Recent News and Articles on the Keywords: fat + too + 447,000  Related to the article below (Last Update: 8/5/2008)

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Is my son too fat for his age?

 Being overweight in adolescence is an increasingly common problem but one which, if handled correctly, need not mean that your son will be overweight as an adult.

It is estimated that about ten percent of young children and 15 to 20 per cent of teenagers are overweight compared with 30 per cent of the adult population.

People often ask if there is an underlying medical cause but this is unusual, affecting less than ten per cent of obese children and adolescents. Such children tend to be short and do not grow in height as you would expect with puberty, and they may have other signs of underlying illness.

As your son is of normal height and well in himself it is unlikely he has a medical problem. The overall picture for your son is reassuring as once he goes into puberty his body shape and composition will probably change quite dramatically.

Most overweight teenagers go into puberty earlier than average, have their growth spurt earlier than average, stop growing earlier and do not end up taller than average.

It is possible that your son will fall into this pattern, in which case he may go into puberty in the next year or two, somewhat earlier than the average age of 14.

He may start developing pubic hair and genital growth in the next year, within the following six to twelve months he may start growing rapidly in height which will make him look much less fat.

The pattern of muscle growth is the opposite of fat and your son's muscle mass will more than double during the years that he rapidly grows in height. Meanwhile he will probably not gain more weight in terms of fat during this time.

Just as with body build, there is a strong family influence on weight. If, as his parents, you are overweight there is an 80 per cent chance that your son will also be overweight. Some of this is truly genetic but some is due to attitudes to eating and food being learnt and passed on within a family.

Conversely if you are both of normal build and have sensible eating habits then your son is less likely to be overweight once he is an adult.

Even so, most overweight children do eat more than their slim brothers or sisters or in some cases their excess weight is because they are less active.

You say that your son enjoys football and rugby - it is important he continues with these sports. Just as with adults, children need to engage in aerobic activity i.e. exercise that increases their heart rate and makes them breathe faster, for at least 20 minutes three times a week.

This may not sound much but it is surprising how many teenagers do not achieve even half this level of exercise.

Your son should avoid rigid dieting as he needs to gain appropriate weight to lay down muscle and bone in order to grow correctly when he enters puberty. If your son was to crash diet he would lose lots of muscle as well as fat and would also be at risk of vitamin and mineral deficiencies, particularly as he is a vegetarian.

An obsession with weight and calorie counting can also put him at risk of an eating disorder. You mention junk food and the fact that he controls his intake of this suggests your family have sensible eating habits.

Make sure he does not skip breakfast, an all too common habit in teenagers, as this leads to the inevitable snacking mid morning with high calorie tuck and poor eating at lunchtime followed by more snacking before supper.

Cutting out between meal snacks, ensuring plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables and avoiding fatty or high sugar content foods and drinks should be all that is required at your son's age.

Make sure you praise all his positive attributes and build up his self esteem, especially if his weight is preoccupying him and draining his confidence.

If you are concerned talk to your GP, practice nurse or school health staff who can check your son's weight and height and can offer him advice and hopefully reassure him as he grows through puberty.

We recommend readers seek personal medical attention in appropriate circumstances.