Daugther at 13 needs to diet

[poppie]

Hi all, my sweet girl is 13 years old and is at 132lbs and 5 ft tall, I know she should weigh at around 110-115, is the Atkins way ok at her age? she already eats low-carb breads ect.. but no really weight lost,

How old or young can one be to do this...help me

[not2late]

Re: Daugther at 13 needs to diet

Hi all, my sweet girl is 13 years old and is at 132lbs and 5 ft tall, I know she should weigh at around 110-115, is the Atkins way ok at her age? she already eats low-carb breads ect.. but no really weight lost,

How old or young can one be to do this...help me

What did her pediatrician say about her BMI-for-age? Children and teens have different nutritional needs than us, adults. Childhood obesity is a "hot-topic" in medicine and the guidelines and treatment strategies have changed in the last 5 years. So, you should really get her doctor on board with this.

Obesity in children might not be due to something relatively simple like over-eating and lack of activity. It could be due to things like thyroid disease, tumors, and other diseases that need to be ruled out.

[2big4mysize]

Re: Daugther at 13 needs to diet

ther Atkins plan is fine ofr all ages as the program has 4 phases with different low glycemic carbohydrates foods allowed.

You really need to discuss this with her and her doc as parents can't just put kids on a low carb plan cause if the kid sneaks high carb junk food at school they are endangering their health from the rapid sugar cycling. She also isn't fully grown and developed either so her needs will be different then an adult doing the plan.

That said there is nothing wrong with cutting out the refined processed just from her diet and increaseing her exercise boith resistance and aerobic. Go to your library and read a copy of Dr Atkins New Diet Revolution 2002 edition which we use here and see if you agree with the plan. It isn't at all like what you may have read or seen on TV 3 cups of healthy veggies are required daily even in the most restricted carbohydrtate part of the program.

If y'all decide this is the plan for her then we have a teen board and phase forums for you and her to get answers and share info.

Happy low carbing

[Elizellen]

Re: Daugther at 13 needs to diet

Firstly - does she feel she wants to lose weight? Has she read the theory of lowcarbing in general and Atkins in particular and does it appeal to her?

As there will be times that she will not be with you when eating, it is important she understands why we eat what we eat, and is able to take responsibility for what she eats before she undertakes any drastic change in eating.

Also it is best for growing youngsters to be under the supervision of their doctor before following any kind of weightloss programme, to make sure they get all the nutrients they need for their development.

Having said that, many of our members have younger family members eating Atkins but with less restrictions than an adult needs to make.

We do have a 'teens' forum here, so if she does decide to follow the Atkins way of eating she will be able to have any specific 'teen' questions answered there.

Hope this helps.

[Atkid]

Re: Daugther at 13 needs to diet

Poppie,
I am so glad you asked about this. I have an 11 1/2 year old daughter who is the exact same height and weight as your 13 year old. It is so tough of what to do with her as far as trying to get her to watch what she is eating. If I try to get her to go low fat then all the good recipes I have that I make for me for Atkins will kill her diet or way of eating. If I go Atkins with her I am afraid I will be setting her up for heart disease because I know they she can not 100% adhere to it like we can as adults. It is so tough and so heartbreaking. Just don't know what to do. Maybe we can learn together.

KO

[big_bad_john]

Re: Daugther at 13 needs to diet

I think this is something you and her need to talk over with your doctor.

[Sd1136]

Re: Daugther at 13 needs to diet

My kids are over weight, and its my fault, when my husband died suddenly and unexpectedly, I was a zombie, and it was easier to feed them fast food and junk food. They are learning disabled and dyslexic and need a lot of help with home work, so there goes all games and after school sports. Then I got sick, its been one thing after another. This year I decided to take back our lives and lose weight and get healthier.
So we talked about diets, etc and they all agreed they would do Atkins. They are on a moderified one. They have cereal in the am, I am not good at cooking that early for them. Sometimes they have cold cuts. They have pizza once a week at school and do the treadmill over a hour a day at least 6 days.
One son is more determine to lose and he is doing wonderful, the other is slower but still losing.
In the summer they will do Atkins totally. I feel they are still kids and need a treat with their friends ever so often. We are doing more things also, not sitting at home, walks, etc
sandi

[Atkid]

Re: Daugther at 13 needs to diet

Sandi,
Sorry to hear of your loss of your husband. You sound like you are doing well getting the kids started on a decent diet. Getting them to do an hour of treadmill a day is great. We belong to a gym but they will not allow my daughter who is 11 1/2 on the workout machines (supposably because of insurance purposes). I have been thinking of getting an EFX, the only thing holding me back is that it would have to go in the den area since there is no other place to hold it. I am torn as to whether I buy it or keeping my den looking like a living area rather than a gym. Hmmmm, that could be one of the polls, "Where do you keep your exercise equipment?". Keep up the good work with your boys and let us know their progress.

KO

[Peytonn]

Re: Daugther at 13 needs to diet

I doubt a 13 year old needs to diet.. at 132 (unless she's 3'9)

what she probably needs is to eat right.......... get active... and LIVE...

(I have a nephew who went through the same thing.... I guaranteed him he would grow into his body.... at the same weight.... )...

yeah.. sure... cut out sugar... drinks with sugar especially.................

oh well.. i'm sure i'm in the minority here.... it just strikes me wrong.. (I've taught middle school for 28 years.... and it's just not something MOST 13 year olds would benefit from imo)

[Sd1136]

Re: Daugther at 13 needs to diet

I keep my treadmill in my bed room, I really dont like it there, but if I put it in my living room, we dont have shades on our picture window, I hate to have everyone see me on it every day lol
I would love to put it in a spare bedroom, but I dont have that lol
Thak you Atkid for your kind words
sandi

[Angseu]

Re: Daugther at 13 needs to diet

My youngest son is 4 and overweight. I didn't put him on a "diet". I just made a few changes here and there and make it a point to make him more active. I've noticed changes already and it's only been about 2 months.

[sunflowergrl]

Re: Daugther at 13 needs to diet

I was a fat kid, so was my best friend. We never hardly moved, unless the oreo bag was empty!! I wish someone had stopped us, told us to eat some veggies and move our fat butts!!! Cut out fast food, pop, and save dessert for a once in a while thing. I have never beleived in taking sugar away from kids 100%, they will just pig out on it when you aren't around. Get them to play outside, and limit TV time. Try some minor changes before taking big steps.

[atkinsagain]

Re: Daugther at 13 needs to diet

Not fully knowing your daughter's history, I would tend to agree with what Peytonn is saying. When I was your daughter's age, I went through a phase where I was probably 10-15 lbs overweight and by the time I was 15, I was down that extra weight and then some. I don't remember changing my eating habits or activity, it just happened on it's own. My daughter went through the exact same thing. But, neither of us were "overweight" prior to that time and I don't know if that is the case with your daughter or not. I would suggest initially encouraging better food choices and more exercise. And, you can be the perfect role model for her in those areas, even if she doesn't follow exactly the Atkins WOE.

[poppie]

Re: Daugther at 13 needs to diet

Thanks you guys all of you have great replys, we have monitoried all eating habits, we have diet colas at home for three years not, we have no chips for them but once a month and we do low-carb wheat bread for them, she rollerblades, no couch potato or very much inactvity, when we started this six months ago for her she was at 141, she has been at 132 for about 10 weeks, she wants to lose and be thinner like her peers (living in Tx it isnt too many of them) but still at her age it is a heavy body, we will work with this and keep you posted. I like maybe a modified type Atkins??

[Moochiecat]

Re: Daugther at 13 needs to diet

I think it was Not2Late who wrote this to a young teen member:

Teen Atkineers

It's highly recommend that a teen not try this or any other diet unless they are monitored by a physician. Your doctor should be seeing you at least monthly to check your weight loss rate (to make sure you aren't losing too quickly), your blood work and other things. See, you're still growing and developing, so your nutritional needs are very different from us older folks.

The recommended low carb plan is described in the book Feed your kids well by Fred Pescatore, MD. Dr. Pescatore was the Associate Director of the Atkins Center for Complementary Medicine during much of the 1990s. The diet described in his book is the diet that the Atkins Center used for children and teens (at least that's what Dr. Atkin's introduction in the book says). This diet is much more nutritionally suitable for a growing teen than the Atkins Diet.