Overweight teenager

[philippa12345]

I knew my 13 year old daughter was on the larger size but having put her weight and height into the BMI computer it shows her to be in the 100% percentile.
She's almost the same weight as me and is around 2 stone heavier than I was at her age.
She is bigger than all her friends.
She exercises fairly regularly but her diet could be improved.
My question is should I just alter what we eat as a family or would joining slimming world for example be an idea where we (she) follows a program so it's motivating.
I don't want to do the wrong this and knock her confidence although she has mentioned often that she's fat so obviously it's on her mind already.

I don't think Slimming World or similar is the route to go down for someone so young.

I would say the first thing to do is to alter what you (all) eat, slightly reduce portion sizes down, eat healthier food and get rid of any crisps, biscuits etc.

What does she eat at school?

And could you maybe start a few exercise classes with her? Or join a running club together. ParkRun on a Saturday for example?

As someone who was told from age 11 and being a normal weight that they were too fat from one of my parents. DO NOT make it a regular thing you talk about. Go on a ''health kick'' together. Do not make it a big deal for her to do alone. Ask your GP alone for some advice.

Im 36 and suffer with an eating disorder which started when my exh called me fat
Tread very carefully

Thankyou everybody.
It's good that hear you think that altering what we eat as a family is the way to go and I agree now that she's too young for a slimming group.
She eats packed lunches and I admit it's all too easy to throw in crisps and a chocolate biscuit.
I'll try to get adventurous with healthier ideas.
I'm certain to cut out the snacks at home will help too.

Can she not make her own packed lunches? You could take her shopping and let her pick healthy options. E.g Buy unpopped popcorn kernels and use them instead of crisps because they're plain and unprocessed they're much healthier. She might enjoy making her own lunch healthier if she has the option to :)

At 13 I would be talking pretty directly to my DD about what does she want to do; OP says the girl is already unhappy with her weight. She'll have to own the the problem for things to change. Support her to find things she can do about the situation, and to know what it does and doesn't mean. Like being a healthy weight doesn't mean being underweight, either.

Bmi is not applicable to growing children. By all means limit the sugary and higher carb foods , increase healthy options and encourage physical activity but talk of diets and slimming groups is inappropriate.

Thankyou everyone again. Funnily enough I'm not sure if I've over thought things. She's not massively fat at all really, she's got a nice shape she's just chunkier all over than her slimmer friends. Perhaps a little bit of a tummy. I think when I discovered her weight I was shocked but I guess some people are just heavier?
I do think that we as a family can improve our diet and snacks for certain! So that's what I plan to make changes with. X