Overweight child?

My soon to be husband's daughter, who is 9, is pretty overweight (her mother is overweight too). When we have her, which is only every Wed and every other weekend, we do our very best to try and get her to eat better, no pop, no pizza, etc. and get her active in outdoor activities, but we can't control how she eats when she's at home with her mom. What is the best way to try and get this overweight child to lose some weight? We brought her clothes shopping recently and almost everything she tried made her look ever more overweight.

The key to loosing weight is consistency. You have to be consistent in diet and exercise. And if your step-daughters mother lets her do & eat whatever she wants, then it's going to be difficult to change that. I would keep doing what you can (help her find healthy foods she likes, and keep her active in activities) and hopefully as she grows she will understand how to be healthy. Maybe your soon to be hubby can try talking to his ex to see if they can come to an agreement on helping her get into shape. But if her mother wants to be difficult and refuses to help change things.... then all you can do, is do what you're doing now and hopefully as she gets older, will want to change things for herself.

Some kids are just chubby and it could be genetic. The only thing you could do is to get the PARENT to become health-conscious first and then the parent will then follow through with her child. Maybe suggest some things for her PARENT to do. Like hey Mrs. Soandso, wanna come to the gym with me on Sunday? Trying to change the child first will do nothing. You have to help the parent, she's the dumb one.

I think your best bet would be to talk to her real mom, and let her know about the current situation. Maybe she'll help out in feeding her healthy things when she has her.
Whats the worst that can happen?


And if shes just a bit overweight then there's nothing to worry about, shes still young she still hasnt hit her growth spurt. Kids tend to loose weight when they get taller.

Sounds like your fiancee needs to talk to his ex. At 9, the parents control what the kids eat for the most part, and if she's not doing her part the kid doesn't have a chance.

The mother of this child has to also be on-board in order to help the child when she is not with you. Right now all you can do is show her how to eat, what is good for her and don't ever say "if you lose weight you would be so pretty." Only positive feedback ...

well that sounds bad take her swimming and cherish her to sign up in some sports and talk to her mother about it and just don't get your self in trouble by talking to her mother

try swimming..kids love to swim

It's up to her parents to show and explain
the benefits of good nutrition..

Unfortunately.. few people cook at home,
they all go to fast food restaurants...

This is tough becuase she doens't live with you. The best thing to do is encourage lots of activites while you have her like going for biek rides or playing at the park. ANother thing that could help is to sign her up and possible PAY for softball team, or soccer or dance lessons, whatever. That should make her mother take her to these events while you don't have her. She will start to notice the extra pounds in a few years when she notices the boys, but until then, it's iffy

talk to the biological mom and explain to her that you're concerned about the child's health.obesity is a problem in here right..i mean yeah,she's still a kid,but when will you stop her??..when can you control her??..do you think she would still listen to all of what you say?..well,i'm not judging her,but kids change..they mature and think that they're big enough to decide for themselves..so as early as now,talk to her mom to control her diet..^^.,that's what my parents did to me..^^.,

Try to get her involved with a sport - swimming, biking, dance, martial arts, pretty much anything that gets her up off the couch and away from the fridge is going to help. If she has a regular schedule for exercising, it will help her stick with it, and if she has friends and/or family members who are also involved, that will help too.

Well... you have no control over her AT home right? But you do have control of her when shes with you... so lets do the thing kids like the most. Give her a prize or something - Tell her its for her health because it really is lol. Tell her that every week ( both ) of you will weight your selves and that each time she has lost some weight - even if its 1 pound - you will take her to some place she likes ( not food related ) - So far it has worked with one of my cousins and its doing goo. 10 pounds this month so far. All you have to do is modify the process since you know your step daughter better than I do. As to the clothing, just don't give her anything too tight nor too baggy and she should be fine - Besides she is only 9 -

Also - I respect you for trying to help this child out, but you know you can't do it alone. If you really want to help this kid out you need to tell her dad to talk to her mom. If the mom doesn't want to help then it will be way more harder. Specially if its biological, the mom is overweight so... yea that tells you something right there. You can get her into a sport too, maybe soccer or tennis. If she wants to dance then get her into something like that too. Shes only 9 so.... look for something she likes and push her into it.

you might think about getting her into a few fun activities that she can do while visiting with her father and you as well as while at home with her mother. A few ideas are a sport such as swimming, cycling, or a workout program that involves dance movement. Check you local YMCA to see what they offer for kids her age.
My boyfriend and I had a similar situation. We got his son involved in Karate and swimming. It really helped him to tone up and loose a little weight. Bonus was he met new friends that keep him motivated.

well, possibly get her interested in outdoor physical activities and maybe her mom will enroll her. the best thing you can do is for the parents of the child to meet and discuss the subject of the daughter's weight. address all health concerns (leave social means out of the discussion, weight is a health issue not a social issue) and suggest adding a little extra to the child support payments to ensure that healthy food is offered to the little girl. maybe send a fruit basket once every other week, or offer to pre-pack and refrigerate the child's lunches for school so that the mother only has to dole it out throughout the week. unfortunatly you may meet resistance with the mother. we have all met or heard of the bitter divorced mother who seems to do things just to spite the father and his new wife. i'll never understand the sense behind this, the child is the one who is truely hurt in these actions. either way, at your home you can make healthy dinners and snacks that taste good as well! show the daughter how yummy healthy food can be (my favorite to make, fruit kabobs! always a HUGE hit! it's just different fruits on a kabob stick.). baked potatoes with healthy topings can also be a great thing to eat for lunch, maybe served with a low sodium minestrone soup. breakfast- whole wheat toast with fresh fruits and OJ.... there are so many ways to show her that healthy food and physical activity can be fun! maybe take her swimming on the weekends with friends, or on a hiking trip, or to a dance studio to learn the newest dance craze! anything to keep her moving and active. she'll soon find that activities such as this can be way more entertaining than the TV! good luck!

My daughter is borderline overweight, too, at 7 (almost 8) and all the weight she's gained, she's put on in the last 9 months. She's never been overweight before. The pediatrician told me to limit her carb intake as much as possible and give her fruits and veggies to snack on. She also suggested getting her into a sport. I haven't done that, but I do take her on a bike ride every day, and encourage her to run and play outside. Sometimes she jogs around the block a few times with me when I go running. I'm trying to teach her about calories and fat content in foods (on a simple level anyway) and I try to make healthy food choices so she can understand what I mean. Also, I've just begun giving her three SNACK or DESSERT coupons a day and when those are gone, she gets no more snacks for the day. (Of course I still decide what she has for most of those snacks and desserts and I try to keep it as healthy as possible). This seems to limit her asking for food. Other than that, I can't think of any ideas. Good luck! :)

That's a tough situation. Unless your step-daughter herself wants to lose weight, it will be really hard to get her to stop eating bad foods and start exercising. Especially when her mother is not on board and she has easy access to bad foods. The most you can do is to model a healthy lifestyle yourself, and gently (without judging) teach her about nutrition. One way I taught my son about nutrition is by cooking healthy recipes together. Have her pick the recipe, shop for the ingredients with you, and help prepare and serve it. Take her grocery shopping with you and show her how to read nutrition labels. Don't force these lessons on her, or they may backfire and make her resent you. Just make them part of a casual conversation. If your step-daughter does feel bad about her weight, she will have to talk with her mom about providing healthier foods at home as well.

Most importantly, make sure that she knows you will love her no matter what her weight is.

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wow....make fun of her maybe that will depress her into loosin a few pounds