Need to put Dd8 on a diet

[namechange2015]

On the advice of her consultant. She's coeliac and had her yearly appt today where she's weighed & measured. All well except at the end the consultant said (hushed out of her earshot) or rather suggested that she was a little overweight and it might be an idea to 'cut down'
Does anyone have experience of putting their child on a diet? I've no experience of dieting myself so I'm not sure whether to literally cut down, fat calories etc? I definitely don't want her to know she's going on a diet, I think doing it subtlety is best as I'm in control of what she eats?
Brothers & parents normal weight & we all eat GF for ease and it seems to me she eats the same amount as her siblings. She's not particularly fussy. There is a line of very very big women in dh family though. She trains at a swim club 2 hours a weeks, gym 1.5 hours a week, we walk the dog daily. I was thinking of things like maybe joining slimming world or ww online and using that to help me? Are these suitable for a child?
Many thanks

No she doesn't need to lose weight she just needs to stay the weight she is until she's 'grown into it'. That should be easier than putting her on a diet.

What does 'a little overweight' mean anyway?

I really wouldn't do the slimming club thing though.

Could you post her weight and height?

I'm against putting children that Young on diets unless there's an obvious over consumption. They tend to grow into their height.

What gamer chick said. Definitely no 'dieting' for a child if that age, just maintaining her weight as she grows, and WW and SW are not suitable fir eight year olds. Just make sure she eats healthily, cut down junky snacks and processed food, keeps active, gets plenty of protein and vegetables.

Wasn't the consultant more specific - did s/he plot a BMI for your daughter?

You see, I disagree with other posters and think you should change her diet as clearly if she is overweight then she is consuming more than she's expending and as she gets older, she will probably become more self-conscious and it's not nice being larger than your peers, not to mention unhealthy too, Plus it will become harder to encourage healthy choices as you'll have less control over her eating when she reaches secondary school. I'm speaking from experience as I have three children, my 4yr old is overweight and she is just a child that loves eating and doesn't like being active, bless her! We have to keep a very close eye on her eating and encourage her to exercise and although we're not actively trying to make her lose weight we are maintaining it whilst she grows so as another poster said, she will grow into her weight. It is hard but I really don't want her growing up fat, being left out on sports day, feeling different to her friends, being teased, struggling with clothes etc so we're nipping it in the bud, and she isn't even aware of it as we all eat the same thing, apart from me sometimes as I'm celiac with a dairy allergy! But getting it under control now, saves a lot of struggle and stress later.

BTW Slimming world is really great as it focuses on homemade food cooked healthily and not ready meals or shakes etc. The whole family can do it and not realise and it's celiac friendly too.

No she doesn't need to lose weight she just needs to stay the weight she is until she's 'grown into it'. That should be easier than putting her on a diet
Ok, that sounds good but what do you mean easier than putting her on a diet? Keeping her diet the same as now and waiting for her to grow taller? Sorry if this sounds dim
Could you post her weight and height I should have asked but the nurse just does it and writes it down. I could get her done at boots but I don't want her to wonder why iyswim
I'm biased obviously and I know they say it's hard to spot in your own but I would say she's just 'chunky' and always has been, no rolls of fat, she's tall, she's in aged 9-10 clothes. Oh gawd I don't know whether to be worrying about it or not now, I want to do the right thing for her, what if I leave it & she ends up an overweight teen? Or I give her food issues from putting her on a diet young? Arrr

What gamer said. Don't try to make her loose weight as such.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't do anything at all though. Have a look at what she eats in a day. I assume no biscuits and no pasta etc... But what about sweet and sugar (be careful you have sugar in a lot of commercial savoury foods). What about crips etc?
When is she eating? Does she eat when she is bored? Does she know when to stop (ie when she isn't hungry anymore).

I really think that at that age, it's a lot about teaching the child to stop when they aren't hungry and ensurin that the rigt sort of food is available in the house (and few if not none of the 'bad' ones).

Name yes that's what it means. As she is growing taller and stays the same weight, she is slimming down.
IOt's easier because not as restrictive.
It also allows you to say to avoid the word diet etc with her, not restrict her (No you can't have that because you have to loose weight) and just concentrate on eating heathily (which she might moan about but won't get ED from if it's not obsessive).

Another thing is to encourage her to be active. Again not with the idea to loose weight but for general wellbeing and FUN.

What's her diet like?

Is it a portion size thing, does she eat the same quantity as her brothers and are they younger or older? When did she last have a height growth spurt, could she be due one?

I would subtly cut her portion size a bit and limit sweets etc as much as possible- use the excuse that it's bad for her teeth if necessary.
And up her exercise -sounds like she does quite a bit but what about something like a trampoline in the garden? Bike riding? Park run?

my son has some (controlled) health issues and although only just turned 3 his BMI looks AWFUL

We tried to cut down his portions but he loves food and we knew it was just because he was not growing in height so just outwards.

We are now hoping he too will not diet but just grow into his weight so to speak. I hope summer and tanking about on scooters on beach etc will help too!

Good luck with it i empathise its hard

Thanks, ok so that means that I will have to really look at what she eats now so as to know that I'm not naturally increasing it as she grows taller.

themagnificenfour pasta? Yes we eat that, you think I should cut that out?
We eat all those things, I don't cut anything out so yes to biscuits crisps sweets, not every day though of course. Actually rarely biscuits, I make them sometimes as gf so expensive.

Ok so I will start cutting out the obvious and use the teeth thing as an excuse. You're right about the teaching her when to stop. (How??i will have to think on that)
She seems to be hungry very soon after meals. It may be boredom sometimes, I don't believe in filling every moment with activities for them so yes that's a possibility that eating is just something to do. What surprises me though it that her brothers are the same yet normal weight. They are 7,8 and 10.
We have a trampoline, they are on it a lot. She's sporty and spunky & tomboyish! I can't tell you how proud it makes me watching her do gymnastics she's so bendy & bouncy
Thanks for your help

I just wanted to offer some sympathy. I've two DS who are bean poles and a DD who is heavier built - different frame and I fear like me, her mum, more suseptible to gaining weight.

I feel the need to control DD's extras (she's younger anyway) where as the DS's are able to self regulate.

If she's hungry after meals, up the protein and reduce the carbs

It's really easy to over eat when every mouthful tastes the same so a bowl of pasta is not ideal -also if pasta is done by eye then it's really easy to over portion

I'd work on the principle of 1 less

1 less potato, 1 less spoon of rice etc

She won't notice the difference

Also what is her fruit intake like? If she's a bit of a fruit bat, try swapping a piece of fruit for a veg -raw carrot, celery etc

Is she drinking enough? Children can confuse hunger with thirst.
Make crisps, biscuits and sweets a rare thing.
How much does she snack? Mine might have something when they get home from school.

Yes mis I think maybe her brothers are better at self regulating too, she starts the I'm hungry thing though and they then want it too. How do I teach her self regulation if it's not something that comes naturally? Thanks for the sympathy!
That's a good point about pasta being difficult to regulate, and the one less thing.
Yes snacking definitely happens after school!

As a coeliac myself it's worth considering how many GF alternatives she eats? Often GF food e.g. Bread, snacks, are much higher in calories because extra sugar etc is added to make them more palatable. This can also result in blood sugar surges and crashes which can manufest as hunger.
Try minimising processed food and increasing her protein, fresh veggies, pulses etc rather than GF carbs

How much pasta are you making for her? I would aim for 60 grams pre-cooked weight (80grs for women and 100 for men if you want to calculate overall family portion). Try that once and see how it looks on the plate. You might be surprised.

Have you thought about having some legume-heavy meals? They are filling and relatively low calorie. We do for example a chickpea, tomato and olive salad, sometimes with tuna too, or salade Nicoise...

Also offer fruit only for snacks. I often find visiting children who are "starving" lose interest in snacking when they realise the option is banana or apple (or whatever, as long as it is only fruit). Also fruit while waiting for a meal. And control portions so that everyone is still hungry enough to have fruit (with no cream/sugar/custard) at the end of each meal.

It seems to work for us. DH lost quite a lot when we started seriously on this regime.