which case you may want to help and support but a doc is not the right starting point imho).

Under active not interactive. Sorry.

Jeeeezus!

I just did the NHS calculator and it is a bit underweight according to the NHS. 18.1.

"I think don’t weigh your kids..I’m a bit surprised you’re weighing your 10yo.
Any concerns, see the GP."

And then she'll be weighed at the GP's surely?

I’d also agree that while it might be puberty she’s unlikely to be massively tall with a short 5ft 2 mum. She’s already 4ft 8 so may not have a huge spurt upwards.

Probably just puppy fat op before a growth spurt or her period coming in the next few months but if you are concerned a GP visit won't do any harm.

Puberty - she’s filling out but her height growth hasn’t caught up. I have seen many overweight 10 year olds who have evened out in the teenage years. Just keep her on a healthy diet but don’t deny her food - it’s vital for her to grow a healthy and strong body.

This was my first thought

Well, tbh, if she is very rapidly gaining weight and all the weight appears to be going on around her stomach and she’s become that heavy without eating any more than usual, I would be worried there was something physically wrong with her and would definitely take her to the GP if she had any other symptoms alongside it. It can be normal to gain weight just as puberty is starting, but to cross several percentile lines is really not the norm, and only getting a fat stomach doesn’t sound entirely normal, either.