re: How should parents deal with a fat kid?

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My sixteen yr old girl is 6 feet tall and 225 pounds.

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<——Makes mental note to not ask for pics in two years from now.

The high school team needs offensive lineman, get the boy some chili cheese fries and other “complex” carbohydrates and let him eat.

Overeating and obesity is almost always a symptom of a problem and not a problem itself.

Depression, anxiety, dear, emotional immaturity, etc.

Sit the kid down and talk to him.

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Overeating and obesity is almost always a symptom of a problem and not a problem itself.

Depression, anxiety, dear, emotional immaturity, etc.

Sit the kid down and talk to him.

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No it isn't, it's a symptom of being week minded and lazy usually in kids.

OP it's not your job and you should stay out of it, but if you really want to help the kids, you need to educate the adults.

Five simple steps to getting the kid to lose weight

1) 2 meals a day, lunch and dinner. Later if he starts baseball again and has lost some weight, he can add a third meal.

2) no snacks, no cokes, water or crystal light only

3) when he sits down for a meal it has to be as a family. No tv, no iPad, no phones, no distractions. After every bite, everyone at the table must out their fork down, wipe their mouth and take a sip of water. This forces you to slow your eating down allowing your stomach to tell your brain you are full. Can't have seconds for atleast 30 min after finishing the first meal.

4) restrict total screen time to an hour a day unless it's for school and this needs to be 100% enforced. This includes tv outside of a family movie night, maybe one night a week, two max. Family walks, especially before and after eating should be encouraged. Let him take phone calls, but text need to be limited essentially to the screentime allotment.

5) he has to play a sport, doesn't matter which, just pick one. Since he used to like baseball, that would be best especially if he joined a year around travel team. Normally I am very against specialization or overuse, but this case is a little different.



Now at his age, you need to encourage them to start practicing good sleep hygiene. This includes removing his phone from him after a certain time. Getting kids to sleep a full 8-10 hours a day is important. Naps are important at that age(doesn't mean laying in bed and watching the iPad)

He also is at an age where he needs to starting lifting or some form of exercise.


Not saying it will be easy to get them on board. Hell restricting screen time is a pain in my arse as a parent and my kids are all under 10, so I know how hard that is going to be.

Doing the above allows him to have whatever he wants for dinner, but will restrict his overall caloric intake enough to get him losing.

I’m going to take some issue with this always just being fat parents with fat kids.

Sometimes the child may be an outlier. That is, everybody else in the family may be fit and one child may be morbidly obese. This is usually indicative of a psychological issue with that child, not a failing of the parents. The parents may have used every weapon and persuasive tool in their arsenal, but in the end it still comes down to that kid making a choice. Particularly when they reach the age of 12 or so and have more freedom to access food on their own. The “ fat camps” are full of fit families visiting a really obese and unhealthy child. In fact, it’s the norm for “ fat camp “ clientele.

Choot em

Also if it were me, there’d be family walks daily or almost daily and that gaming system would be definitely with time limits.

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That is, everybody else in the family may be fit and one child may be morbidly obese. This is usually indicative of a psychological issue with that child, not a failing of the parents.

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yeah i should have added that's why i said he already has a complex. if it's just 1/3 kids, he needs therapy and intervention

the failing of the parents is enabling the addiction, just like with any other addiction. the mother is enabling the behavior

How old are the 2 brothers and 1 sister.

I have a 14 yr old boy, his phone is everything to him. He’s a great athlete, so the issue is different from the OP, but I’m amazed he can look at the phone so much. He’s had to finish the internet by now.