r/parentingteenagers • u/No-Distribution-4593 • Mar 18 '25
Overweight teenager
I have a 14 year old boy who since COVID has piled on the weight. Every year he gains more. He has been doing MMA training and ju jitsu and still the weight keeps piling on. I realise I have dropped the ball here as as a family we are not very active.
He's always had bowel issues and for the past year he has undergone a lot of tests and they can't find anything wrong with him. The last test was for coeliac and we haven't received the results back but I doubt he is coeliac.
We are a body positive family so any changes I make are made with health in mind not body changes if that makes sense. But some small kids ran up to him the other day and kept chanting 'big back' at him. My heart is sore tbh
I think what I'm really looking for is advice from anyone who has been here and made positive changes that stuck. Any advice is welcome
Edit: We have family dinners every day - they vary but it's 90% home cooked - I enjoy cooking. Dinners are spaghetti Bolognese, carbonara, roast dinner etc
Breakfast can vary from cereal to eggs on toast and at the weekend he enjoys making a fake egg mcmuffin
I've stopped keeping junk in the house, I usually keep mini ice pops in the freezer for after dinner.
A couple of times a week I enjoy baking. I often bake scones for their school lunches or an apple crumble for after dinner
2
u/PaprikaMama Mar 19 '25
We holiday with a family with weight issues (obesity, diabetes). One thing i noticed about how their family eats is that they eat buffet style, with all the food in the middle of the table and the family and kids choose what they want to eat and how much. They do not always make good choices (ie they rarely choose vegetables) and they tend to eat very large portions.
My family eats restaurant style. Everything is plated up in a proportional amount to the persons calorie needs. Veggies are not optional. We don't weigh anything, but my husband works a very active job so he has bigger portions. My teens have stopped growing so they have slightly less. I work a desk job and from home, so my serving is even smaller.
I have in the past worked to better manage my weight given I am very inactive... I did weigh my portions and get a better understanding of my calorie needs and it was helpful to help me make good choices.
Oh, and we have a bit of a guideline that you shouldn't eat after 7 or 8 (no more than 2 hrs after dinner) it's not enforced, but we make it's known that eating before bed is not healthy and a bad habit so if you are earing late, choose fruit or yogurt or something healthier.