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?

I turned into a total tub at this age. A few months later I was 5 ft 7 with boobs and hips...! My mum also cut my diet and I was so painfully aware that I was fat. It was just part of development. Keep a normal, healthy diet.

Oh and yes, I don't see anything wrong with talking about healthy foods!

Micah - interesting post. I wish I was you secretly 😂

I’d ignore Diana if I were you, she seems a bit unhinged.

Her blood sugars probably a bit low

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?

So i am misreading when you say cut out pasta, bread, and other complex carbs?

What exactly was the point of your post if it wasn’t to say cutting out carbs is a good thing?

Her blood sugars probably a bit low grin

I will respond to my own point here

Low blood sugar in a healthy person shouldn’t/doesn’t happen. As blood glucose drops glucose is released into the blood stream keeping it stable. There is a complicates homeostatic mechanism that cause uptake and release of glucose into and from cells that means blood glucose doesn’t drop or rise below or above a certain amount.

Otherwise we’d have people who skip lunch dropping into a hypoglycaemic coma. Low blood glucose = no energy supply to the brain.

What exactly was the point of your post if it wasn’t to say cutting out carbs is a good thing?

Gosh, this is getting painful. Where did I say CUT OUT carbs??
Do you know the meaning of the words 'low' 'moderation' 'reduce'?
Or do you see them and interpret it as 'cut out completely'?

My point - aimed clearly at one poster - and not this child's parent - or any child - was that there are a wealth of choices of nutritious foods that are low and medium carb.
If you can't see that, or disagree, then start your own thread to extol the benefits of processed carbs. It'll be interesting.

Show me studies done on healthy kids Namey not kids with CP

scholar.google.fr/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&as_vis=1&q=growth+rate++in+children+with+cp&btnG=#d=gs_qabs&p=&u=%23p%3Dbiw2sF9KkB0J

I know from way up there looking down on us mere mortals you feel you know more than us.

Firstly I'm sure you check who sponsored all of the studies you've cited. Secondly I'm a dietician and an expert in obesity and metabolic diseases especially in children.

Low carb and yes even ketogenic diet done properly are perfect for most people bar those with certain lipid disregulation diseases or kidney issues.

Babies are in nutritional ketosis in the womb, if they're exclusively breast fed they stay in ketosis until weaned onto higher carb foods.

Carbs are not an essential food group. Through gluconeogenesis the locker produces all the glucose the brain needs to survive. In healthy individuals burning ketones instead of glucose is a preferable metabolic state.

OP a low carb diet - max 120g a day will help your daughter lose weight, stay saturated and regulate her blood sugar. Keep her off refined sugars, starches, cereals and grains. Good luck.

*liver