My 6 and a half year old daughter weight 6 stone 3lb.

[MissM1973]

I am mortified, I knew she had put a little bit of weight on but my god, there is no excuse and I did not think her portions were large. But I myself am big...I am now in a position that i do not know what to do but today her pe uniform was too small.. An age 10 top, I have no idea if I can put my child on a health diet... any advice please?

You can and you should change your daughter's diet, but you should probably make a GP appointment for some advice.

I expect portion sizes might be a problem - I admit it's hard to know what is right sometimes. Does she get much exercise?

OK well yes, you do need to do something. Start by going to the GP/nurse and find out where you are going wrong (too big portions, unhealthy food, too little exercise). Go without you dd initially.

Then make changes - a few at a time. You can do things like healthier eating and exercise as a family thing so she doesn't feel singled out. Luckily she's got a lot of growing to do so if you can keep her from putting on more weight she'll gradually slimmer as she gets taller.

Good luck x

What is she eating in a day? Be honest! My 14yo only weighs 6.8 stone, but is quite slim. If you are struggling with what is healthy/how to cook healthy meals is contact your GP or health visitor.

As a former overweight child (a stone per year) I would suggest this:
Look at your last till receipt forensically. How much is fruit,vegetables? How much is processed food or in a box?
What is in your cupboard right now? I had 3 meals a day but I added secret pre-breakfast, snack on way to school, 4pm snack, evening meal had cakes etc. As a mum now I can't believe dp's didn't notice missing food. Does food (snack stuff) get used up faster than you would expect? I was remarkably adept at feeding myself with extras. Which continued to be restocked.
Really sorry,not trying to project my childhood as things could be completely different, I'm just trying to look at food choices and accessibility from the child's pov.

What do you feed her? If there is a lot of junk, cut it out. Look up correct portion sizes and stick to it. More veg and protein, less fruit.

Well done for realising.

Don't put her on a diet both of you just start a healthy eating plan and start exercising together eg going for walks , swimming ect..

Take her to the doctors and see what he suggests .

Good luck !

You need to put her food on a side plate. At 6 kids shouldn't
need more than this and if she is still hungry she has fruit after dinner and maybe a yogurt.

Only feed her unprocessed food, porridge is really good for breakfast as will fill her up but she only needs half a sachet of oat so simple not a whole bowl full. Make everything from scratch so you know what is going into it. Drinks can be water or milk or if she must have it high juice (no artificial sweeteners). If she has a hot lunch at school, scrambled eggs on toast or a light meal at night is enough. Kids are often ferried around and don't do half as much exercise these days so really don't need the hot school meal and a big cooked meal at night.

Does she do any exercise? Can you try and get her involved in hockey maybe or swimming or a girls rugby team?

If you are on the heavy side it will help you also.

Have you ruled out any medical problems that could be contributing.

I think. You need to be honest about what it is she is eating. Maybe take pictures of the meals and let people give their ideas on. The portion size as I know it's hard to tell sometimes.

Does she have access to the cupboards. Is she sneaking food at all?

I ask purely because in order to ensure she is eating three appropriate sized meals a day she needs to be honest if she's taking things she shouldn't (I know Dds sometimes have their eyes on dps sweets idle they are left out and it's hard at a young age to exercise control with sweets)

Definitely up exercise too

Re portion sizes consider buying a set of American measuring cups (Amazon, about £8 ) and using them to measure anything that isn't already in a natural portion size e.g.a half cup is just right for my muesli, 40grams, without it I'd probably pour a cupful by sight.

Does she have a packed lunch at school? What do you put in it. If she eats at school have a serious look at the menu and find out what system is in place. Does she get a balanced meal or do they pick what they want from what's there and walk away with strange combinations and very car heavy. Does she eat lots of the bread and a pudding?

First thing first
do not put your child on a diet with the aim of making her lose weight

The sim with children is that they do not put weight on and as they growing, they in effect 'loose' weight if that makes sense.
Also ask your GP to refer you to a dietician. Try and increase her exercises and avoid sugar. Any sort of sugar. Sweets, cakes, biscuits, cereals in the morning, yogurt laden with sugar, fruit juice at any time of the day etc etc
The good thing is that she is a child. She can get back on track much more easily than we, adult, can.

There is lot so funding in healthy eating at the moment.
You can ask the GP or school nurse for a dietician referral.
If you contact your school nurse they may have some programmes that you can enrol on such as healthy cooking or an active kids club for you DD.
I was a school nurse until october but we did loads of stuff around nutrition and exercise. They should be able to visit you at home and talk through it all with you. If you don't know who the school nurse is, your GP surgery should have the number. The school will also have the number but some school receptionists are nosey feckers and won't hand out the number til you tell them what you want the nurse for.

Basically I am lapse. I think I try but I cant do if she is putting on weight. Fir breakfast its.typically 2 slices of toast one with butter and on with dairylea lite. Packed.lunch is 2 pieces of fruit, cucumber and a fruit shoot and a packet of crisps. After school I take a kitkat or aomething with me. Then in the shop sometimes another bag of crisps.... oh god when I see it written ddown..... she does not eat hot veg so eats.a lot of fruit in its place. Tea can be nuggets pasta abd cuxjmber, steak chips and beans, then she tells.me.I starve her and sometinea has a few crackers too....
I try and cut out crap and I am told she is hungry. I joined slimming world I weigh a fair amount myself. I have just installed a treat mill. Ita got to ancase.now that its hard to get clothes and everything is uncomfortable for her.
The last 20 months I have entered a spiralling depression. My brother were arrested and are now sentenced to.long terms. I just let everything go to pot. My healrh and clearly my.daughters.there is no excuse but she doea ride to school and back. But has become less active.

Is school walkable, that would be one way to get into a good daily habit.

Also is there a park near school, lots of kids this age go after school to our so it sociable too.

If that's her lunch no wonder she's starving and binging in the evenings. These no protein at all. Ditch fruit shoot for water.

Fat isn't a bad thing as it helps to full you up so you'd eat less if that makes sense. Would she eat a chicken sandwich on seeded bread (one slice)? Ditch the crisps for some unsalted popcorn (small handful) and veg sticks with a dip of some kind like some cream cheese or hummus. (Not dairylea) .

Keep after school snack to an apple or a couple of small crackers with cheese.

I'm sorry to hear the shit time you have had

The great thing is that you've realised it's a problem and want to get it sorted, which you can definitely do. I would second an appointment with the GP, just to check everything's as it should be. But, based on what you've listed, I reckon there are some quick changes you could make:
Breakfast - would she eat porridge? That's great at filling you up. Marmite instead of the Dairylea?
Lunch - there's not enough of the right type of food in there. She needs a sandwich/wrap/pasta. Get rid of the fruit shoot, and just go for water, and perhaps crisps as an occasional, not everyday, thing.
Snacks - veg sticks dipped in humous, pitta bread, oatcakes, apple, banana
Dinner - If she really won't eat cooked veg, just present a mixture of chopped veg. The 5-a-day should be more veg than fruit.

Good luck, you can definitely turn this around

Get rid of the crisps, a small bag of plain popcorn instead. She needs proper carbohydrates & some protein in her lunch, eg a sandwich, pasta salad, a piece of quiche, things like that. Would she eat porridge for breakfast, it's significantly more sustaining than toast.

My local leisure centre has a MEND class for parents and children who would like to be more healthy and weigh a sensible weight. Are their any classes like that?

Have a look at the Change4life website, lots of info on there re healthier snacks, meals, portion sizes and activity ideas.
My dd (5) doesn't like sandwiches but likes things like mini babybel, hummus and breadsticks for lunches. protein can be more filling than carbs so make sure having enough protein and long acting carbs like whole wheat pasta , rice and bread. I'm doing SW too and it promotes family friendly foods so if she's eating same meals as you that should help.

I guess, firstly I'd say you need to work out how you're going to manage her disappointment - because it's NICE to have a Kitkat after school, but that's the stuff that's going to have to stop, and you're the boss so you can stop it. But she'll be seeing it as a little sign that you love her and are happy to see her - which is lovely! But as I'm sure you know, once food and love are the same thing, it's hard to separate them.

Replacing food treats with other treats might help. Stickers after school, or even (I know this will sound silly) a flower from a garden along the way or something? Something to still demonstrate that you're thinking of her but not a kitkat.

People are going to say no more chips ever, etc, I think, but it doesn't have to be like that - just less of them. Maybe it's chips OR beans, not chips AND beans, and some cut up carrots/celery/cucumber too. And maybe cut up raw veg with the nuggests, and just a little handful of pasta maybe.

But for starters, try to ditch the crisps and chocolate for a bit, and see if it helps. Easier said than done I know! But if she says she's hungry, offer her some veg, or rice cakes or an apple - if she doesn't want those, she's not hungry!

Oh and Peanut Butter on toast is still fatty but more nutritious than DairyLea or butter and will fill her up for longer. Or try jam, or marmite, or a slice of ham even.

Does she eat peanut butter? That would work on ( wholemeal) toast for breakfast. Eggs are great. Maybe not for lunch, smelly lunch box syndrome! But hard boiled as home snacks, or cooked, for tea ( scrambled, omelette etc)

Fish is also good, even in breadcrumbs, if baked not fried. Jacket potato ( small), tomatoes.

Treats are still needed to avoid it being a regime, how about Minimilk Lollies? Babybel cheeses are handy too.

Mixed grated carrot with grated cheese. Add a few sultanas.