Overweight 6 year old daughter? Good sports to increase fitness?

[Noahaveryavery]

My 6 year old daughter has always been a bit chubby, but we were at the park and she was playing tag with some friends. She was panting and had to sit down, she didn't manage to catch anyone! Ive never really noticed her being chubby, but as she sat down, her belly formed rolls over her shorts? She then went on the seesaw, but due to her size, remained on the floor. I felt so bad, but when we got home she "ran" to the kitchen, grabbed a chocolate bar and a bag of chips and went to watch tv. Later, she begged me for McDonald's, and screamed until I said yes, but I'm really worried for her health. She jogged about 50m and was panting, sweating, had to sit down. What are good sports that ont need much fitness? Thanks!

Dancing is really good fun and not seen as exercising at all. Are there any dance classes near you or could you get one of those dance games on the Wii?

Also, start taking her diet in hand. No junk food in the house, if she wants a snack only have fruit available. Giving in to McDs because she is screaming is not teaching her nutrition or life skills.

It would be good if you could find something that she enjoys.

I would look for what's available in your area and see what appeals to her. Roller skating, athletics, trampolining. If she wants to swap after a term, let her. Until she finds something she likes.

Also go to the park as much as you can and take her to the pool.

You need to work on her attitude to food. Get rid of the junk.

Swimming, good for fitness and a really important life skill.

Ultimately though it is your responsibility. Keep junk food out of her reach and ditch Macdonalds. She's 6, you are in charge of what she eats.

My dd is tall, and on a high centile for both height and weight at birth, so I've been careful to get her exercising. She does a ball sports class - google a-star sports or enjoyaball to see if you have local classes. She also does tennis and swimming, plus she rides her bike a lot. I think the bike has been brilliant - she can ride miles with me, and keep up, so it's something we can do together. But yy, get the stuff out of the house as much as possible - it's so easy to become a default (speaking for myself!). It's really good you've become aware of it, though, and are not pretending you haven't noticed.

screamed until you said yes

Really? She's 6. You decide what she eats. No need for any 6 yr old to be overweight unless they're suffering with medical issues.

No point her doing any sports if you're feeding her crap all the time. Sorry but just saying it like it is!

Sort her diet out first.

You need to get her food intake in hand, and then do something active together everyday. Go cycling together, and you can slowly increase the distance and pace.

If you've been letting her demand junk food, and not be active, then be prepared for tantrums. But this is the point you can change her future.

You need to regulare her food intake first and cut the crap - you are enabling her to be fat - sorry but this had to be said.

Then, when she is eating healthy food take her to a few activities to see
whay she likes, - try dancing, swimming, junior ball sports etc

My eldest DD (4.9yo) is terrible for wanting junk food all the time. We've made rules and stuck to them, like she is only allowed certain foods on certain days and that's made things much less screamy. I do get called the worst mummy in the world around once a week though

She's just got a new bike which she can't get enough of, and she's also very keen on running because DH and I go running. I take her for a little trot around the block before I go on my proper run, we're doing running/walking intervals similar to C25K but a very scaled down version. Is there any exercise that you can do together?

Does she have a skipping rope? Mine loves hers and plays for ages jumping around; they all do it through the break time at school and it's fantastic exercise

The problem with trying any exercise class or group at the moment is she probably won't be much good or enjoy it because she's too unfit

Why don't you use the summer holidays to get her eating under control and start by doing a little bit of extra activity every day so you can gradually build her fitness up. Walk upstairs rather than take escalators or lifts, get off the bus one stop earlier than normal and walk the rest of the way, go swimming, scoot to the park, cycle etc

Have a look at what's available locally in terms of sports and get her involved in choosing something new to do for the new term

But you really need to stop her thinking that chocolate and crisps followed by McDonalds is an everyday thing

does she cycle?
summer is good to learn if she doesn't or get better at it
maybe treat her to a new water bottle to have on her bike and a new bell :)

make sure she drinks water not any other drinks - this change alone will bring lots of benefits

What exercise do you do? Leading by example is a good place to start - any kind of activity is good.
You can be a bit more relaxed about food if you're active enough to be burning it off.
Walking, cycling, swimming, roller skating, running around with friends, going to the park, even slower sports like ten pin bowling, dancing, climbing, have you room for a trampoline?

It's bloody easy to get into bad habits - I have done many times in the past - my DC have had their fair share of junk and lazy days too..... I work full time and sometimes take the easy option just for a bit of peace or to catch up with myself... Marshmallow fluff and pop tarts being obvious examples

At the moment I am just getting my 12 yo DD to take up running - doing a 4k circuit with me 3 times a week running and walking to get her started (I am training for a half and have lost 2 stone since January with 5:2 diet) as well as trying to overhaul our family eating - reducing refined carbs especially sugar, increasing fruit and veg, and generally trying to improve the quality of food whilst watching portion sizes / quantity, cutting down the amount of alcohol I drink, encouraging the DCs to drink a lot more water than squash or diet fizzy....

I agree with the other posts - you need to take charge especially of her diet, but be prepared there will be some bad times to start with.

Aim to cut out junk for your meals and make a point of all the family eating the same - healthy food cooked from scratch, and pay attention to portion sizes - 6 year olds are growing but still don't need a full adult sized portion usually... If possible get her to help plan, shop and cook healthy stuff - maybe choose a new healthy recipe book and put her "in charge" of selecting meals for you all to try....

Also cut out most snacks, have a jug of water in the fridge for drinks BUT have a designated day when she can still have some sweets or an ice cream - do this once or twice a week rather than every day so it is a treat, and if you have family stuff planned, take a picnic rather than McDs - have you looked at how many calories are in MCDs meals? happy meals are smaller, but a standard medium meal ranges from around 750 to well over 1,000 depending on diet v full fat coke etc...

In terms of exercise, I'd look at overall activity levels first.... turn off the tv and get outside during the holidays - get her walking, cycling, scooting much more - don't use a car or the bus if you really don't have too - its amazing how far 6 yo's can walk with encouragement - at that age mine were doing 12 - 13 mile hikes at weekends in the lake district or peak district!

Then go to the local pool as often as you can and encourage her to be active but be careful about after swimming snacks...

And talk to her to find out if there is something she'd like to do - eg roller blading or maybe karate or tae kwondo or similar? or street dance, ballet or gymnastics? encourage as much as you can - and think if there is something you could do together - tennis, go bowling, ice skating....

another thought - buy her a cheap pedometer and get her to see how active she is - maybe buy 2 so you can have your own competition?