Overweight Children, Will Anything Work?
By CatClaws
@CatClaws (115)
United States
August 29, 2007 11:59pm CST
I have a two year old daughter that weighs 60lbs. I have seen her pediatrician, a dietician, and my family physician. All say that I shouldn't worry about her weight right now that she will grow out of it. They have done several blood tests to determine a medical cause for her weight, found none. The dietician looked at a record of the food she ate for two weeks, found nothing wrong with what I was feeding her. My physician did a metabolic test and determined that she has a very slow metabolism. All three say she will grow out of it. What if she doesn't? What if she continues to gain weight? I have kept her on a strict diet for two months now and she hasn't lost one pound? Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I should do? I know some people will say just to let her eat, but she wears a bigger size clothing than my seven year old. She can't play long cause she gets out of breath. Anyone know what I should or could do? Thank You.
6 responses
@vinzen (1020)
• India
1 Sep 07
Hi, i have a cousin whose facing the same problem, but i would suggest that just let her be. Of course feed her the right nutrituous things, as maybe you are already taking care of her calories, but dont put her on too harsh a diet as its said that let them eat normal, small and frequent meals, which can be of various kinds, like those light snacks of vegetables or some roasted kind of snack, that way she wont eat too much at a particular time or meal and yet her stomach will be full.
You can take her along with you for a light stroll, you have to start slowly, and later make her do brisk walks and exercises. She maybe feeling bad herself , when either she maybe being told at home that shes over weight or being compared to her friends and siblings,so stop that and in fact, all of you shoud be with her and encourage her in loosing weight by taking her along with you. Dont make fun of her, as she would not feel good and this kind of tension too at times doesnt make them loose weight.
This i would call puppy fat, and maybe shes more of it than others, but i assure you, she will loose it as she grows, just be normal and patient with her, give her time,and remain with her, help her instead.
1 person likes this
@vinzen (1020)
• India
2 Sep 07
Thanks for the response, and am sorry if i rasied the issue abut you commenting on your daughters weight etc, as i know of peope who do that, and i mentioned that in general, so that incase anyone does that, they must not, as it efects the childs pscyhe. And am glad that you are around to be alwasy by her side along with your family, i am sure its a psssing phase and all will be well soon. Have a nice day :)
1 person likes this
@CatClaws (115)
• United States
2 Sep 07
hi vinzen, I didn't think you were aiming the comment at me specifically. I know alot of parents demise their kids like that, I never could. I saw a woman in the department store one day with her daughter. THe girl looked to be around 8 or 9 and was a little on the chubby side. She was trying on clothes at the dressing room right next to mine and the girl came out and the pants she had tried on were a little tight. Her mother told her,"well if you didn't have such a fat a$$,then you could where them." I thought to myself, how could a mother talk to their child like that. Anyway, thank you for your responses.
@CatClaws (115)
• United States
2 Sep 07
hi vinzen, thank you for your insight to my delema. I agree with you. I have just about decided that I'm am going to feed her smaller nutritious meals and snacks more often throughout the day. Yes we do walk just about everyday if we can. If for some reason we can't go outside then we usually play around inside for exercise. No I don't express my concern for her weight in front of her. And I for certain do not make fun of her. She is my daughter, I would never make fun of her, and my other children don't either. Again thank you for responding.
@Zorrogirl (1502)
• South Africa
30 Aug 07
its a shame that doctors who should know better, tell you that she will grow out of it. i was an overweight child and doc said i would too. i didnt. my mom tried everything. i am currently on the diabetic diet and it seems to be working. great metabolism booster. let her have great food, but in small portions . every 2 or 3 hours a healthy snack. it works and i have tried everything before.
@CatClaws (115)
• United States
31 Aug 07
so do you think that eating more of the right combinations of foods will help to boost her metabolism? i think i will try giving her nutritious snacks more often and smaller meal portions. maybe that will help. thank you for the insight.
@Zorrogirl (1502)
• South Africa
31 Aug 07
yes i think it should work. smaller meals frequently boosts the body to burn more frequently. thus metabolism works better. try a search on diabetic diets because they focus on burning more on the stored energy rather than burning the carbs. not eating slows the metabolism. i have so many health problems now because of all the diets.
1 person likes this
@Zorrogirl (1502)
• South Africa
31 Aug 07
yes i think it should work. smaller meals frequently boosts the body to burn more frequently. thus metabolism works better. try a search on diabetic diets because they focus on burning more on the stored energy rather than burning the carbs. not eating slows the metabolism. i have so many health problems now because of all the diets.
1 person likes this
@Zorrogirl (1502)
• South Africa
30 Aug 07
another idea... get her a trampoline. its great exercise and practically no effort. just a thought.
1 person likes this
@Zorrogirl (1502)
• South Africa
31 Aug 07
my daughter is also two. she has been mad about trampolines since she could walk. i personally dont think that excercise is the problem here. i was very active and did love any sports and running. but i was 120 pounds by age ten. my mom tried her best and i rarely ate because of all the diets.
1 person likes this
@CatClaws (115)
• United States
1 Sep 07
I agree. I try to get the girls, and myself, to exercise as much as possible without over doing them. We do a little each day. When it gets cool weather I don't know what I will do for exercise, because right now we do everything outside. I am a single mother and I don't have the funds for a gym membership. So I guess they can run up and down the hallway for exercise, lol. Thank you for comment.
@CatClaws (115)
• United States
31 Aug 07
yes we have a trampoline, but it is big one and her being only just turned two, i don't let her play on it yet. we (me and my children) do walk every evening, and she rides her tricycle just about every day. and thank you for the thought. i have thought about buying one of those enclosure things to put around our trampoline, but haven't had the means yet, maybe soon.
@Zorrogirl (1502)
• South Africa
31 Aug 07
oh and another thing. dont worry about the weight. let her grow into that weight now. she will anyway get more muscle tissue and that weighs more than fat. just keep with the small meals. for me it took more than a month to start feeling better and not so tired anymore.
1 person likes this
@CatClaws (115)
• United States
1 Sep 07
I know it is a waiting game with this weight thing, but although she is two she is very perceptive and she knows when someone is talking about her. It just hurts me when someone says,"Look at that fat baby, now you know you shouldn't feed that child so much." I hear it all the time. Or even worse comments than that. I usually just ignore them and keep walking, but I can tell that my daughter understands that they were talking about her. Even though she might not comprehend exactly what all their words mean, she knows they were directed at her. I hope this works with the smaller meals, and when I find a diabetic diet suitable to her. Thank you so much for all of you comments, they have really helped me to see a clearer path instead of a brick wall.
@dreamy1 (3811)
• United States
30 Aug 07
My suggestion would be to make sure she gets plenty of exercise but I don't know how that would work for a two year old since that would tire her out quickly and she probably won't be doing a lot of running around and bike riding and the like yet. I would also just feed her plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. If the doctors don't really have an answer as to why she is so big you really just have to wait and see.
1 person likes this
@CatClaws (115)
• United States
31 Aug 07
Believe it or not, she actually gets alot of exercise. that's what i don't understand. every evening when it cools off, me and all three of my kids go outside and play. we walk for as long as the little one can take it before getting out of breath, she rides her tricycle, plays on the swing set, etc. i am thinking that you are probably right about the wait and see. nothing so far as helped and no one can tell me why she is so big, so i guess i'll just have to wait and see what the future holds. thank you for your input.
