My Son Is Overweight, How Do I Help Him Without Hurting Him?

Our children are the most important things in our life, and what gives us motivation to live every day with passion and perseverance.

Your son is one of the best things that happened in your life and it definitely hurts to see when he suffers through the struggles of weight gain and how it starts to eat away at his self-confidence.

As you introspect and watch him suffer through a life-altering challenge you begin to realize that as a parent it is your duty to lead him to a healthier path, but how do you do this without hurting his feelings?

Being straightforward and telling your son that he has a weight problem without much cushion for his feelings will not only crush his will but will drive a wedge between your relationship.

Playing the bad cop and being apathetic about how he manages his weight will only drive your son to further binge and overeat as it is the only coping mechanism he will think of to counter the emotional backlash of your unravelling.

You can help your son help himself by providing him the tools necessary to eat better and live better. There are many lifestyle choices that you can make as a family to change his path for the better.

4 Things You Can Do To Help Your Son Lose Weight

Having a firm realization of how your son is dealing with his weight loss issue at his age level is really important.

Having a ten-year-old son who may be having problems with his weight can mean that his lifestyle choices are attributed to your own.

Kids can’t fend for themselves or plan what they eat. They can’t enrol in sports or physical activities to stay fit. This falls into your lap and you need to re-evaluate how you plan your son’s diet so you can help him take control of his weight.

If you are dealing with a teenage son on the other hand, you can evaluate he lives his life outside the home which may be a contributing factor to unhealthy eating habits.

Foster a nurturing environment

Get rid of junk food in the house if your son has problems picking the right snacks when he eats. Avoid living in a dynamic where punishment is earned when someone doesn’t pick the right food options and promote a productive way of sticking to healthy eats.

Examine what is found in your pantry. There should be a diverse selection of food that your son can chose from. Fruits and vegetables are a great way to introduce healthy eating and prepare them in a way that kids can enjoy.

Create a routine of visiting his paediatrician on a regular basis

The physician is the best person to advise your son of his current condition and the reality about the dangers of his weight problem.

Paediatricians are equipped to educate children about the impact of obesity and its negative effects such as hypertension, diabetes and depression.

You can enlighten your son about his weight problems in a supportive manner and from an expert who has a sound input in his physical well being.

Promote exercise as a family

You can include weekly activities that involve every family member to avoid making your son feel as if he is being singled out.

Creating a family dynamic that fosters activities together whether it is running, hiking or exercising will help your son gain an emotional connection with the right lifestyle habits.

Exercising together will make your son feel as if it is a normal activity that isn’t playing on his weight and establish a routine that doesn’t put him on the spot because of his struggles.

This will also make everyone’s understanding of exercise value better within the family dynamic. Involving each member of the family in a diversity of fitness activities will make it interesting and fun to lose weight.

You can enrol everyone in different kinds of physical activities weekly to help diversify your exercise plan and avoid monotony and boredom.

He can go for a walk with his dad, help mom with shopping, play table tennis with his younger sister and enjoy a game of soccer with his friends.

When you have successfully invested in a family exercise plan your son will feel accomplished and confident as he starts to shed off those unwanted extra pounds.

Set realistic goals

Understand that your son didn’t gain all the weight he needs to lose in a week. Change can start in small portions but when done consistently can produce dramatic results for you and your child.

Commit to the reality that it will probably take a considerable amount of time to alter the way he views food and change his body metabolism. Becoming firm about your life goals as a family will only strengthen his will and prepare him for a lifetime commitment to staying healthy.

Parents Are the Ultimate Role Models In The Family Dynamic

Support your child by embracing the lifestyle choices that he has to make to keep the weight off and show him that you care by participating. The only way to instil good values and allow your son to embrace a healthy lifestyle is if you do it as a parent.

Children learn best by imitating what their parents do. You have to be the champion of motivation in the family and initiate activities that promote exercise like running and working out with your son whenever you can.

There are many healthy ways of reinforcing your child’s self-esteem and none of them involve participating in name calling or pointing out his challenges.

Every child needs to know that their parents are a reliable support system that accepts them for who they are. Make sure that all your efforts to help him lose weight are not teaching him that superficial value is more important than character and doing the right thing.

Give your son the tools to make informed choices about fitness and nutrition and be honest about the contribution you make when it came to his struggles with weight in the past by promoting an unhealthy eating environment.