I have a 14yo daughter who has put on quite a bit of weight here lately.

A little history: She has always been at the top of the charts as far a s the growth scale. She is very athletic, she plays fastpitch travel ball. She is very social and happy.

I had a long talk with her about dieting last night. She seems to want my help....it is had to get across to her sometime due to the age and the attitude.

Does anyone have any good advice or has been successful in getting their children to loose weight?

I have come up with a few good ideas so far that might work with her:

1. Exercise routine
2. Keep a journal
3. Shop together for groceries
4. Discuss how the week went at the end of each week.

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Heather
Mom to three dd 14, ds 9, dd 5
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I guess I would just stress the eating healthy and keeping up on the activites!
maybe even do more family things like walking and biking etc!

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Why do you think she's put on some weight? Is it due to what she is eating? Because it sounds like she's very active. Do you have a lot of junk/sweets around the house? If so, maybe stop buying stuff like that...so the temptation isn't even there?

I would also probably talk to her pediatrician...

How overweight is she?

Do you realize the body HAS to put on weight in order grow taller? Many girls start dieting when they see themselves getting puffier and end up robbing themselves of their full height. They end up being overweight adults because they are considerably shorter than their genetic material intended them to be.

Let her be active and keep healthy snacks at home but I strongly advise against encouraging her to diet to lose weight.

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at 14 I wouldn't be using the term "dieting" "going on a diet" I would focus on eating healthy and moving more. I would leave it to that. Also have you ever talked to a Dr about her weight? I would help try to cut out all late night eating. Summer is easier then when in school but when she is in school she could make better choices for lunch maybe and no skipping breakfast.

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I wouldn't use the word "diet" at all. I would just focus on a healthy lifestyle.

I agree with the ladies above...we try really hard to talk about healthy choices and keeping our body healthy so we don't get sick or tired as much. That said, kids are no dummys and a child who looks different fromher peers is aware of it no matter how we spin it. It is sad that as a society we have such strong negative messages to kids as well as to adults. IMO all you can do is to support her, be an example to her and ask her to do fun things with you, not exercise with you...like walk around a lake, pattle boat, play softball with her, rollerblade, etc. things that are excercise, but are fun and bonding time. Good luck!

My younger brother is 13 and weighs 230... Yeah... They have tried everything to get him to loose weight including putting him on diet meds perscribed by the Dr. Nothing is working. They have recently cut out all pop and snack foods... I think that the entire family needs to go learn about eating, why we eat and what types of food you should eat, along with how different types of foods affect our bodies. That to me would be more effective than dieting or diet meds (in my brothers case.)

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In general, telling a teen they need to go on a diet, is not a good idea. Maybe if they are severely overweight.
Here are some things I have read that are not a good thing. If you feel you are fat, don't voice that. It is not good for young girls to hear their mothers talk about how fat they think they are. If one really doesn't like how they look, they can try to fix it, or at least discuss how they feel with a friend, or a doctor, not thier child. Don't compare your child to other kids. Everyone is different. I have 2 preteens. One is 13 and one is 12. They are both the same height, but the older one has always been a bit skinnier than the younger one. The are starting to even out now. The only thing I have been trying to get my younger one to do is to dress right. She wears baggy clothes that make her look chunky. I was suprised to see how skinny she actually is when she wore a very flattering outfit. I do pretty much try to keep it quiet and let her wear whatever as long as she is neat and clean.
I am chunky, but I have learned not to say it in front of them.
The easiest thing to do is not have junkfood in the house. Not to tell the kids they can't have it. If you have it in the house, and they eat it at school, or buy snacks at the store, they can get way too much without knowing it. If you only have the healthy snacks they love in the house, then they will still get their treats ocassionally but not overdo it. If it is there, they will eat it. Learn what healthy foods they like. If you do dessert everynight, cut it out and only have dessert on the weekends. Or have fruit. Yogurt is healthy, but add it on to the end of every meal, and it ads on calories.
Watch out for highfructose corn syrup in what you buy. I also explain to my kids why I don't want to buy a certain food when we are shopping. They usually understand(except the 4 and 16 year old) and pick something else.

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"The Christian does not think that God will love us because we are good, but God will make us good because he loves us."- C.S. Lewis

Our family lost weight and got into shape because we made a commitment to eating healthy. I didn't want the focus of my life being my weight and having that trickle down to my kids and especially my dd. So I got rid (literally, gave it to the foodbank) all junkfood that I had in my house and stressed with my kids nutritional value of foods and eating right. My kids hated me for 2 weeks, but we made it through. I lost 45 lbs, my dh lost 35, my dd slimmed down a lot, didn't necessarily lose a lot of weight, but she's a lot smaller. No more belly. She's so much happier not being self conscious and she's my workout partner. We walk, ride bikes, jog....when she has time because she's involved in a lot of sports, but ate the wrong kind of foods.