8 yo putting on weight- how to address it?

[wannabecowgirl]

my 8 nearly 9 yo has steadily put on weight this past year- she would be quite slim build but has started to thicken up on her legs and arms but mainly has a significant pot belly- also pre boobs- that I think are just fat as opposed to start of development.
Weight gain Totally coincided with a massive increase in her appetite - breakfast, school snack, school dinner, after school snack, then says she is "starving" and has another dinner, then supper before bed- usually cereal!
She does eat some treats, chocolate is her (and my) main vice - and she will have a bar probably every second day! Other than that I home make everything- and school dinner is ok, healthy wise- alternative packed lunch is not an option as she finds making friends difficult and her one friend and her take dinner together.
I want to address why I am cutting her portions and cutting out all rubbish, I have been saying it's because I don't want her to be unhealthy - but doesn't really cut it with a kid- I know she would listen if I say she will put on weight if she continues to eat too much- I would never point out her current puppy fat- and she is totally oblivious to it- how should I address weight gain in relation to her body, whilst not making it an issue for her?

NameyMc

Keto is not the same as recommending low carbs!!
Keto is under 20grams a day FGS!!

Really?
It illustrates that eating low carb doesn't involve cutting out 'entire food groups'. Your words

Actually eating less than 50g of carbs/day puts your body into ketosis, which reduces hunger and helps you lose weight.

Eating 100-150g of carbohydrate a day would be classed as ‘moderate carb’, so not low carb

The PP didn't recommend that she puts her child on a keto diet.
Not sure where you're going with this.

Perhaps I should ask where you are going with this?
Why are you recommending a low carb diet for this child, with what evidence/background that it’s appropriate and safe?

Isn’t it fairly common for kids to look ‘tubby’ just before a growth spurt? My daughter always gets a a huge appetite and a pot belly before shooting up.

If you don’t think it’s that then rather than restrict what she’s eating why don’t you address it as a family? That you all need to start being healthier - family walks in the evening, more veg, less treats etc. I think pointing it out to her and singling her out will have the opposite effect.

No point in cutting portions. If she is still hungry she us clearly lacking nutrients. Cut our cars at home and give plenty of proteins and fresh veg.

Everyone seems to have missed the fact that she is eating school made lunches BTW. These are usually full of carbs.

Namey
You will notice that I didn't recommend any diet for this child.
I answered your post - directed at you. Only you.
The post in which you claimed eating low carb eliminated entire 'food groups'.
Nobody suggested keto either. You brought that up.

So do you think a low carb diet is appropriate in this case? And if so, what evidence are you using to support this?

And it does elongate good griups. Namely processed carbs.
Whilst significantly reducing to the point of almost exclusion carbs in general.

Elongate=eliminate

Good groips = food groups 🙄😂

Thanks all for your comments- I am really just wondering if I should talk to her about the health effects of junk food and too many sweets- one of which is weight gain- she is a wise little girl who likes to learn- and I thought it might be a conversation about why we are going to watch we we all eat as a family- I would never dream of pointing out her current tubbiness- as I said in op, she is totally oblivious to it and I would never want to point it out, but I wonder if she is too young to think about the consequences of her food choices- and to think, when she lifts food, if she is really hungry or is it habit?? Is 8yo too young to ask her to think about her food choices?
Some really good advise on healthy snacks and set meal times-
I could be better at this without even bringing it up- I could also be stricter when begged for a cookie in the local coffee shop or pack of sweets in supermarket- but I think there may also be a growth spurt near. She is really active- sports clubs 4 hrs week- and schools sports at least half hour every day- age runs and jumps on trampoline all evening-weather permitted. Her dad and I are both prone to weight gain- all the more
Reason I am conscious in my kids

As for the debate on low carb or not- I have no intention of putting my child on a restrictive diet or any diet at all- question was just asking should
I talk to an 8yo about the consequences of unhealthy food choices??

Namey
It's not my call on what this child should eat. I only hope that I managed to dispell the misinformation in your post.

Namey
You're a fan of processed carbs?

🤣
You didn’t.

OP - I think it’s a tough one. I wouldn’t speak to her specifically about her choices, perhaps you could just talk generally about healthy food in a positive way?
Like aren’t strawberries brilliant, they contain so many vitamins we need. And isn’t chicken great, it’s so full of protein it keeps us full for a long time, so we don’t eat too many snack.
My little brother got quite chubby at 9-10. He then shot up to 6 foot and was (still is) a beanpole.
Good luck

Diana - I fucking love them

... as part of a balanced diet of course

Processed carbs = good food group
It's difficult to avoid them and I eat them sometimes. But I wouldn't advocate them as an essential nutritional food group. Would your health suffer if you didn't eat processed carbs? Do any of your processed carbs spike your blood sugar levels?

Do not mention it at all, even in ways you think are subtle. Cool healthy meals with enough protein and fat and wholegrain carbs etc. Do fun family activities involving exercise. And it’s probably puppy fat anyway.

Strawberries = low carb
Chicken = low carb

Also a LOT of little girls have a chubby phase right before they hit puberty IME.

Wannabe

I hear you on not wanting to say no when the kid is begging for cookies. I can tell you what I do with mine. Sugar intake is the only thing that I moderate; other foods - kids do a very good job in knowing when to stop. Sugar interferes with their innate ability to self control. My kids can have one portion of dessert a day - they can choose whether to have it with lunch or dinner. If we are out and they want a treat they don’t have dessert that day. Also, occasionally, we bake cookies and they can have as many as they want for a snack. They can also have as much chocolate as they want for Easter. I notice that relaxing the rule doesn’t make them so desperate for treats.
I disagree with you on consequences for “unhealthy” food choices. There are so many people living on fast food and who wouldn’t touch a vegetable and are of “healthy” weight. And probably your dd knows friends at school who bring junk food and suffer no consequences. I know from personal experience that at my lowest weight I was eating a diet consisting of chocolate, candy (and alcohol).
I am telling you this because I went through what you are describing. I have one slim kid and a chubby one. Both eating the same food, playing sports but of different weight (the kid who is big is more active than the slim one, who would live in front of a screen if he could). There is not much you can do about it. I believe that by opening the subject we would do more harm than good.
May I recommend this website www.ellynsatterinstitute.org/how-to-feed/childhood-feeding-problems/#the-overweight-child
I really wanted to commend you for not wanting to put your child on a diet. It is so tempting for many of us, although we can tell to ourselves that low-carb, low-fat or the latest fad is not really a diet.

I'm not a scientist, and not an expert. However, I'm surprised at the lack of awareness among some MN parents about the GI index and the effect carbs have on the body. Lowering sugar isn't 'cutting out food groups'. Which food group would it cut out? Cereal, sweets, cakes, biscuits, bread, pasta.... they're hardly nutritiously dense. What are you losing on the nutrition front by cutting those?
Berries are low carb, avocadoes, green veg, fish, nuts, meat, eggs, olives, olive oil, cheese, baby sweetcorn.... Then there's a whole range of food with a medium carb count that don't spike insulin too.

I am a scientist. And i have studied enough metabolic biochemistry to know that the low carb pseudoscience often posted here is ill informed and misinterpreted.

Insulin and blood sugar “spikes” don’t happen in the way people think they do. It is not that simple, and there are millions of regulatory reaction going on that keep your blood sugar stable. Exercise will cause glucose to be released into the bloodstream. All food will cause insulin release. Sugar is all equal. Low GI simply means that the gi tract takes longer to digest that food and release the energy.

Carbs are essential to provide energy. More so in children because they need it for growth. There are “better” carbs- the ones that are digested more slowly and/or are in combination with fibre and other nutritional value.

Cutting out bread, pasta, cakes etc you lose on the carb front. Those carbs that are easential for growth. Cut them out and you could cause serious issues for growth, concentration and learning, as the brain runs off glucose.

Like i said, metabolism is fucking complicated and i think it would need a lifetime of study to understand. Not just a bit of googling.

Go and google krebs cycle- how cells use and produce energy.

Hi Micah, are you Namey under a name change?
Thanks for quoting my post out of context. I don't and haven't advocated ANY diet for this child, nor did I recommend that she eats low carb.
My post was in answer to Namey's post on how we shouldn't exclude whole food groups. Later she (you?) explained that food group was processed carbs.

The child's mother has said several times, very clearly, that she has no intention of putting her child on any diet. She thanked posters for their helpful advice (I wasn't any help, but others were). So I'm not sure what you are hoping to contribute at this stage. Unless you are Namey and woke up in a grump?