Slightly overweight child - should I do anything?

[Wannabeyorkshirelass]

My daughter is 6 and has recently become slightly chubby. I'm not hugely worried and she still looks a healthy size but has a bit of a tummy and a puffy chest, struggling to fasten her jeans and things. This is unusual for her as she's always been slender. She is 50th centile for height and 75th for weight so a little out of proportion. She has a massively sweet tooth and LOVES any kind of sweets, cakes etc. I don't keep these things in the house but given any chance she will scoff 'treats'. She also perpetually asks for 'snacks' (doesn't get them) and eats large portions. She eats a lot at school - I've heard tales of seconds and seconds of pudding - even thirds!

She's active - plays football twice a week, swims twice a week and does a martial art.

My question is really that I don't know if I should be trying to help her slim down slightly so that it doesn't spiral? Should I be serving her smaller portions and saying no to seconds? I tend to think kids control their hunger naturally and I serve mostly healthy food, but I don't want to be blind to it the way some parents are. Should I forbid all sugary things for a while (grandparents etc)?

For context, I am slightly overweight myself by about a stone (size 12 - 14) and my husband is obese, so her role models aren't great.

By 'doesn't get them' regarding treats, I don't mean never gets them but doesn't get them every time she asks or she'd be eating all day long, and I try to make sure they're proper food not biscuits or anything.

She eats a lot at school - I've heard tales of seconds and seconds of pudding - even thirds!

Do you know this for sure? Seems pretty irresponsible for the staff to allow this to continue. Maybe an area that could be worked on.

Sounds a little like she is compensating when she has access to treats/sweet stuff by getting as much as possible when she can. Perhaps making it less of a taboo might help? Have one or two unhealthy snacks as treats on occasion. Or bake some treats that taste sweet but are low in sugar and fat so she gets that craving but doesn't get the calories.

She's active, in the normal percentiles and if her gp isn't worried I wouldn't stress about her weight too much. It'll hopefully even out id just monitor it without making her self conscious. Oh and if her clothes don't fit you might want to try a different brand to see what fits her proportions better.

Yes it is up to you, by 6 your LO is perfectly capable of being greedy. I was an overweight child and extremely active (bike rides/ swimming) but I was fed adult portions and had lots of sweets and treats. Definitely try and install a healthier diet and having her be aware of her hunger whilst she’s so young

Don't say anything to her but do reduce her portions and give her a higher ratio of veg.

It sounds like she has become used to large portions, I doubt she is eating all the because she is hungry, sounds more like she is eating because she likes food.

One of my DC's is like this, they just love food, so I reduced their portion sizes and swapped things like cereal for eggs or beans and wholegrain seeded toast.

Yes I think she just really likes food! She's also got a very wide palate and enjoys mealtimes though she's a total veg dodger and is often constipated. I don't totally taboo on unhealthy treats (we go to MacDonalds if we're on a long drive, we buy crisps after swimming sometimes, we go out for tea and cake etc) but I just don't stock the in the house otherwise I'd eat them all! :)

Thank you for the advice - I will keep an eye on her portion sizes and definitely be on top of this. For her confidence as well as her health, I don't want her to get to teenage years overweight.