How to get 9 year old fit?

Templar

Snacks are the enemy. Exercise and balanced meals are his friends. If you can eliminate them, it will be easier. Often snacking for kids is because of habit (we always have a snack after school) or boredom. Yes, the growing bodies and brains can thrive on three balanced meals a day without throwing all kinds of extra food at them.

amblrgirl

I'm no expert, but I thought it was considered more balanced to eat 5-6 smaller portions a day rather than only 3 bigger meals. I get hungry every 2.5 - 3 hours. I can't imagine getting by on only 3 meals a day and I'm not sure my kids would go for that either. We try to keep snacks healthy and on the smaller side, but I think my kids would feel grumpy and lethargic without a little something between meals. I know I do.

I agree with the boredom thing, though. If they're bored, they do seek out extra snacks, which to me is just a cue that it's time to find something fun and active for them to do.

Templar

Hunger is a function of habit, hormone and what type of nutrient you are eating (carbs vs protein vs fats). Meals higher in carbs (as the American diet has been for far too long) don't keep us satisfied (satiated) very long.There are all kinds of people who push 5-6 smaller meals, but the science really isn't as supportive as one would think. I don't just push it to other people - I live it myself and even grew up with 5 brothers and who seldom had snacks unless there was a party/social function or it was the summer and we were outside tearing the world to pieces. People do adapt to changes in timing of food intake. It isn't overnight, but they do get over it and the "programming" changes.

amblrgirl

Templar said:

Hunger is a function of habit, hormone and what type of nutrient you are eating (carbs vs protein vs fats). Meals higher in carbs (as the American diet has been for far too long) don't keep us satisfied (satiated) very long.There are all kinds of people who push 5-6 smaller meals, but the science really isn't as supportive as one would think. I don't just push it to other people - I live it myself and even grew up with 5 brothers and who seldom had snacks unless there was a party/social function or it was the summer and we were outside tearing the world to pieces. People do adapt to changes in timing of food intake. It isn't overnight, but they do get over it and the "programming" changes.

That makes sense to me. When I had an office job and didn't work out, I'm pretty sure I was only eating 3 times a day without issue. We (the kids and I) are pretty active, up and moving most of the day. I eat mostly lean proteins with veggies, a little fruit, and a small amount of whole grains. But if I don't eat every 3 hours or so, I will get shaky and light-headed (maybe more of a blood sugar issue?)

Anyway, don't want to hijack the thread. Just didn't want a 9 year old going hungry. I would think offering only healthy choices for food and providing lots of fun, active options for entertainment would be enough to curb junk food snacking and encourage a healthy lifestyle (and relationship with food) for a child. I have a hard time bearing the thought of absolute food denial for a kid.

"If you are hungry, we have carrots (not cookies)" feels more right than "Now that you've had lunch at noon, no food for you for the next 5 hours."

Templar

Absolute food denial builds character!   Look at me! A total character!

MrsB

I've read that snacks are actually very bad for your metabolism (don't you love how the experts keep changing this stuff!!!!) I swear they are trying to make us all crazy!
we have cut down to one 100 calorie or so snack in the afternoon. This is partly out of concern for my children's weight, but also because I cant be the never ending snack provider. In any case I haven't noticed any misery from my kids. 
When I was little we never had snacks! We had afternoon tea (parents are British) but other than that nothing. We were really active and hungry by dinner. My mom's cooking tasted so good :-) 

@amblrgirl
try eating more fat. That should help balance your blood sugar 

Templar

Part of the problem is our body's rhythm is changed by our routine. So hunger hormones ebb and flow. There is a wash out/adjustment period, as I mentioned earlier. If you ignore that, you can get any results you desire. Good studies are hard.

Rico

The problem with 5-6 smaller meals a day is that from there it's a short hop to grazing throughout the day, which makes it next to impossible to track calories. 

It also seems that most people/companies pushing several meals a day will happily sell you those meals - e.g. Body for Life/Myoplex shakes, Nutrisystem, etc.

amblrgirl

@MrsB - More fat. Done. Added bacon to my salad tonight. I love bacon!

MrsB

amblrgirl said:

@MrsB - More fat. Done. Added bacon to my salad tonight. I love bacon!

Yes!!!!

Rorschach

I eat 5-6 meals a day with 30 - 40 gms protein every day. On average, unless work interferes, and if not, sometimes more, if that is of interest ... Weights and measures. Simple.

maverick

I eat five a day, but it takes incredible discipline not to graze.  I usually f it up on the weekends.

Templar

@Rorschach , @maverick remember that your body composition and calorie expenditure just on work outs is substantially different from the average person, let alone 9 or 10 year old. When you burn 2000-4000 calories per day working out, the challenge is getting ENOUGH calories, rather keeping the number down. Heck, when I was in college and running marathons I had to eat over 4000 calories a day, so I had to eat between meals just to fit it all into my stomach!

Tennee

^ @Templar ;  This is why I asked George what his growth was since last year when it started.   Competitive swimming should be kicking his booty.  Totally agree with all the nutrition/eating advice posted thus far, but I am just wondering what this kid's build is like.   Because he may not be wired to be 'skinny' - if he's more Endo / Meso.  And he's in an age where there are serious body changes starting to take place, so those growth spurts do odd things for periods of time.

Templar

With the swimming, it's all about intensity and the amount of time swimming. I have some friends whose 3 kids were all high level competitive swimmers. All 3 of them had kids who were also on the team, but weren't competitive and tended to be somewhat soft around the middle. If the boy swims with intensity, calories may be an issue. If not with intensity, not so much. Kids that age are often poor gauges of their own intensity. It's great to add the extra sport - don't get me wrong - but swimming can be either a ball buster or "play time". I think it's been discussed in other threads, the merits of swimming for weight loss. For a kid, I think it is great regardless of the need for weight loss. Confidence in the water adds a little confidence on the land. Though (as mentioned above) not always intense, it is a whole body workout and gets those youngsters using their entire bodies. Starts off a positive trend for their life.

Angeline

Templar said:

@Rorschach , @maverick remember that your body composition and calorie expenditure just on work outs is substantially different from the average person, let alone 9 or 10 year old. When you burn 2000-4000 calories per day working out, the challenge is getting ENOUGH calories, rather keeping the number down. Heck, when I was in college and running marathons I had to eat over 4000 calories a day, so I had to eat between meals just to fit it all into my stomach!

I don't believe a 9 year old would be capable of managing this, especially not one who already has demonstrated weakness on self direction of exercise and healthy eating.

Ivy

When I needed to improve DD2's eating habits, who happened to be 9 at the time, we did 2 simple things. No fast food and I set a rule that if she was hungry she had to have a healthy snack ( fruit or vegetables) and if she was still hungry after she could get something else. This decreased the amount of junk she ate a lot and helped her to drop some weight. At the time she was very active but was packing on some pre-puberty weight.

george

Hi all. Following and working on this.  Ordered a few books. Cutting snacks. And keeping up with the swimming.  If that doesn't work we'll take him to a nutritionist.  iI'll check his height / weight. But the problem is pretty clear. 

CountryDude

Badminton

Tennee

Lacrosse!!!