My son’s weight

[NWlondonman]

My son is 13-1/2, around 5 foot tall and weighs around 55kg. Sounds overweight and he looks visibly overweight. But he?s no classic ?lardy arse?.

Sure he likes his food, but he gets no junk food at home and hates fizzy drinks (he has one glass or Ribena a day). And yes he likes his games console, but he?s not glued to it; he walks 20 mins to school and back each day and can be cajoled into doing more without too much trouble. He goes to a great school and is happy there and not bullied because of his chubbiness. I want to make sure that doesn?t happen.

Any thoughts on how he might trim down 1) beyond the usual stuff about eating better and 2) without getting him guilty about food. He?s both small and young for his age and not hit puberty. Might that be contributing to a slower metabolism?

I wouldn't make a big deal of it, it sounds like you and he are doing all the right things. Puberty will happen soon and he will shoot up, probably without gaining much weight.

Do keep an eye on portion sizes (he doesn't necessarily need an adult sized portion) and try and encourage some cardio type exercise eg swimming, football, martial arts etc.

It sounds to me like you are doing the right things. It's very easy to make a child worry about their weight when there is no need. Just make sure he learns about healthy eating and keeping active.
Yes he does sound small for his age. The huge growth spurt of puberty will probably shed any hint of chubbyness. There is also usually an accompanying increase in appetite.
My DS is just 14 and 6'1" he weighs 10 stone and eats like a horse. I have warned him that he will not be able to sustain his current food intake when he stops growing . I have noticed though that his appetite does drop off in between growth surges.

If he is like my DS, just 14, he has a lot of growing & changing to do. 6 months ago at 13.5, mine too was visibly overweight or chubby. He walks 20 mins to/from school, goes to the gym for 45 mins twice a week, plays tennis for an hour once a week and takes the dog for a 15 min walk weekdays after school. On light nights he also kicks a ball about on the local field for anything from 20 mins to 1.5 hrs every day with his bro and local mates. None of this made the slighest difference whatsoever, and was really getting him down, until about 3 or 4 months ago, when he started to shoot up - I would say he has grown a good 3 or 4 inches in as many months, and consequently is now a totally different shape. He 'carries' himself differently too - more like a young man than a little boy, IYSWIM,

We had him to the GP's a couple of times over the last year or so for advice as he was fretting quite a bit about his weight, and the Doc's advice was just to eat healthily, keep active and let puberty take its course. How right he was! Now he's a tall, well-built, gorgeous lad in full throes of puberty and all the moodiness that entails - joy!!

HTH, I'm sure your DS will even out shortly too, you might even find yourself, like me, not recognising him as he walks towards you from a distance as he seemed to change almost overnight!
MFxx

tbh it doesn't sound like that much exercise for a 13 year old - how much sport does he do? my ds1 finds it hard to eat enough he does so much exercise, so I suspect if your ds was quite a bit more active he'd slim down, especially as he should be about to hit a growth spurt soon