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?

I might add she has a sandwich with her lunch and alternate days she has a baby bell or yoghurt.

Captain the op's dd would be anout twelve years old before she " grows into her weight".
Op I think you need to see her Go straight away as she really does need to lose weight.

Why don't you put your daughter on school dinners? I assume that as she is six then she would get school dinners for free.

She does not have white bread it's whole meal. She does not eat white bread and she will also not eat cereal. Occasionally weetabix so some mornings she will have a slice of beans on toast

She has school dinners on a wed and fri

Wow - she weighs the same as ds2 who is 12 and 5 foot.

I suggest seeking medical advise. I know our local authority run sports centres do a special programme for larger children, which include healthy eating advise sessions with a specialist nutritional nurse and loads of activities for them.

So it might be worth looking in your area to see if there is something similar.

And you need to lead by example. I've found that if I have 'junk' in my cupboards I will eat it (as I have no willpower), so it works for me to just not buy them, and to buy cheesy oatcakes, cottage cheese, melons etc instead.

Tomorrow I will take a picture of all meals that may help

also its a good age to get her involved in food prep, shopping and cooking. Everyone has to eat and cook so discussing with her and spending time in the kitchen together making real food, even home made bread etc so she starts to see how food works in real life.

MissM, I'm sorry you've had such a hard time and have had depression.

First, try not to blame yourself over this - you've recognised it and are taking action. Some kids just don't feel full as quick as others. If you have a child who feels hungry a lot it's harder to make sure they stay a healthy weight.

I know this from first hand experience because DS used to be quite overweight. He also would always say he's hungry. He would eat certain things (especially carbs - bread, pasta, potatoes, etc.) to excess, although I didn't recognise it at the time.

Anyway, he is now a healthy weight (this has happened gradually over several years). For us, these are the changes we made:

1. Protein (and some fat) is the main energy source for each meal. Much better for feeling full. Eggs for breakfast (one small piece of toast max.), fish/nuts/chicken/other meat for other meals. The rest is veg and some fruit.

2. Still hungry at the end of a meal? Either say "well, it takes a while for your body to realise it's eaten. Off you go and play" (don't be scared to say no) or offer cucumber/carrot/pepper sticks.

3. Big drink 10 minutes before each meal (big drink of water preferably. But if she won't drink it, try very weak squash).

4. Get out of the habit of thinking that kids need to snack. IMHO, if you have a child who eats their meals, they don't need to have snacks really. I say "it's fine to feel hungry for a while. Wait till dinner".

5. As others have said, portion sizes. It took me ages to realise how much less kids need than adults.

6. Exercise, obviously. I know this is easier said than done especially if you're feeling low. Trampoline, perhaps?

Good luck, OP.

all this portion size/ side plate stuff is nonsense. dd1 has an adult plate for most meals and she's 2st10. Giving her small portions will just leave her hungry which will make things worse bit better. My advice is to look at what she is eating:

• up the protein, eggs meat pulses are filling. Avoid processed food such as sausages.
• wholemeal bread, pasta and brown rice. Fills for longer than white.
• No or very little refined sugar, no crisps or other crap.
• structured snack time with raw vegetables/ fruit only.
• Plain yoghurt, watch the cheese.

and as above is ok to be hungry for a bit before dinner.

sorry one more thing, no bread with meals.

More protein, less carbs. Fill up on veg if she's hungry (raw carrots/cucumber fine if she won't eat cooked veg). Oatcakes are a good substitute too if she needs something carby.
What about healthy banana pancakes - you just need a couple of eggs beaten and mixed with ripe banana, a pinch of baking powder. Fry in olive oil and serve with berries and a squeeze of maple syrup if you must though they are quite sweet anyway. Healthy and she will feel like she's had a treat.