Parenting & Family

Exercise Program (Or Gym) For Overweight Kid (age 8)

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Exercise Program (Or Gym) For Overweight Kid (age 8)

Hi, I have a nephew who is 8 years old and a tad bit overweight. Is there such a thing where he can run and sweat, maybe have threadmills available? Say a gym with exercise machines but kid-friendly? Its winter so we are having this problem, in summer we can just have him running around in a field.
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Nov 1, 2001
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How about swim lessons, sports leagues?
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He is already in 2 soccer teams, and this is exactly why I want him to lose weight, he is slow because he is heavy-set, and has no lungs to run all game. His 2 times a week soccer practice is not enough to make him lose weight, they are mostly geared a tactical stuff like passing and controlling the ball, swim lesson I don't see it helping him lose weight, not enough sweating or movement.
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Perhaps you could suggest the family look into their overall diet and start incorporating healthier meals and more veggies/fruits. Diet is much more effective in weight loss and I can't help but think that the messaging isn't the most positive if hes thinking hes overweight.
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If it was your kid I would have lots of advice. It is your nephew and basically you are going to be able to help very little.
Honestly, and of course there are exceptions, there is no excuse for an overweight 8 year old. You give the kid healthy food and make them eat it. Not that hard. Don't like what's for lunch it's dinner don't like that it's breakfast. Started to get a little lazy with my youngest and he started to want to only eat snacks (healthy ones but still a bad habit) Took about a weak of insisting he eat meals before snacks for him to understand I was serious. Older kids can start to get junkfood from friends and the like so very important to start now. by 10-11 it can be tough to control their intake.

Better than a gym I would make sure the 8 year old walks at least 500m of the journey to school. This is almost always possible though parents give their kids door to door service now because of fear. This should be easy to do at least on the way there.

All that said shaming the kid at this point is probably counter-productive.
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MusicBox wrote: swim lesson I don't see it helping him lose weight, not enough sweating or movement.
Sweating has nothing to do with weight loss, except the immediate effects of water weight loss, until they re-hydrate. Swimming has lots of movement and can be very effective as the movement involved has a lot more resistance than running, hence increased heart rate, increased calorie burn. Swimming is also better for your joints, due to lack of impact on those joints.

Bottom line a good variety of different cardio exercises is most effective for all around development, heart health, joint strength and weight loss, combined with healthy eating.
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Swimming is excellent exercise, and as was mentioned above, you don't need to sweat to burn calories. I'll also echo the sentiment about diet. I know that it can be difficult to deal with picky eaters and life gets so busy to cook or meal prep, but establishing healthy eating habits early is so important. Lunchables, bear paws, pizza and mcodnlads should be occasional treats... Not daily lunches.
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Thanks all the suggestions here, my son's weight is still in normal range but at 90% of curve,so a bit worried. Beside he starts to have big belly lol
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OntEdTchr wrote: Swimming is excellent exercise, and as was mentioned above, you don't need to sweat to burn calories. I'll also echo the sentiment about diet. I know that it can be difficult to deal with picky eaters and life gets so busy to cook or meal prep, but establishing healthy eating habits early is so important. Lunchables, bear paws, pizza and mcodnlads should be occasional treats... Not daily lunches.
Other than pizza I'd avoid that garbage even as an occasional treat. Also the idea of junk as treats sets up bad habits imho.
Even when busy there are better choices. Baby carrots and baby tomatoes and those mini cucumbers. Quick wash maybe slice in half depending on age and ready. While they are eating that you can make whole grain pasta, brown rice with a piece of meat. Actually even frozen pizza for dinner especially sans processed meat with the above as a salad is probably better than snacks or fried food.
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Jan 18, 2012
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It sounds like the kid is pretty active already.... At this point I would start in the kitchen then like some people already suggested.
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It starts with his diet. If you eat more calories than your body needs, you gain weight. If you eat less calories than your body needs, you lose weight. It is that simple. Obviously the type of foods matter too. (Healthy vs junk).
Some say they're sick of my crap.
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Oct 17, 2013
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If this boy is active and eats healthy food, stop worrying about him being a "tad bit overweight". Many kids, and especially boys, go through stages where they get a bit chubby before they have a huge growth spurt. The last thing you want to do is make this boy feel ashamed and increase the possibility of him having body image issues when he's older. Encourage him to try new activities, stay active and cook healthy foods together. You want kids to grow up to be healthy not just physically, but mentally also.
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MusicBox wrote: Hi, I have a nephew who is 8 years old and a tad bit overweight. Is there such a thing where he can run and sweat, maybe have threadmills available? Say a gym with exercise machines but kid-friendly? Its winter so we are having this problem, in summer we can just have him running around in a field.
What have his parents tried or are their thoughts? What able the doctor?
Weight is impacted more so by diet than exercise. Exercise impacts over all health.

Are you looking for things to have your nephew faster in soccer, lower in weight, or healthy? They are related but still different goals.

Also, are you asking because the parents want help or you are offering unsolicited advice?
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As a gymbro, weight loss is simply = calories in - calories out

Either drop calories in (cleaning up diet) or increase calories out by exercise.

Do you have an idea of how many calories he's taking in?
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Jul 18, 2012
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Swimming is great. My son does muay thai, which is a great workout. He plays soccer and basketball, but he always breaks a sweat at his muay thai classes.
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At that age it's less about exercise and more about the diet and parental control. I have 4 kids, my youngest are 8 and 10. If we eat pizza for dinner one night my son would wolf down 6 slices of pizza without a 2nd thought which we don't let him do. If it's chicken and veggies he always eats as little as possible, about 1/3 of what he would eat if it was pizza.

The parents need to be more involved on what he is eating as it's the parents responsibility at that age. Diet is the main issue here, not lack of exercise. Focus on that if you can.
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You know what makes for healthier kids? Healthier parents. Parents who do activities with their kids, rather than "sending them out to a field to run around". Parents who keep the kitchen stocked with healthier food choices and serve healthy meals, rather than crap. Parents who eat meals with their kids and can monitor what and how much they're eating.

I'll get off my high horse now...

C
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CNeufeld wrote: You know what makes for healthier kids? Healthier parents. Parents who do activities with their kids, rather than "sending them out to a field to run around". Parents who keep the kitchen stocked with healthier food choices and serve healthy meals, rather than crap. Parents who eat meals with their kids and can monitor what and how much they're eating.

I'll get off my high horse now...

C
Agree except for the sending them to run around. I think too much parental involvement is not good. Kids who are out playing from 3-9 every night except for a dinner break never seem to be overweight.
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fogetmylogin wrote: Agree except for the sending them to run around. I think too much parental involvement is not good. Kids who are out playing from 3-9 every night except for a dinner break never seem to be overweight.
Not necessarily.
There's a kid in our playgroup that goes non-stop (after school program during the week and weekends) and a very picky eater.
Parents always picking up fast food in between and the kid is slightly on the chubbier side.

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