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Children's health

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Possible overweight teenage son having problems

11 replies

bb1786434 · 22/08/2018 14:22

I am becoming more and more concerned about my 14 year old son who has recently gained weight and it's starting to show but I wouldn't class him as overweight officially.
We recently went on holiday where my son regularly had his top off and I was shocked to see that he had a soft belly which formed rolls when he sat down. However the thing that shocked me the most was that he had what I could only describe as man boobs.
I also discovered that when he went swimming with is friends that they made fun of him making comments like "oi fatty". This obviously concerned be but I have been ensured that this was "banter"
He also shared with me that he had to do a fitness test type thing in PE. This apparently included sit ups,press ups,star jumps and running and he came the bottom of the top set. He loves his sport especially football and rounders and he's good at it. However recently I have noticed him struggling more. He has become more out of breath and his rounders coach came up to me the other day to say that he needs to work on his running more because "he has alot more to carry". This concerns me massively but really don't know how to approach it or whether there even is a problem or if he is even overweight.

OP posts:
memaymamo · 23/08/2018 21:01

I have the exact same issue with my 12yo. Not sure what to do. Have you calculated his BMI?

bb1786434 · 23/08/2018 21:13

No I haven't calculated his BMI. What does this include/ how do I do this? Like I said before to me he doesn't really look overweight or obese to me but don't want it to be an issue for him.

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delilahbucket · 23/08/2018 21:18

You need his weight (first thing in the morning before eating) and his height and then search nhs BMI calculator and enter his info. If he is struggling physically I would say that he is overweight even if you don't think he is. Act now before it becomes an issue. Move more and eat less and do it as a family.

StitchingMoss · 23/08/2018 21:19

I have the same problem with my 11 yr old so following with interest. Sad

He seems to have piled on weight this year and we really need to address it but he’s a sensitive soul and I worry about giving him an eating disorder.

Bbbbb27 · 23/08/2018 21:21

Go the nhs bmi website and you can enter child’s weight and height and it will give you calculation of bmi, could be useful guide.

DS just back from a broken leg and in this time has obviously not moved much, but eatten quite a bit.

Trying to work out the best way to rectify the extra weight he is now carrying..

bb1786434 · 23/08/2018 21:35

Just done the BMI calculator thingy and after persuading him to tell he how much he weighs almost 75kg it said he was on the 99th percentile and very overweight. Which is very concerning to me. But I don't even think he has really realised himself that he is overweight so I need to make him realise kindly before school starts as I don't want him to be teased or anything like that while getting changed for PE and lead to him giving his sports up all together which obviously isn't going to be helpful?
Bbbbb27 how old is you son? Was he active before he broke his leg and is he willing to get more active?

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Seaweed42 · 26/08/2018 10:29

It is important that you also take some responsibility for your son's weight. What is your role in your family's fitness levels? Do you ever all go for a long walk for example or go to the swimming pool? Do you take exercise yourself?
You are the person who shops, buys the food, and puts stuff into the shopping trolley. You cook the food and serve the food onto plates. You stock the cupboards at home. I presume he doesn't have a job and buy his own food.
Don't have treats or fizzy drinks at home. Give fruit as snacks. Reduce the amount of fat in the dinners you cook. Reduce the size of portions and put the food onto plates yourself rather than leave people to help themselves. There should not be enough for second helpings. If people are still hungry after dinner they can have fruit or a low fat yoghurt. Only have dessert at weekends.
You can help him a lot by taking responsibility as a parent and not making it 'his' problem. He already knows he's overweight but you should talk to him about it in terms of changing the diet at home so that 'we all eat more healthily and take more exercise' not just him.

Twillow · 26/08/2018 10:54

It's a definite overweight, from your description. It's well known that parents are often the last to notice. Gradually cut down on buying snacks and fizzy drinks (ESPECIALLY diet versions, the artificial sweeteners in them trick the liver into storing calories as extra fat). Say 'Oh I forgot to get them this week', 'We're trying to save money for xyz', 'The shop has run out due to co2 shortage', whatever.
Fill him up with pasta (pack out the sauce with veg and don't do creamy ones) jacket potatoes with cottage cheese, for snacks sliced lean ham and boiled eggs are good too. It's a myth that growing people needs lots of extra snacks and a very bad haabit to form.

bb1786434 · 27/08/2018 09:47

We regularly go on long walks and both me and my husband are both very active visiting the gym often going for runs and playing tennis. DS and DD are both similar to me and my husband very active. He does football badminton cricket and rounders and we never eat unhealthily always homemade always 5 a day. Deserts on Fridays and weekends. Fizzy drinks only at special occasions. Which is why I don't see it. But apparently DS was talking to my husband and he told him that his mates often made fun of him especially when getting changed for PE. I just don't know what's going wrong.

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BarbarianMum · 28/08/2018 08:28

What's going wrong is he's eating more calories than he's burning off. So either his portions of healthy food are too big, or he's supplimenting what you give him with sweets/crisps/chips. He's also likely to be less active than you think because as he gets heavier/unfitter he'll be able to do less, so will play less hard/burn less calories and it's a negative spiral.

EKTV · 23/01/2019 13:52

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