9-Year Old Son Is Becoming Overweight

My daughter is exactly the same. She is 9 and about the same height/weight. Anything you lean, please pass it on! So far, I only get sugar-free koolaid, sugar free candy only, diet sodas, and the like, but she is super picky when it comes to meals. She will only gravitate towards the starchy, high simple-carb meals. I don't know what else to do; it's virtually impossible to get any outside exercise in the winter here, as we can't even afford a YMCA membership. :(

Maybe look into some of the food preparation ideas for diabetics. I'm almost certain they have much healthier diets, and there has to be some easy cooking ideas for them... Just a thought.

Hi K.,
I see you also try to maintain a "so-so healthy diet" that we moms try to incorporate into our lifestyles. I often wonder how I made sure my children, as infants and toddlers, always received proper nutrition and then as they got older the "junk food" took over. I wonder when nutrition became less of a priority for me. I have found a way to fill the gaps when trying to reach the recommended 9-13 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables, it's with JuicePlus+. I have rid my body of such toxins and given myself what I need to function properly. As a result, I lost 16 pounds of what I believe was toxic waste just collecting in my body. I still indulge in sinful sweets but I can provide myself healthy food without necessarily having to follow a strict diet of sorts. Getting children to eat fruits and vegetables can be frustrating, my 14 y.o. son hates anything that might possibly be good for him, but he will take JuicePlus+ gummies; whole food nutrition in gummie form. Take a look at my website and see what you think...www.juiceplus.com/+dl40646. My whole family takes it and it's a proactive and preventative step to a healthier lifestyle. Good luck and God Bless.

Hi K.,
Adderall is actually a stimulant and it could cause weight loss.
As far as your husband drinking soda that his his choice to ruin his teeth and and drink all that sugar. With your son having ADHD he shouldn't be drinking all that caffiene and sugar anyway. I drink soda and my daughter is not allowed she doesn't even ask. Think of it like it's a beer if you had a beer would you give your son one because it's fair? Sometimes I do get my daughter Sugar Free Natural Hansens Soda as a treat.
You should consider taking your son to the doctor to have him checked out the maybe he could refer you to a nutritionist.

You might want to avoid products with high fructose corn syrup. When I moved down to the US from Canada, I put on about 50 pounds in a year without having changed my level of diet or exercise. Recently I read about how nasty high fructose corn syrup is and how it's in a lot of US foods but not in the Canadian equivalents (everything from jam to tartar sauce!). It might even be the cause of escalating diabetes rates in the US.

So I removed it almost entirely from my kitchen. I dropped pounds immediately, plus the food tastes so much better.

Check ingredient labels for it. Foods should have sugar, not high fructose corn syrup. A fast way to check is to go with organics, since HFCS isn't allowed in organic food.

K., hello hope all is well with you I understand your concern.
1st) make a routine time for him to eat--- let him have healthy snakcks between meal times and only allow him one soda a day or per week or something to that nature...

2nd) yes, Adderall is a stimulant but what most do not understand is when they are on this medication it also keeps them hungry and processing food at a much faster rate so they want to eat non stop

3rd) Eating out is okay.... but only eat out say once a week or something like that.

4th) Pizza is okay but have eat a small bowl of Salad before the Pizza get full a little quicker than normal.

6th) have him walk around the block a few times an evening.

7th) You should not be too concerned you said hubby is quite "big" looks like your son is going to follow in his routine he is going to be "big" soon enough it will even itself out

Sincerely,P.

I understand your fear. My younger son is 8 1/2 and I feel as though he is a little chubby side. He has always been in the same percentile as your son. He loves carbs. It is hard limiting them because we are on one income right now and carbs are the cheapest groceries. I try to make sure he plays outside actively for at least an hour a day. As for the soda issue. You and your husband can have soda at dinner and your son can have milk. You are the adults, so it is absolutely ok to give that reason to your son. He may not think this is fair, but that's life. Or you could tell him he can have one can a day and let him choose when to utilize it. Good luck! I realize that this posting is old, so please let me know how it is going. I really worry about my little one, but I am hoping he just outgrows this chubby stage.

You've gotten lots of responses and have a plan going but I wanted to toss out one more thing. I share your distaste for the cooking thing. Do you have a Dream Dinners or some prepared dinner service available? The cost is really close to what you pay for groceries. You spend two hours at the store once a month and you prepare the month's dinners. They are healthy and frozen and EASY!!!!

Anyway...it might be a good alternative so you can feel better and that is really important when we are trying to take on such difficult parenting tasks!

How much does your son exercise? The public school system isn't doing such a great job at keeping our kids active any more. He needs to find something that he is interested in, even if it's just walking the dog at night; he needs to get out and get active. If a lack of activity isn't the problem, you MUST change his diet, even if the father doesn't. The son just has to understand that peoples' bodies operate differently so some people need to eat differently and if that doesn't work ask your husband to please not eat or drink these unhealthy items in front of your son or just don't buy any of it at the store (that's what I do). You MUST add more vegetables to the diet and less processed food. I understand about not wanting or liking to cook, I'm the same way. I'm a career mom and have very little time between helping with my daughter's homework, my career, my new husband, cleaning the house, and taking care of all the animals to do anything let alone cook (which I hate to do anyway). I would suggest getting the newest South Beach Diet cookbook- it's the yellow one that has 30 minute or less meals. This is not an actual diet and you can always add to it different foods that you would like pasta or potatoes, just do it in moderation. But the recipes are quick and simple and taste really good. But you are right, you don't want to make food a big deal but you should get him to want to eat healthier. Hope this helps some.

when you feed him mak sure you feed him befor 8.00 o clock because that how he gains weight fast.

My in laws have a lot of weight issues, so I deal with this quite often. One way they have managed their kids to stay a healthy weight is restricting sugar in their diets. It has definitely worked wonders on my boyfriend's cousin. He isn't as spastic and is no longer overweight. Eliminating sugar completely seems hard, but it isn't in actuality. I've decreased my sugars and starches, these contain the most carbs. Replace regular flour with whole wheat flour. I don't usually drink soda and neither does the family, but when I do induldge, I counterattack with purchasing diet soda. We also try VERY HARD to eat a lot of vegetables and fruits. I try to make it a habit to include a main entree, vegetable and fruit for lunch and dinner. This seems to work with my daughter.

If you can afford it, try to get him involved in activities like swimming (fun for everyone!) which is an all over body workout, or go on walks with him. This can help you get involved in his life and give you two some talking time.

My 9yr old started to add a weight around 9. He is turning 10 in June. He started to get "man boobies". He eats all the time. He is a very healthy eater, but I do have to watch the kid of food he does eat. We no longer have a snack drawer. Whenever he wants to eat I always have a fruit bowl. I also have replaced the puddings, yogarts, sugar fruit juices, and soda's with string cheese, flavored water (which he loves) and he makes his own turkey w/ wheat bread himself. He has slimmed down, but I know he does need he weight because he is very active in sports and needs the energy. It took a while for him to get use to the fact that those were his only choices, but if he is really hungry he will eat what is available. Now my son does not have ADHD so I am unsure of how food effects him. You really need to talk to a nutritonist who deals with ADHD. Sometimes certain foods affects them differently and you don't even know it. My motto is your body craves what you feed it. If you eat sugar you will crave it. If you eat fiber and protein you will crave it.

I too have a 9yr old that is getting chubby. With my son its more about keeping him busy so he doesnt want to eat so much. He doesnt eat alot but eats often. We are limiting his snacking and hopefully that will help. My first two didnt have this problem so I am not sure how to deal with it either. If you find something that works let me know too!!!

oh my goodness this is my son. what are you doing to help him. I also know my child will never be the thin kid he will always be a "big" guy. thank you for writing in some of us feel like we are doing something wrong.

I am sorry to hear that your having this weight problem with child it seemsd that this generation that is a big issue. I was having that problem with myself and i saw that i was eating out alot and not watching what i ate. So then my kids were doing the same thing and my middle child is a little over weight. I have had to get online a look up some healthy recipts for food and try to make them for the time you can look up clow cooker reciepts that you can start and just let them cook all day. THat is what i had to do i work alot as well 12 to 16 hours shifts it is very hard to find time to cook a healthy meal. I have prepared meals the night before or even aon the weekends and taht way they just have to be put in the oven and they will be done. also look at the fact if he is getting enough exercise and the other hard thing is with it being winter finding things to do active inside is just making sure he is not sitting infront ofd the tv all day and stuff like that well best of luck let me know how it turns out for you.

One thing you need to know, when babies are born big, and "chunky" they store the fat cells for later in life. this simply means one thing, he will ALWAYS have to worry about his weight. Most likely the weight issues will get worse around puberty, as your doctor will tell you. Soda needs to be remove 100% whether your hunny likes it or not. High Fructose Corn Syrup produces chemicals that alter the brain and convince the body it is still hungry, causing the person to consume MORE food that it does not need.

I will suggest this (my degree covers basic nutrition and diet) He needs to do more activites, he needs to increase his vegatable intake to darker colors of fruit and veggies. Change the carbs to whole grains ONLY!! Barilla makes a great pasta"plus" that has added omega acids and the less strches, the better. Reduce the amounts of carbs, soda and sugary foods. Its not hard at all, it just takes a slight dedication, and honestly, not many of the "healthier" options taste different then the original foods.

Tell your husband if this continues, it will only be worse for your son. Especially since he has ADHD. A good diet will decrease the brain chemicals for that issue as well.

You dont have to alter your way of cooking, just choose healthier options, and in my opinion, you may need to see a nutritionist, they are the best way to getting out of the habits your family has put themselves into.....

K.,

Have you and your husband sat down and discussed your concerns about your son? Does your husband think there is an issue or not? If he doesn't, you can't make him change his ways but I assume that you are "in charge" of the menu, right?? You can make the changes needed, just don't make it an issue. If he does think it's an issue, does he realize that his son will want to mirror him? and doesn't he want what is best for his son?

Just to share with you what my husband is dealing with at 34 years old: He's 6'4" and weighs almost 300 lbs. When he was 9, his father (who is a doctor, mind you! grrr) put him on a diet. He made exercising a chore and made food all the more alluring by taking anything that tasted good (candy, cookies, etc) away, therefore, forcing a 9 y.o. boy to horde food in his room. To this day, my husband has food issues. He doesn't know how to eat right and doesn't know how to do portion control. He feels like working out is "work" and although he knows he should do it, doesn't like to.

So, my advice to you would be to slowly modify your and your family's diet. Buy healthier cookies/ice cream and adapt the "anything in moderation, nothing in excess" motto that we follow in our home. I find that if I take the snacks out of their original package and break them up into separate ziplock baggies, we don't eat as many in one sitting. And buying only a 6pk of sodas instead of a case at a time. It took me three years to get my husband to stop drinking ONLY coffee and diet sodas...but now he drinks water mostly, one or two cups of coffee a day and maaaybe a soda a week with lunch.

I understand about cooking not being your thing...I'd much rather go out to eat myself...but I have found that Rachel Ray and her 30-minute meals are FANTASTIC! Easy and delicious. There is another lady on the Food Network that does "Semi-homemade" things...her recipes are good, too. One more cookbook that I have is from a series called "Gooseberry Patch"...easy and tasty and most ingredients are things you'd have in your pantry.

The other thing is, since your son is nearing puberty...which could be a cause of the weight gain...instead of making food an "enemy", take walks with him, get outside and play active games. Go biking together, etc. make exercise fun. It won't hurt you or your husband and it will make exercise more appealing to your son if it isn't "hard" and is a family activity. If your husband doesn't want to get on board, fine. Just make the decision for you and your son and stick with it.

Basically, the way I look at it is that if you do the grocery shopping...you're in charge of what your family eats. If your husband refuses to give up the sodas, etc. Fine, but they don't need to be available to your son...grown ups do a lot of things that kids shouldn't.

And to add that I am not giving my advice without thought, my son is 10mos old and outweighs his friends who are 2-6 months older than he...he's 25lbs! So, I have the same concern for my boy which is why I am trying to make the dietary changes now! :)

Good luck and I hope that knowing my/my husbands situation helps!

you should ask your doctor if that is a side effect. as for the snacks. granola is actually a really bad snack, you would be surprised how much sugar is in it. also, you can get fast food and pizza a little better for you. for instance, get chicken on your pizza instead of pepperoni, and load it up with veggies. there are a lot of fast food places that have good food, for instance, subway instead of mcdonalds. not only does subway have much healthier options, but it's cheaper and probably more filling.

My brother has add and touch of teretts. they did all sorts of cat scanns on him and everything when he was younger. I do remember him getting bigger when he was'nt in groth spurt mode. Kids are weird. they get short and fat then tall and skinny then short and fat then tall and skinny. It's just part of growing up. at 9 years old it's not bad to be 100 lbs. it's bad at age 5 to be 100 lbs. Don't worrie about him. I found that crystal light it better than pop if it comes to it. then if he complains let him know when he turns 18 he can drink whatever he wants with dinner. until then it's crystal light. let him pick out the flavors and I like the ginaric ones best becuase they arent as sweet/sour. but kids have week taste buds so the more sweet the better. just don't make it koolaid. that has sugar and crystal light does'nt also it's better for his teeth to not have carbanation. it eats at them like acid. (thats what my dentist said) As for the chubby thing. I'm sure he's fine. get him a basket ball net for christmas and he'll go outside more. it worked for me and my brother.