Overweight 7 year old

amother

Magenta

Wed, Apr 06 2016, 9:13 pm

My son has always been "solid" as we used to say, but that switched to "chubby" about a year ago and at this point, he's definitely closer to being "fat". I've really been trying to get him to be more aware of how to be a healthy person (in terms of food and exercise). I tried to explain to him about calories. Last week, he tried going on our treadmill just for fun, and after running as fast as he could for as long as he could, I said, "you just burned about 100 calories....that's a little less than one cup of juice". Since then, he's been obsessed with calories. He even requested healthy snacks at school because he wants to keep his calories as low as possible (he typically refuses the healthy snack options). He wants to go on the treadmill everyday. Although I'm happy that he wants to eat a little healthier, and wants to exercise more, I'm also a little concerned that it's too much for a 7 year old. Should a 7 year old (albeit a fat one) care about how many calories are in food? My husband thinks that it's just a phase and that it'll pass and it's nothing to worry about at all. I'd like to know from other mothers here what they think my approach should be. I don't want him to be obsessed with his weight, but I definitely want him to be healthier!

amother

Brown

Wed, Apr 06 2016, 9:28 pm

Try not to talk about it especially in reference to him. Just model good food choices on your part. Have healthy snacks available and out.
and most importantly model good exercise habits and hobbies: hiking /biking / sports. Let home choose a sport he wants to do. - and don't make it about losing weight. Just about heathy lifestyles.
And don't talk about it.
Good luck.

amother

Magenta

Wed, Apr 06 2016, 10:19 pm

That has always been our approach, but it hasn't worked. My husband and I are very healthy eaters. Our other kids are too! It's just my son who is a super picky eater and also hates sports. And now that he's suddenly aware of calories, he's looking at all the packages to see how many calories per how many grams of food (I'm actually taking this as an opportunity to help him develop his math skills!). I'm getting a little uncomfortable with how much he's talking about this stuff, though. But maybe it's what he needs?

Miri7

Wed, Apr 06 2016, 10:25 pm

Don't keep juice in the house. Except for milk, we have no caloric beverages in the home available to kids. We have beer and wine for grownups Smile

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Just keep aware of how he's doing and talk with his pediatrician if you're concerned that he's becoming too focused on this. It may be that he's made the connection to calories in and calories burned. That's something concrete that's easier to understand than "eating healthy and exercising". Since he's interested in exercise, suggest other ways that are more fun than the treadmill. He may become more interested in walking outdoors, running or sports.

amother

Brown

Wed, Apr 06 2016, 10:28 pm

amother wrote:

Im sorry I shouldn't have implied otherwise.
So you are doing everything right !!

And I love how your putting math skills in there. That's awesome.

I would still suggest no discussion of it. Let him go through his stage ( he's probably self conscious of his weight) and don't engage or encourage his focus on calories Etc. switch it to math.... .....
You can definitely voice your appreciation of his good choices

My apologies if my post implied criticism in anyway

amother

Magenta

Wed, Apr 06 2016, 10:38 pm

Miri7 wrote:

Don't keep juice in the house. Except for milk, we have no caloric beverages in the home available to kids. We have beer and wine for grownups Smile

We only have juice on shabbos, and even then it's very limited (one cup at the lunch seuda). I think it's a fair rule.

If the weather ever gets nice, he'll start going on his bike again. That's pretty much the only exercise (other than the treadmill) that he likes doing. I think he likes the treadmill better than running outside because he can see the "calories burned" number going up. I think you're right about calories in vs. calories burned being much more concrete than "eating healthy and exercising". I just worry that there's too much focus on it.