Obesity Support Group

He is lucky to have you there to help him get a hold on this while he is still young. You are kinda in a tough spot though since you have to be supportive but also try to stop bad behaviors too. Sounds to me like you are doing everything right healthier eating and getting him into exercising is a great thing not just for the current weight loss but it may develop into something he decides to stick to. Its something most parents dont teach there kids, the importance of healthy eating and exercise i mean. Good luck to all of you!!!

i was an overweight child. consequently, i turned into an overweight adult. if my parents had done for me what you're doing for your son, then perhaps i wouldn't have let my issue get this bad. props to you for giving him a good example to follow rather than just sticking him on a "diet."

i was on a diet at like, 10 years old. if my parents had just started to eat healthy and play with me, who knows what could have been. while i love them dearly (they did the best they could), i will definately do things differently with my children.

Well I too have a 9 year old step daughter that is overweight even though Im overweight I am working on a lifestyle change also and when she is here with me and her father we are working on her eating habits. Her father my husband was once over 300 lbs he is now 220 lbs and exercises her real mother use to be over 300 lbs but had that gastric surgery done so she has everything going against her one thing she does have here is the love and support she needs to loose weight at her moms house well thats another situation...she weighs 150 lbs but is like 5'2 inches already she is going to be tall..she does exercise a little when she is here so good luck to you with your son what your doing should work if everyone sticks to it. If my parents had watched what I ate and didn't let me eat whatever I wanted Id be thin I truly believe that.xoxoxo

all i can say is GET HIM HEALTHY NO MATTER WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO! i was an over weight child and it was the worst things in my life, he'll never be happy if he isnt healthy

First I just have to say that's so great you walk 6 miles a day! What a good example for your whole family. My son is about 20 pounds overweight and I regret so much the mistakes I made in the past as far as being lazy, eating too much junk food and bringing junk food into our home. I can't change the past, but can only learn from it. We are making the same changes you already have - exercise and eating right. How wonderful your son doesn't feel hungry or deprived ad that he is voluntarily working out. Last night, my son CHOSE to eat a salad with dinner for the first time ever. Also, we've talked to him about portion sizes, and he stuck to one serving of our main dish, where in the past it would have been at least two. You're on the right track - just stick with it and keep encouraging him. Best wishes to all of you!

my step daughter is overweight.

we only had her a few weeks last year, but when she was with us she had a routine.

we all ate healthy foods, and exercised together as a family.... nightly walks to the park. i also took her swimming during the day and had her play outside for at least two hours a day.

when she's at her mom's all she does is watch tv and eat... so she's still overweight. but, hopefully we instill some healthy values in her.

I am very overweight and genetically my kids are doomed. I have them in tons of sports.. Football, cheerleading, basketball, softball and we walk our dog most nights. I try to have healthy foods all the time. We have to show them how to be healthy..
Kudos to you and good luck.

I know you are doing a great thing for your kids by teaching them to eat healthier and excercise. I feel like some people are naturally made to carry extra weight/fat, but can still be extremly healthy based on normal diet and excercise. So, even if they are always a little bigger than some, and not others, they can be healthy kids. Make sure they know that having/being fat is not BAD, and doesn't make them bad kids. Teach them also that they are worthy no matter what!

It is interesting that only the male members of your family are fat. Why do you think this might be? I think in society women are more judged on their weight so maybe we feel more pressure to slim down whereas men could ignore it more. Also there is the idea that a man needs more calories than a woman or can get away with larger portions - well maybe not if they are not exercising.

I agree with Sarahbean - you must teach your kids that they should be happy with their bodies and not create any body hatred in them. I saw the mums of my friends at school pass on their own low self esteem to their daughters and nobody was happy. I believe the important thing is to eat healthily and exercise - whatever weight you are. Don't preoccupy yourself with your son's weight just teach him a healthy lifestyle and that you love him whether he is fat or thin.

Well, lets see...I was told by a school district that my daughter was obese because her BMI was high. This in general ticked me off, when did school districts become the parenting police and furthermore, when did they have the right to invade my family. Middle school children are dealing with their own identities and hormones are rampant...so let's just make them feel worse in front of their peers...tell them they are fat. HENCE, I homeschool..yet another reason.

Okay enough of that bandwagon.

In my opinion, my daughter is stalky. Yes, there is a difference. My child is 10 and weighs in at about 115lbs. She swims daily, actual lap time is about 2 hours; she plays the rest of the time. She does gymnastics every week for an hour, she takes dancing for an hour and 1/2 every week, she plays soccer as well as basketball and softball. Yes, she eats crap sometimes..she's a kid.

Sometimes, genetics just gets in the way of things and you have to just deal. She is starting to get taller so, she is starting to grow into her tummy. :-)

My point being, sometimes you can eat right and exercise till the cows come home but, if you come from two penguins the point is, you have some destiny to also be a pengiun.

I will not let happen what happened to me when I was growing up. I was heavier than her at her age and my parents tried to help. I was put on diet pills at 10. From age 10 I was basically told to hate myself for being something I was; guess what I am now 40 and I still hate myself for the weight.

I would suggest proper nutrition (stay away from that fast food crap) and teaching that they love themselves for who they are; not by what society thinks they should be,

Just my thoughts...good luck