Puberty/weight.

[muggglewump]

Following on from a thread recently (but not a thread about a thread, promise), my just turned 9 yr old is clearly showing the signs of puberty.
She's been using deodorant for a couple of years, but in the last few months has started filling out, and getting breats buds.
In the last couple of months she's really put on weight.
Now, I don't know what she weighs, and have no intention of making her get on the scales but I can see it, and her clothes are all tight, even the new school uniform, age 9-10 bought during the holidays.
We eat a balanced diet, 90% cooked from scratch and she's not at all fussy but like any kid she likes the sweet stuff.

Do I need to do anything about this?
Will she get fat if I don't or does she just need to grow into her new body?

I don't want her to be unhealthy, nor do I want her to be teased.

(as an aside she's also mood swing central)

I started my periods at 10 so it fits that she will be relatively young too.

I'd really appreciate advice from those of you who've been there, as I'm not really sure what to do, if anything.

Chances are she's just getting puppy fat before shooting up in a growth spurt. It sounds perfectly natural. Without sounding rude (I hope) is the rest of the family quite slim, and does she exercise at all? (not necessarily in an "exercisy way". Things like going to the park, playing sport, trampolining etc.)

She might be a larger child. ...not that this means she'll be overweight as an adult. You sound like you feed her a healthy diet so try not to worry, but keep an eye on the "junk" she eats, as you want her to have the "all in moderation" attitude to food. I wouldn't take action straight away, and just make sure she knows that she doesn't have to be a size zero to be beautiful. With all thats in the media now that's so important!!

Thanks.
It's just the two of us and I've never been overweight.
Currently 8st, and 5'2.
I'm adopted so no genetics around to see and DD's Dad and family aren't around either.

She doesn't do formal exercise but is very active in summer. Less so in winter.

We do eat well, as in tasty meals, and she does see me cooking from scratch and often helps. She knows what a good diet is.

I don't ban any food, I never have, and I don't preach about healthy eating, I just subtly limit the crap.

I do worry though as this weight gain has been rapid, and while it could be her filling out before she grows up, I'm not sure how long to leave it.

She is beginning to look fat.

Hmmm...it's such a tricky one! You don't want her to think that dieting is a way of life, but you don't want her to put on the weight and then think "sod it" and just keep eating more, and it turning into a cycle of weight gain.

As she's just starting puberty (Good luck by the way ) it seems like something more puberty linked, than poor diet/exercise linked. ...plus you're very slim. I guess as a precaution, more than anything, you could try and get her interested in something active during term time.

The only problem I can forsee is that kids can be so mean. I'm not sure what to suggest when it comes to that.

As a mum of an only child, I appreciate that it is alot of effort to cook for just the two of you. And often, a basic recipe is set up to make enough for 4 or more people.

So, am wondering - even though your dd (generally) eats healthily, does she eat large portions at meal times? Does she usually/often have seconds?

I need all the luck I can get, she's also taking to screeching in my face, slamming doors and sulking. Oh the joys!

Her best friend is quite large, of course I've never mentioned that but I don't want DD to see that as normal.

I'm just not sure whether to leave it for a while, to see if she will shoot up and slim down or whether to tackle it now.

I can't bear the idea of DD being the one who gets picked on for her weight, but nor do I want to give her weight issues.

No Earlybird, she doesn't.
I serve normal sized portions and always with veg or salad.
I freeze extra. I have to follow a budget so if a meal serves four, it's two meals for us.

She's not started eating more at all, so I do think this weight gain is linked in with puberty.

Tricky one. For the time being, rather than adjust what she's eating, could you see if she'd be interested in doing an after-school or weekend sports session (or an extra one, if she already does them), maybe netball club or something? Or do a regular you and DD walk in a park, or somewhere else nice, where you can be active but couch it more in terms of spending mum and daughter time together?

I agree about not wanting to make it obvious to your DD that you have a concern, maybe monitor how it goes over the next few months, with a view to looking at it again if no change by say Dec/Jan?

Bechka
That's quite hard for us to do.
DD goes to a youth club 3 nights a week, and I can't be very active due to health issues.
I'm also limited by budget and lack of transport.

I'm worried more now as winter is approaching which means no playing out.

I don't want to make an issue of it, but I've always thought of weight as being a slippery slope, and I don't want DD to get on it.

My friend's DD was exactly the same at DD's age. She's now 15 and weighs more than me and is miserable.

I don't want that to happen.

I just have no idea what to do about it.

DD is pudgey, but not far off fat, and unless she gets taller soon she's not going to be healthy.

Young children are not recommended to diet as such. As someone else has said keep aneye on how often she eats junk and check portion sizes. A portion of something should equate to her fist size. Make a large part of her meal veg as opposed to lots of carbs and protein as per the eatwell plate which you can google. Give fruit mostly as snacks with occasional biscuits/sweet/cake once or twice a week. This way she should grow into her body and slim down.

Could she do some sport activity after school? Swim, walk with you, trampet, cycle to school?
How does she get to school at present?

I have no intention of putting her on a diet, I just want to make sure she doesn't end up overweight.

She walks to school, but it's 4 minutes away, so not exactly exercise.
I don't drive either so a fair amount of walking is done, but she's suddenly put on a fair bit of weight.

I may be worrying over nothing, but I may not, and I'd rather deal with it now if needs be, when I control the food, than later.

My friend's DD who I mentioned went to Florida this summer with her Gran. Before I'd even got to ask how it was, she commented that she couldn't get cheese and onion crisps.

I don't want that for DD.

Does she get enough sleep?

There was a big article today about how not-enough-sleep can slow down metabolism and cause weight gain (and make it much more difficult to lose weight).

I'm watching this thread with interest as I have a 9.6 yr old daughter who has filled out in the last 3/4 months, she is also going through puberty. I am trying to increase her exercise and limit the junk food. I'm hoping now they are back to school she might burn some off, as in the school holidays she was having treats more often than I normally would give.

i think there is a diffrence between chubby and fat, i know i can look at my kids objectively and say that they aren't fat, dd did used to get chubby before a growth spurt

but if your kid is fat, then check out with doctor, and write down everything she eats. you might be surprised