Toddler is overweight, what's a good way to have them loose weight?

Question

My friends toddler is overweight, was tested for thyroid problems etc but all is well physically. She does eat mostly fried foods, chicken nuggets, tater tots, pizza, some fruit she does like yogurt but I don't usually see her eat vegetables, eggs. Her doctor did advise her to drink 1% milk watered down, and watered down fruit juice. Any other good suggestions. However I can't really say much because I will be like an interfering friend, don't know if I will be welcomed there if I butt in too much. Thanks

It is not all fried, but frozen waffles for breakfast, frozen chicken nuggets, frozen pizza, frozen tater tots and other likewise frozen foods. She does like peaches and yogurt and does have cold cereals. It is not so much as a diet but what should a typical 2-3 year old be eating daily, like a food plan, breakfast, lunch, dinner etc. They can't go to Weight Watchers or Jennie Craig but what is a nice daily plan.

Answer 1

you wont be an interferring friend, you'll be a concerned friend, there is a biiiig difference. i think that you see the problem already (fried foods, barely any vegetables, etc). Does your friend eat unhealthy too and is she overweight? sometimes it is sad because the kids dont have a choice in what they eat because their parents are the ones buying the unhealthy groceries. do you have kids? if so, you could use their eating habits as an example but not in a pushy way..maybe just be like "when my children were your child's age, i dont remember them having a problem moving around as much or being as out of breath". ultimately, your friend should want the best for her child, and i think you are a good friend for looking out for her child as well.
maybe your friend isnt sure of what size portions toddlers eat and is giving her kid too much. this is often the case with a first child. i would also suggest modelling healthy behaviour such as eating healthy whenever you go over there or even offering to make a healthy lunch for her and her toddler (just let them know it is because you want to, nothing to do with her kid being overweight).
i sincerely hope that your efforts are worth it because i feel for the child who is the ultimate loser here.
if time is a factor and your firend thinks it takes longer to prepare healthy snacks, just remind her it is easy to grab an apple or carrot. i hope this helps! and good for you for being concerned!

Answer 2

Just make some suggestions to your friend, but don't seem to controlling. Although, it seems to me that you are a very good friend. If your friend is overweight also, then that would explain why the baby is the same way. She should not feed the baby like she feeds herself. She needs to do what the doctor prescribed and just completely stop with all of those fried foods. She needs to feed the baby more healthy foods like vegetables and it is known to be true that if a human eats breakfast every morning like eggs and bacon with a side of apples or grapes or oranges etc. well they can loose weight because the person is not always hungry later. But don't feed the baby fruits that come out of a can because those fruits are soked in high fructose cornsyrup, other words it's fattening. I hope your friend understands and if she doesn't then if you ever get the baby by yourself you can feed the baby the right way and you don't even have to tell your friend. Good Luck!

Answer 3

She's eating prepared foods. Her mom needs to step up and cook--eggs, hamburger, chicken, roast. Everything you cook at home has less calories than the prepared stuff. You can make your own fried potatoes like tater tots, and the child won't know the difference because they taste as good or better.

I'd forget the fruit juice. Get Kool-Aid Sugar Free. It still has lots of vitamin C, but the calories are really low. The child isn't too young to drink tea. And you can put a little sugar, or non-sugar sweetener in there, and she'll still enjoy that. Or put a 1/4 a cup of orange juice or grape juice with that--still lower calories yet a fun taste.

A tip on the veggies--cut them into strips and let the kids dip them in Ranch Dip or peanut butter. My husband does that at Sunday School and all of his kids have come to love their veggies & ranch dip.

Make sure the child isn't spending lots of time in front of the TV, more hours outside in the sandbox or baby pool.

TX Mom

Answer 4

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Answer 5

From what I have heard (and I am NOT a health professional, just a person who absorbs a lot of random information), it is a very bad idea to get such a young child to lose weight. Your friend shouldn't put her toddler on a low-calorie diet, because that would be very detrimental to her growth. Instead, healthy and nutritious foods should be introduced to replace foods with "empty" calories that don't contribute at all to healthy development. That's not to say the kid can never have "fun" food, but she should grow up knowing that healthy food tastes just as good, and that fatty foods are not bad or evil, just not a good idea to eat all the time. I think the last thing your friend would want for her daughter is for her to grow up with an unhealthy relationship to food and her body, as that can set the stage for low self-confidence, depression, and eating disorders. Ideally, the kid will just "grow into" her weight, and then be fine. Encourage your friend to do what's right. You don't have to boss her around. Just give her support and encouragement.

Answer 6

No fried foods, toddlers shouldn't be eating that stuff, yuck! The parents need to rein that in right now.

Lean meats (turkey breast, etc.), eggs, veggies, fruit, and whole grain breads, etc. and get lots of exercise running around if the toddler doesn't already.

Her brain isn't going to develop properly without the proper nutrients, so her parents might want to think about that.

EDIT: All these people who are talking about how their toddlers eat this stuff too, and they don't know what to do about it -- excuse me??? The toddler is hardly going and getting this stuff by her/himself now, are they? It's YOUR FAULT, not theirs, YOU are the parent and it's YOU feeding this crap to your children! Knock it off, take responsibility for feeding your kids right, and DO IT.

Answer 7

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Answer 8

I think my toddler is overweight - what should I do?


Most parents need reassurance that their child is growing and developing normally. Sometimes you can be totally confident that they are, yet a chance remark from someone, such as, "She's a big girl, isn't she?" can completely ruin your peace of mind. Or you may worry that your child's weight is increasing too quickly because she needs clothes for an older child or because she seems to have too much fat on her tummy or legs.

The first step is to find out if your child is actually overweight. This can be done by measuring both her weight and height and plotting them on her centile chart in her red parent-held record book. I would suggest asking your health visitor or doctor to do this as it is only possible to take accurate measurements on equipment which is specially designed for measuring young children.

If your health visitor or doctor advises you that your child is overweight or in danger of becoming so, don't panic. The solution is to adjust her diet and encourage her to exercise more. The problem is that she is taking in more calories than she is using up. All children need daily exercise and most toddlers are on the go all day, but some need more persuasion to be active. Take your toddler to the park and let her run around, or take her on a short walk to the shops or to playgroup (and be prepared for a lot of dawdling on the way!).

If your child is at nursery or at a childminder while you are at work, do find out how much exercise she is getting during the day.

Your doctor or health visitor may ask you to keep a food diary which can be very useful in helping you to work out the amounts of food and calories that your child is having. Remember to include all drinks, including fruit juice which can add a lot of calories to her intake.

Some toddlers enjoy the comfort associated with sucking on a bottle of milk. This means that they can sometimes drink more milk than they need. Toddlers over 12 months only need approximately between 350ml (two-thirds of a pint) and 500ml (a pint) of milk a day, which usually works out to be approximately two or three small drinks of milk, plus small amounts in cereal and other foods.

Encourage the use of a cup or beaker rather than a bottle. Once your toddler has had her two or three drinks of milk, you could water down any further drinks, and if she needs a bottle during the night try to use plain water.

Until your child is two she should drink full-fat milk, but you can switch to semi-skimmed milk after that. Semi-skimmed milk is lower in fat and has fewer calories.

Children can also put on weight too quickly if they eat too many snacks between meals, especially sweet snacks. If your toddler needs a snack make it a savoury one, such as a piece of cheese or an oatcake, rice cake or breadstick. Aim to give your child five portions of fruit and vegetables each day. Not only are they an important part of a healthy diet, they are also low in calories.

If your toddler isn't keen on vegetables, try making them into soups or creating fruit and vegetable smoothies. As she gets older, if you involve your toddler in buying, preparing and cooking vegetables she will be more likely to want to eat them.

Check the size of the portion of foods that you are giving your toddler; she will need less than older brothers and sisters. Never force or encourage her to eat when she does not appear to be hungry. Children have variable appetites, just like adults. It is very common for toddlers to go through days or weeks of eating only very small amounts and then to change to eating large amounts for a few days. If children are offered food, they will usually take what they need when they need it.

Answer 9

I do know that fried foods arn't good for her to eat. But I really don't know what eles you could do. Because if you tired to get her on a diet plan... shes kinda too young so.. yeah.
I know i didn't really answer your question, I'm sorry and i hope that you get your question answered.
Good luck!

Answer 10

Suggest taking the child to the park to play. Ask your friend to go for a walk with you to talk and take the child. Maybe the child can ride a bike or skate.