My 10 year old boy is piling on weight

[CarolDW]

Recently i've noticed that my ds has been putting a lot of weight on, he's 4"5 and is 6 stone 3, so I think that makes him overweight. He certainly looks overweight and he's a lot fatter than he ever has been. He hates sport and eats loads of food, he often tries to take it from cupboards secretly. He's rapidly outgrowing his clothes and a lot of people are starting to notice it. Anyone in the same boat ? What should I do ?

Re: not finding the school walking. Three possible solutions:

1. Walk the route you go in the car
2. Ask someone to show you the way
3. Look at a map

Threelittlebadgers, do you walk four hours a day? To school and back, twice? If so, I am impressed!

I've got plans to try and do something active as much as possible with ds and limit his food intake. Christmas is coming up and he always eats a ridiculous amount during the christmas/new year period.

elspethmcgillicuddy- I would walk the route we take in the car but it involves a stretch of motorway, making that impossible. The only walking route I currently know of would take at least an hour so isn't practical.

Is it at your house that he eats this phenomenal amount of food?
Serve him smaller portions, less fried food, choose cereals more carefully, don't bring in all the treats you have bought at once, don't buy fizzy drinks.

whereisegg- I've tried to slowly reduce his portion sizes recently. I've also told relatives to avoid buying him too much chocolate/sweets for christmas.

Carol DS (10) is also not a sports fan. He is a good swimmer and is still made to attend weekly lessons.

A year ago he joined a stage company which mixes dancing, drama and singing, but is generally dancing focussed. He loves this (although DH has a very low opinion of this as a form of exercise!)

He also took up sailing this year after a school taster session, he loves this.

What's at your home at Xmas that causes lots of weight gain! Don't buy any snacks. Xmas dinner etc is healthy, and limit the choc goodies to just those you add in stocking

At home I would simply stop buying all rubbish snacks. Keep fruit bowl stocked, and give him recipe book of fairly healthy baking If he wants muffins/ biscuits occasionally

Artandco- I wouldn't say that there is anything in particular that causes weight gain, it's just the quantities of food that he has which causes weight gain. As for the fruit bowl, I keep it filled with fruit but ds didn't even know we had one

As you know he can't seem to control himself then you need to either buy much less (if any) high calorie food or leave most of any treat food you choose to buy in the car boot or similar.

Whereisegg- At the moment I keep all the high calorie stuff and sweet stuff in the very top kitchen cupboards so he can't get them.

OP what exercise do you and DP do and what is your diet like?

Me and my husband eat an average amount (i'd guess about 2000-2500 cals per day) I'm a little plump but not overweight, husband is quite skinny. We noth get a moderate amount of exercise each day, we both go to gym on a thursday.

Fair enough re: motorway.

You say you are not overweight but 'a little plump'. What is your BMI? Or a rough idea of height and weight?

My BMI is 24

Stop buying sugary stuff/unhealthy snacks/juice etc, if it's not in the house he can't eat it. Stop letting him have money in his pocket after school so he can't buy sweets. Insist on more walking - his moaning is irrelevant.

He is 10, and you are in charge, not the other way round.

Good luck with it. You are doing a good thing by helping him change bad eating habits. Lots of people don't even think about it.

Just wondering, is my ds actually overweight ? i know he probably is but i'm not 100% sure.

Well every suggestion that has been given you have given excuses for.
I sympathise that you can't force him to join in at clubs, but you can;
-not buy sweets/treats/crisps/pop
-serve healthier meals
-reduce portion size
-stop puddings
-find somewhere to park that's not outside the school gates
-park in a further away car park for town
-shy away from activities that also include eating eg cinema
-get him involved in chores that get his heart pumping eg cleaning windows
-stop computer/tv time until he has moved eg walked to shop for bread having given him the right money only

you said he looks overweight, doesn't exercise, sneaks foods from cupboards, eats loads of food and that people are noticing it. Google children's BMI if you want to know but I'd say it sounds like he has issues around food/exercise irrelevant of his BMI.

ive checked now and according to an nhs calculator he is 'very overweight'.
I do intend to try and do most of the things suggested, especially reducing how much he eats.

Yes, he is overweight, the NHS website has a child's BMI calculator, just google it, this weight/height combination for a 10 year old male puts him very firmly in the overweight region.

What sort of meals is he eating?

Does he do swimming lessons? If not, I would get them (re) started for the new year, & don't take no for an answer, ignore the complaints!

whereisegg- Usually eats things like pizza, pasta,or ham/chicken burger for lunch. Has food like fish and chips or other similar meals for dinner.

If you cut down on buying treats and take aways you can free up cash to plough directly into activities, does he have a sibling or mate that would be interested in....
-kayaking
-swimming
-go ape
-laser tag
-horse riding
-geo caching
-dry ski slope
-roller skating/blading
-skateboarding
-visiting a local skate park
-trampolining