I have an obese kid what to make for him ?

I have an obese kid. He is seven. And its very difficult to push a kid to eat oats or brown rice or anything healthy. Every day when am at work he ends up having nuggets and ice creams. I feel like i have failed as a good mom. I hav registered a personal trainer just a few days back for him. But diet, what to cook, what to make for him?

1- I think it would be easier to make healthier substitutions than to completely change what he eats. For example, instead of ice cream perhaps by low fat/ low cal frozen yogurt or some similar product. As for the chicken nuggets, check into either gluten free chicken nuggets or veggie nuggets. They also have veggie burgers. They even have tator tots made out of broccoli and cheese.

2- Make him lunches and meal prep for him before you drop him off at his grandparents. Watch his portions and try to find healthier options of the things that he likes! Making him feel like it is forced upon him won’t work either so try to work it in slowly. Go on walks with him in your spare time that you have.

 I try to even just walk on my lunch break for half an hour. Any physical activity will make a huge difference if he is really overweight. I think it’s important not to rush into it but to slowly help him make healthier choices. It doesn’t have to be cold turkey at all! And he also doesn’t have to quit everything he likes. Take him to a physician and see what they say and how they can help you! Since he is only seven it will be much easier to correct the unhealthy habits now rather than later!!

3-Is there something stressful going on in his life? I just know from experience I was a really skinny kid but when I was under a lot of stress I started gaining weight. I'm not saying this is why he is, but 7 is pretty young. I would think something else is going on. The hard truth is, he's a child. The food he gets is the responsibility of the adults in his life. Maybe set some boundaries with your parents would be a good place to start helping him be healthier.

4- I understand how tough it can be. We have bought the steamer bags of vegetables. I split 1 bag between the two. They have to eat their bowl of veggies before they can move on to the less health options of chicken nuggets etc. They both love veggies and it fills them up on healthier options.

5-He's 7 do not restrict foods he will feel punished instead teach him about serving sizes and find some activities he likes swimming biking football whatever he likes to do and encourage more of that! Go on family hikes stuff like this. No diets, no "exercise" see a therapist on more approaches if necessary but be careful as to not accidentally cause other issues such as insecurities and eating disorders.

6-Keep the garbage food out of the house. You’re his mother. He is 7. As his mother you have control over what he eats. It’s not like he can grab your car keys, hop in the car and head to McDonalds. Just buy healthy options. You say he won’t eat it? Then he doesn’t eat. When he gets hungry enough he will eat. Be his MOTHER....not his friend. Also get him moving....restrict tv and video game time.....take him bowling or to the park....sign him up for some kind of sport. But limit couch potato time.

7-Yes it’s important to eat healthy but not necessarily super foods, if you create a calorie deficit he will lose weight. If you have little control over what he is eating I would look to portion size, then I would try to find ways to make sure he is getting enough nutrients.

 I wouldn’t talk to him about a diet or anything like that I’d simply stop buying nuggets or ice cream and instead replace them with healthier options (but as I said I wouldn’t necessarily go superfoods) maybe chicken breast instead of nuggets and a fruit cocktail with yoghurt instead of ice cream. If you don’t buy it he can’t eat it.

8-I was really poorly for a while and whilst I was ill my daughter's father had her. She came back very overweight. I didn't out her on a diet persay I just had her help me cook healthy meals. Salmon with brown rice etc. If she didn't eat it she didn't eat.

 There was no round two it got put on the table and that was that. I bought a plate that had 3 sections, one big, medium and small. Big section was full of veggies, medium the protein, and the carb in the small.

9-stop buying that food! when i was young we had banana slices with brown sugar, cinnamon toast, apple slices and honey as treats, veggie platters with cheese, stuff like that! granola bars, cans of soup in the cupboard, maybe some ichiban once in awhile...also we were enrolled in some sort of physical activity that we went to once a week. just dont keep that kind of food in the house, he will eat whatevers there and there ARE healthy ways to enjoy food.

10-Firstly add up how many calories he's eating up a day, keep a record. Then try and get them down, I allow very little junk food in my house, Give him healthier (hidden veg foods) to try, find new things he might like. Honestly walk more to get a pedometer, or a pedometer app on your phone, go out together, make it fun, go to the park, go swimming etc... You will see progress over time in healthy weight loss.

11-My Dr said don't buy that stuff, and it won't be available for him to eat. I am in the same boat with my girl. We must show them the healthy way to live. I don't want her to become sick and diabetic like me.

 So I'm not going to buy soda, cookies, chips, and crap food anymore. Make a bowl of fruit always available for him, Apples, oranges and bananas, on the table. Switch to a diabetic diet for him. My Dr said a diabetic diet, is a really good diet-- and is the ideal diet for everyone! Because it is low carb, high protein, low sugars, and the food comes from REAL food sources.

Engage him in sports. Shut off the tv and video games, and get him outside playing or into sports. He will not die, he will adjust to the new foods over time. Expect fussing and complaining. But, he will eat it if he's hungry enough, and healthy food is his only option to eat.

12-Each week just “forget” to buy one unhealthy item ie week one ice cream, week two chips, week three fizzy drinks ect..

And start making home made pita bread pizzas with real veggies and good quality food. Start juicing real fruit!

You got this, just don’t make a big deal about it, don’t shame the weight, don’t shame the kid. Make food prep fun! Kids love preparing food. And they are more likely to eat what they have made. All positives and no of those negatives and never shame. You will just hit a brick wall. Good luck .

13-Your kid is in a growth period right now, that means his muscles, bones and height is developing. He is after all only 7 years of age.

 You can start by getting rid of the sweets (the unhealthy). That alone will help a lot. You can add him to a sport or something (basketball, football). He shouldn't be on a real diet before he's at least 15 (in my opinion).

 You need to talk with him about the consequences of being obese and how it will negatively affect his life further when he's going to be older. You need to tell him what he has to let go. That reality talk will motivate him, and you will see results.

 I have a sister who's 8, and a little overweight. Our family hasn't planned to help her diet now, but she will when she gets older. I myself started being on a caloric deficit this year, and I'm going to be 17 this year. But I didn't have the motivation to do it the past years, but I did lose 20 kg.

14-I think start slowly and cooking imitation foods of what he likes. So he likes nuggets? Make homemade nuggets and maybe hide some veggies in them. Maybe start with simpler foods instead of things like brown rice or oats. Things like sausages with mashed potato and some veg like some carrot or peas on the side. You need to introduce things slowly since he's not used to them. Also get rid of any junk food in the house so it's not an option for him.

15-I have an overweight teen. His doctor said don’t put him on a diet because he is still growing. And 7 is still very young. Just get your child more active. Like the trainer, maybe an after school program. My son went to school weight training. Weekends we camp, and go to festivals. Just keep your child busy with things he loves. The rest will take care of it later self.

16-don't have threats in house, that will make it easier for him.

Get out of the house fruitjuices , soft drinks and other liquid calories

Give him unlimited access to fresh fruits if he is hungry as only snack allowed

Cook with a lot of vegetables to make him feel quickly full. Use a blender to hide the vegetables in sauces.

mixed vegetables and beans with minced meat

I used courgettes that doesn't taste very strong mixed with pesto sauce

bechamel sauce for lasagna consisted in half blended cauliflower.

Fennel did it good in cheese sauce

When i had tacos they were home made, and the minced meat consisted for half in beans.

Often kids like soup, you can make it easily self cooking vegetables and blender a part and add water. Use meat and fish in little quantities for the taste

17- 1) don't feed him ice cream and chicken nuggets.

2) Put healthy foods in front of him, e.g. brown rice and cooked carrots.

3) if he refuses, say "ok, you're excused from the table, you can go play".

 4) if he's hungry, show him the exact same plate as before (rice+carrots).

 5) repeat 3 through 4 until he eats it. He won't starve to death, kids don't do that, and they'll learn. My parents did that to me, and I'm not messed up or anything.

18-make sure you are framing it as "we want to eat things that help our bodies have good energy!" not about "We need to lose weight" Seven is really young to understand those nuances, so it is important that you don't put any shame on eating, just reenforce positive eating habits because of all of the GOOD things those foods do for us.