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.

OP,
if you are worried contact GP.
Dont put your DD on a diet because you will give insecurities to your child.

maybe you can tweak the meals by increasing protein, give good wholemeal carb, and look into hidden sugars, and ditch the cereals bar as its full of sugar

Are you 5 foot 2 ?

I have 2 DS, the oldest takes after me and can easily gain weight, but the younger one takes after my DH who has never carried any extra weight in his life. The oldest went through a chubby stage at puberty but then shot up to over 6ft, and it evened out. The youngest has always been super slim. It may just be genetics.

Former overweight child here.

Please, please, get this checked out and get her some help. Considering the sensitivity of the issue, probably worth speaking to a medical professional yourself first, and take it from there.

Both me and my best friend gained lots of weight in early teens, aged 10-13.

Both have really struggled all our adult lives to not be obese. She's always been very big and had very serious health issues in her starting in her 20s. My other best friend had similar parents, he had a stroke at 30, wth obesity a big contributing factor.

I went the other way and developed a bit of an obsession with diet and exercise, thus yo-yoing between an adult size 8 and recently being obese. I am now size 10, stable, happiest and healthiest I've ever been, and looking at my childhood with such different eyes.

If she has an interest in a performance sport, allow he to embrace it. Kids are meant to be super active but today's lifestyle doesn't accommodate it, so if she wants to do more sports or exercise at home, please don't curb her enthusiasm.

If she becomes more interested in healthy eating, also let her - provided it doesn't cross over to disordered territory.

If you spare her the 'fat' years in a sensitive way, it'll do her health, mental health, self-worth and adult years a world of good.

Our mums were in total denial, and had such bad food habits themselves, e.g. dessert every dinnertime, kids encouraged to have a 2nd and 3rd helping of birthday cake etc.

Other childrens' mums would regularly raise concerns about our weight gain and the fact that we weren't allowed to do much exercise with our mums, and they totally ignored it and thought we were meant to be 'big-boned'.

OP my daughter does a particular sporting activity and there was recently an event where a woman athlete came to talk to the girls bout continuing the sport through puberty and managing periods etc. She spoke about weight gain and growth spurts and how your body and coordination and sense of where you are physically within the sport can be really challenging. But anyway the upshot was - weight gain and body changes of all sorts are completely normal. My daughter in the last year gained weight (especially around her middle) despite being fairly healthy and very active. She has since grown up and in, and has a shape to her waist that wasn't there before. There'll be a lot more changes to come. It is strange to see a child who has been a little bird all of their childhood suddenly gain weight and it can trigger a bit of vigilance but it is really, really normal and expected. Please don't start dragging your little girl to doctors unless you genuinely think there is actually something troubling and outside of the norm.

Great Ormond Street call it 'obesity'

I have a chubby 10 year old (boy) and I am not totally sure why. He does hours and hours of sport each week, he has a good appetite but nothing wild and he eats normal home made/standard food. We don't really do much eating out or takeaways or anything like that and I limit his sweets. His siblings are very very slim.

I'm hoping just to keep him active and educated about food and nutrition and wait for him to grow up the way...

This has just triggered a really vivid memory of my sister at the end of primary school absolutely refusing to wear a skirt or trousers any more. She had gained weight and suddenly couldn't stand the feeling of anything around her middle. I can see her wee primary 7 face in my head now and definitely see looking back how much the weight gain was related to puberty. My mum had to scramble around trying to buying her pinafores for a couple of years because she wouldn't wear anything else😅

Many of us were plump kids and teens, then we became slim , then gained again. There is no immediate risk to a child. She is not 12 stone

so my daughter too, who is tall, long legged and slim, with massive back but boy, she puts it in the middle.

And I am shorty, with hourglass figure and put it all over myself

Yawn. Not reading that slop.
your weight doesn’t matter to this post so why tf does it matter.

no, I’m not projecting either. My illness is to do with self-control so doesn’t derive from body image etc.

Haven't read the whole thread, but my daughter gained a lot at that age and was looking overweight, again mostly in her stomach.

Within the next 18 months her period started, her body shape changed (developed a waist, boobs, etc) and she evened out. She'll likely never be a skinny minny, but she's perfectly normal (and beautiful!).

It doesn't sound like you or she is doing anything 'wrong' diet wise (although you might want to loosen up a bit! I think an overly restrictive diet with no 'treats' can lead to a obsession with them when they do have free access to it later)

My son is almost the exact same height and weight (145cm and 42kg) at just turned 8. For those asking he has a lot of hospital appts so gets weighed a few times a year. In his case he started gaining after a seizure aged 5, he's actually having some hormone and genetic tests because he's off the scale for his age. And actually probably bigger now because those measurements are from an appt 3 months ago. He's not 'fat' looking though. Hes just sort of square and solid looking, easily looks 11 and wears age 11-12 clothes. Also has size 4 feet. I'm 5foot4, his dad is 5foot9.

His day is cereal, porridge or seeded toast for breakfast, cereal bar for snack. Fruit. Cheese wrap. Yoghurt for lunch, standard dinner might be apag bol, all home made with supper of a glass of milk and sometimes a biscuit or half slice of toast as he takes melatonin for sleep and says it tastes funny so a snack washes it down. He's definitely not eating more than his pals and has a sweetie, or crisps or whatever once or twice a week.

He's also incredibly active, walks to and from school, after school sports and play club at school. The other nights swimming. Tennis, gymnastics all for an hour and at the weekend spends 2-3 hours a day on trampoline parks, softplay, parks, dog walks, bike rides. I'd say he's well above average physical activity wise.

Anyway I took don't know but if I get answers I'll pop back.

Well 5 ft 3 but close enough to 5ft 2 I would say.

You are brave posting it on mumsnet.
I'd check with GP and ideally get a blood test done to roll out thyroid issues ,etc

I hope your daughter has not been privy to any of the comparisons to yours and your other daughter’s weight. She is probably in the middle of a growth spurt.

We didn’t have scales at home as kids and we are all healthy sized adults.

All my kids (6) went through this from around 10 to 14 ish. They would all put on weight to the point I was starting to get concerned, as you are, and then they would suddenly shoot up at least 2 inches. Its like the body was storing the energy for the next growth spurt. Only two are now overweight, one is DD who has PCOS and really struggles to lose it and DS who admits he eats crap (at uni).

1 slice of toast would really be enough for a child her age. 2 slices is an adult portion. Do you weigh out the porridge? Porridge still has fat in though does have soluble fibre. What bread is the toast? 1 slice of toast is enough for a child her age. 2 is slices is an adult portion I often only have 1 slice if in a rush to get out. Coassonts also have a lot of saturated fat. There’s a lot of sugar in cereal bars. Cereal is UPF anyway. If she’s putting on around her stomach that indicates she’s eating a lot of processed foods. Ham isn’t healthy there’s a lot of salt in it. I buy our meat from a butcher and milk which is delivered. Everything else I buy online anything that’s not a natural food sauce I check the nutritional value. You would be shocked how many foods are high in saturated fats. I do get them but they are occasional treats not in our daily diet.

That doesn’t sound heavy to me. I weighed more at that age, looking back i was only slightly overweight My mum put me on a diet which turned into an ED. Be careful.
I think your idea of normal might be slightly skewed based on your own physique.

“I’m still hungry!”

Why weigh your other child and yourself who is underweight? Sounds very unhealthy behaviour. Be very careful of how this will have made your eldest feel

kids go out the way then up the way. She is still growing. I wouldn't be too worried about it.

The thing that jumped out at me is her age. At ten, she is probably starting to enter puberty and it is very common for girls to put on weight before having a growth spurt. It used to be called puppy fat, then we were told that it was simply fat. However, I think many girls do go through a puppy fat stage a few months before their adolescent growth spurt. Is she showing other signs of puberty? If not, I think she soon will. In the meantime, if you keep a discreet eye on the situation, you will be able to monitor whether or not her weight is becoming a real problem.

A) it's not good, is it. We all know that, don't be obtuse.

B) at her weight she's not plump, she's huge. Can't fit in clothes for a 15 year old!