Help me fill up 11-year old dd

[letsmargaritatime]

I have been inspired by the support I have had on my other two threads about my overweight 11-year-old dd. She has three very slim siblings and is a completely different size and shape (technically obese, cellulite, chafing rash ) She has a hearty appetite but doesn't appear to eat any more than her siblings, they are all always starving though. I cook mainly from scratch and am happy to do so, although also work full-time so would appreciate quick meal ideas too for the days I've run out of freezer stuff.

She is very active and her size doesn't appear to affect her sport in any way so no breathlessness or lethargy (cycling and swimming mainly so gets very hungry)

I basically want to help her feel full on as few calories as possible so please help me!

She loves chicken, tuna, salmon, pasta, bread, cheese

She will eat pork, beef, prawns, eggs, most vegetables

She won't eat onion, leeks, anything with that texture. Also always leaves salad.

Please give me some ideas! Tia

I put literally what she had eaten yesterday but should have said that she does usually have veg with her lunch, she loves carrots, whole, grated it cut into sticks, apple and cucumber but unfortunately this is pretty much it when it comes to raw veg, so she tends to have these same three things every day with her lunch or in her packed lunch at school. Yesterday I hadn't shopped and didn't have any fresh veg, just frozen baby veg.

Sorry I missed a few questions. She is the second oldest, one older sibling and two younger. I do give them all roughly the same though, just a few extra sides for teenager. Youngest two are skinny as rakes. Teenager slim and curvy but as a child she was also stick thin.

Someone asked about beans and pulses, one meal she really enjoys is a lentil curry with chickpeas, so we have that at least once a week.

Someone else said about the tv program, I am going to download it in iplayer later tonight.

Re: drinks, squash with meals, water the rest of the time. I know squash isn't especially healthy but it doesn't have any calories in it and I already feel like I restrict loads of things compared to their friends mums.

It's made me think about the processed meat, I hadn't thought of it like that. We have roast gammon about once a week, I cook a whole huge gammon (4-5kg) and then slice up the leftovers and leave them in the fridge, I also have boiled eggs in there as my kids are always starving and these things seem to fill them up. Bacon we have rarely, but I do sometimes wrap one rasher around a chicken breast like I did last night. I will keep an eye on how much processed meat I actually give them though.

I saw a documentary once OP where a lady had three DC and only one was overweight. She thought she was giving reasonable portions but she wasn't.

Here's a good guide. Scroll down to see the portion guidelines for children in youir DD"s age.
www.cwt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/CHEW-5-11Years-PracticalGuide.pdf

That was a really interesting read, I had no idea boys needed more calories than girls! I knew men needed more than women but I just thought a child's body is a child's body. You live and learn!

I think dd needs between the two recommended amounts - something like 1900? She doesn't do two hours vigorous exercise every day. But swimming three times a week (squad so literally pounding it up and down for a full hour) plus cycling with DH most Saturdays and Sundays (minimum 10 miles over the weekend) Also walking to school (takes 20 minutes brisk walk, or 30 strolling) plus usual PE, trampoline at home. To look at her you would never believe she is sporty, but she's actually very athletic and has tremendous stamina. I wouldn't be worried if she was just chunky, but she's not, it is definitely fat

Another poster said not too much peas and sweet corn, we don't have sweet corn kernels although we do have baby corn) but I use frozen peas loads, are they not as good as other veg?

If she's fat then she really doesn't need more than the reccomended OP. The guide says ALL children should do 60 mins excersise daily. Enough to get breathless.

Could you make a big pot of vegetable soup and give her a small bowl before dinner? That could help to fill her up more?

You're quite right user, I don't mean to aspire to that much, just that the guide seems to indicate she is a little above the recommended 60 minutes moderate exercise a day. The reality is I just try to keep her calorie intake as low as I can without starving her, I'm not sure exactly what the calories are in everything but I know there must be many days it's no more than 1800.

Peas are fine every so often but they have a higher calorie content and are less filling than veg such as broccoli - so it's really easy to eat masses of them - same for sweetcorn - although babycorn and sugar snap peas or mangetout are fine

And squash, whilst the type you get May not contain added sugar, it does contain calories so keep an eye on how much is being drunk

Worth watching the latest Doctor in the House on iPlayer. It addresses a similar issue (active overweight child with a healthy diet) and they found ways of helping that hadn't been previously tried. Worth watching as it may give you some ideas (it was excellently and sensitively handled): www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08sqvpk

I can sympathise how difficult it is judging what's enough when a child's saying still hungry.my dd2 is chunky,other 4skinny,ds under dietetics he's so tiny.they all have huge apetites.my dd doesn't seem to feel full til bloated.I find keeping her mentally very busy takes her mind off food -puzzle books,games etc and giving other things than food "treats ". She loves lush bathbombs,having me paint her nails etc(she's just 13 but has loved these things since 11)

still do you know why only one of your dc is chunky? Does she eat noticeably more, or is it the case that she is the one you have to watch?

Is it possible she's eating things you're not aware of OP? I know one of mine was at one point. She was buying things on the way to school.

I think you need protein dense snacks for her.

From the amount of exercise she is doing I'm not surprised she's still hungry.

I'd give her:

Hard boiled eggs (see you already do this)
Cheese and walnuts/almonds and cucumber sticks
Peanut butter and crackers and an apple
Hummus and veg sticks
Cottage cheese with apple sauce

You say she likes lentil and chick pea curry, make a big pot of lentil and veg soup and have that as a starter before dinner.

Sounds to me like the wrap and pasta meals are simply not filling her and I'm not surprised, they are empty carbs.

FWIW it's worth maybe she simply metabolises food differently to your other child and needs to adapt her diet accordingly.

Toffee could be right. I read an article about the fact that there is evidence to prove that some people carry a gene which makes them put on weight easier. After years of people saying it's not so....

If that is the case with your DD and she's not finding food elsewhere then I would in all honesty see her doctor. You could go without her and then you might get a referral for proper dietary advice.