re: How should parents deal with a fat kid?

That is about the time to join a gym and start lifting and working out.

Yesterday, my 13 year old ate breakfast. 4 hot dogs for lunch and a rack of ribs, onion rings and mashed potatoes for dinner.
And drank a protein shake before bed.

But every other day he lifts weights and then runs 2 miles in the hottest part of the day the other day.

He is getting ready for football and has the body fat % of an Olympic athlete.

At that age they will burn everything off if active.

Why did they let him get so fat?

Keep us posted on Jaxson's progress.

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I’ve got big fat 12yo nephew. Great kid but he is extremely over weight

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I bet he hits dingers

Well maybe the fries need to be baked
And the chilli (the beef) needs to be grass fed beef and at least 90% lean 10% fat

Wait how big is he?

Yeah that’s a huge component

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That is about the time to join a gym and start lifting and working out.

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I agree with this. Kid needs outside extra curricular activity or a gym. His self esteem is probably already suffering and if he’s close to the kitchen all the time there’s an easy fix available.

Also big kids tend to have over developed muscle mass and he’ll probably get strong pretty quick thus building confidence.

My sixteen yr old girl is 6 feet tall and 225 pounds. She has the frame to carry the weight well but she obviously needs to eat less. She has had a disorder since she was a little girl. I stay on her arse and try to buy healthy foods but the wife tells me I shouldn't say anything to her because it hurts her feelings.

I tell my wife that we have to love her enough to hurt her feelings and save her from herself but she just doesn't get it. So everytime I say something there is a huge fight with the wife afterwards.

Honestly once that kid has developed those bad habits and mindset about food it's difficult to successfully have that kid lose the weight and understand why it's a problem without feeling like he's being judged and persecuted. Kids don't understand.

Dealing with it after the fact.. I'm not an expert but I'd think you have to frame it from a child's perspective. Help them understand how being at a healthier weight will help them in the short-term, and how being overweight can harm them in the long term. Cook healthy food and show them it can be delicious and beneficial.

Whatever you do, don't incentivise weight loss through rewards or toys. It has to be an intrinsic motivation and have them buy in.