Thread: overweight child and worried

Have you tried doing physically strenuous fun things with her? Hiking, snowshoeing, running, Ice skating, swimming, sailing, Karate, horseback riding, etc. Don't make loosing weight the point, the fun of the activity is the point. If she is physically active, she is likely to be healthier - and happier.

Of course if she is rebellious, then insist that she NOT do any of the above <g>

I agree with the above poster.

Get her into some fun activities that require her to exercise.

Keep feeding her healthy foods as you should be doing this anyways.

I have the same problem with my boy he just turned 10 and he is not only large for his age he is super tall as well. I know that we have to be very carefull about what we give him to eat. The thing is to make sure that the child does not feel singled out. I actually changed the whole families eating habits. We eat more vegetables and cut out alot of the fat. Everything in moderation. Keep healthy snacks close at hand. I keep raw vegetables cut up in bite size portions in the fridge.

Excellent tips and ideas!

If excercise and eating healthy does not work. Get her thyroid checked.

Wake-up and put your daily 40min into the treadmill at the same time every morning and insist your child do the same. Not only are you setting a positive example, explain to your child(ren) that ultimately they are responsible for their own body-mass and fitness level. People on TV don't wish their way to washboard abs and neither can they.

The 40min daily treadmill (or stationary bike, tread climber, rowing machine, Tae-Bo routine, etc) routine is also a perfect time to use your child's iPod for educational purposes (Yes, feel good about the Xmas splurge) with 'learn in your car' foriegn language CDs, german, spanish, french, mandarin..... you can find courses for any language your child(ren) will have to learn in school. Easy A!

Prepare, serve and eat healthy foods in correct proportions for everyone in the house and insist the children help with prep & cooking for every meal. Hopefully the little terrors will be on their own after highschool and their primary source of food should not be Little Caesar's $5 pizza (I actually know people who eat that 4 days a week).

Encourage after-school sports. Finally get your house to yourself! The children learn to respect peer groups and coaches! Baseball, basketball, soccer and football are probably already offered by your child's school. Martial Arts classes have a built-in reward system for going back (colored belts and rigidly enforced class systems), and they double as therapy for aggressive tendencies in children with emotional problems. Plus MMA and UFC are 'cool' this year, so your kids will want to exercise. And depending wear you live: skiing, swimming, tennis, parcour ("urban obstacle course" - Google it), bicycling (still cheaper than a car!), Lots of physical activities that you may or may not even consider a sport.

Great rewards for newly physically active children include:

*Saturday trip to the beach. Formerly overweight children love the beach, even if its cold. And a whole car of kids at a state-park beach is cheaper than one movie ticket. And a summer drive to the nearest six-flags is a lot cheaper than a Disneyworld vacation.

*For every size lost, fabulous new jeans! Consider that a pair of Levi's sold for upto $50 in 1988, or $300 for the 'pre-distressed' look (Well over a thousand 2010 dollars), A $80 pair of Hollister jeans isn't really that expensive. Plus your kids are fashionable (If your children currently dress like homeless crack-addicts this is a big selling point).

And yes the 40-minute/day cardio-exercise rule is stictly enforced in our household (plus strength training for all the boys age 12 & older.) Skip a day that week and you're not going out of the house that weekend.