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Weight loss chat

A space to talk openly about weight loss journeys and challenges. Mumsnet hasn't checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. You may wish to speak to a medical professional before starting any diet.

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Original poster

Very overweight 4 year old

140 replies

DumbleDork · 03/10/2018 22:39

Hi all.
I realise I may have in the wrong place but I’m desperate for some help.

My DD is 4 (just turned 4 in September) and is massively overweight. Her BMI puts her on the 99th centile. She’s 108cm and a whopping 24kg. At birth she was a fairly teeny 6lb 7oz.

The HVs get on at me about this a lot and she’s now age 5-6 clothes as she’s so podgy.

Obviously I don’t want to give her a complex and make her worry about weight at such a young age but something has to be done. I was advised to keep her weight the same as she grows so she finally catches up with her weight (if that makes sense). But her weight keeps going up and up and with her starting primary school in just under a year I want to get her to a healthy weight. Not just for health, though obviously this is priority, but so she’s not bullied for her weight and so she can do stuff as easily as the other kids.

Any ideas on how to go about this delicate subject?

Thanks all

OP posts:

BingerGeer · 08/10/2018 11:36

OP - 1lb is a lot in a week, can you stay on the same track but ease up the portion sizes of filling stuff a little? My understanding with children is the aim is not to lose, but to maintain and grown into it. It sounds tough, .

thing You’re list is pretty much how we eat as a family, and we’re all healthy weights. Except I don’t collect ‘treats’, they have them if offered by grandparents etc, but I don’t buy them. Doesn’t seem weird to me! It pretty much follows on from how I weaned them.

DunesOfSand · 08/10/2018 11:43

Please don't make her loose weight. Let her have the seconds at preschool, and make the fantastic changes you've started about diet and excerise. Maintain her current weight. Let her height go up as she grows, and her weight stay the same. She will come down the centiles.

pretendingtowork1 · 08/10/2018 11:55

I'd have a word with preschool. Could they give her a smaller portion first off so she can still have 'seconds' but it's the same amount overall?

Xiaoxiong · 08/10/2018 12:12

She may also be thirsty - sometimes hard to tell the feelings of hunger and thirst apart. Try offering her a cup of water each time she's hungry and then distracting with something fun (and not food related) to get her through to dinner time. I'm assuming the difficult time is bridging the end of school to dinner? We moved our dinner time up at this age, school finished at 3pm, we used to do dinner at 5pm or even 4.30pm(!), bath by 6pm and lights out 7pm. It was just a really long time between school lunchtime at a 6pm dinner which is what we'd been doing before (and then we couldn't fit in 12 hours of sleep either!)

I appreciate how hard it must be if she's used to having snacks at the same time of day like straight after school, the association is strong (looking at my regular 11am cup of tea and biscuit here on my desk....!!) Lots and lots of distraction at those flashpoint times might be needed for the transition as she gets used to the gradual reduction.

I also agree with peridot that the reductions in portions should be gradual and she will grow into her weight - if it's gradual, hopefully she won't even notice the smaller portion sizes.

SinisterClownWatchingYou · 08/10/2018 12:27

Please seek proper advice OP. Mumsnet is full of competitive under-eaters of little intelligence, a 4 year old should not be losing a pound in a week.
GP and dietician ASAP before you cause real issues for your child.

AssassinatedBeauty · 08/10/2018 12:47

She shouldn't be losing weight, the aim is to maintain weight whilst she grows, until she's a reasonable weight for her height.

I agree with not letting her be hungry, but make the snacks/seconds be healthy. But above all, please speak to a GP or even make a private dietician appointment. You need someone who has seen your daughter, and spoken to you in detail about what she eats to come up with an approach that is specific to your situation.

TwiceAsNice22 · 08/10/2018 12:56

I would still give her snacks if she asks for them, just make them cut up veggie sticks or a cut up apple.

I agree with pp that you shouldn’t be changing things drastically. Up the exercise - make it fun. (My 4 year old twins hate walking but will happily go for a walk if they can bring their doll prams)

Also look into healthy alternatives to junk food. You don’t want her to feel like she can never have a treat as she will want it more. One thing my kids like is “ice cream” made from frozen cut up bananas. You put it in the food processor and it goes to the consistency of ice cream. You can blend up strawberries with it to give it more flavour.

Best of luck with everything.

Longtalljosie · 08/10/2018 13:08

I’ve been here with one of my children - May I offer some advice?

Go with old fashioned meal choices - meat / chicken / fish, 1 new potato in two halves and then masses of carrots / broccoli / green beans etc. Then fruit for pudding. Don’t refuse fruit or vegetables. An apple or a carrot whole can make a good “I’m hungry!” snack.

Don’t feel you have to do this all in one go. And try to be out of the house as much as possible, away from the fridge...

Original poster

DumbleDork · 12/01/2019 23:27

Hi all.
I just wanted to update on how my lovely DD is getting on since you were all so lovely.

She’s lost 1k since October. So she’s now 23kg and now 110cm. Which puts her bmi at 97 which is overweight rather than obese which I think is bloody brilliant in only 3 months. We are being referred to a dietician soon just to be sure we are doing this correctly. Whilst the weather is cold and wet we have been driving to school but we do go on her scooter around the Close we live in and we dance to her favourite cd a lot

OP posts:

VimFuego101 · 12/01/2019 23:42

Well done

BeeMyBaby · 13/01/2019 05:50

Great update OP, I'm glad all the hard work is paying off.

Darlhh · 13/01/2019 07:23

Well done great update!

BrokenWing · 13/01/2019 10:09

Well done op. Sounds like you are approaching this very sensibly and seeing great results. ⭐️

Can you sort out my diet now?

Original poster

DumbleDork · 10/07/2019 21:30

I’ve another update incase anyone who helped and advised me originally is still lurking around

We’ve been seen by a dietician and made small tweaks to her diet, as well as more exercise.

She is now 118cm (from 108 back in October last year ). Her weight is still 24kg but this gives her a BMI of 96 rather than 99. Granted she’s still overweight but we were advised by the dietician to keep her weight the same as she grows rather than have her lose weight.

Thanks so all who helped us then, I am so grateful and I’m hopefully raising a healthy and happy daughter as a result of tackling it whilst she’s young

OP posts:

BananaBooBoo · 10/07/2019 21:39

Well done OP, you are doing a great job to set your DD up with good eating habits. Thanks for the update.

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