From Felix, Child's Age 16 - 02/27/19 - IP#: 172.56.23.xxx Click here to reply
Hello Sarah, I've been lurking on the site for the past few days and was about to write a post on the board about my situation when I saw yours! We are in the same boat, my son Jason is 16 as well and gained a ton of weight over the past year (the majority since the end of the previous academic year - June-ish), when he got a summer job. The summer job is at McDonalds and has continued into part time employment during the school term. Jason last saw the doctor in July of 2018 and he was around 180 (which was up a bit from the previous), at 5'9 and is hitting 220 last I am aware of. He's always been on the huskier side but he's really gotten large this year. I'm not home so I can't see what he's eating on a daily basis (even though I have access to his bank account and often see purchases from fast food places on his account) but I see him every 2 or so weeks - my job is away from home - and he looks larger every time. He's been getting winded a lot recently and is refusing to work out. My wife has actually been on a health kick and is going to the gym near daily but he refuses to go with her. Sarah, what does it take for David to get winded (stairs, general walking, etc.)? Have you noticed an increase in fast food consumption or portion sizes at home? When I've been home or Jason has come to visit me, he does eat more food then I've seen in the past - no fast food however because the nearest fast food chain/place is a good 10-15 minute drive away. Have noticed takeaways though.
Reply from Felix, Child's Age 16 - 03/31/19 - IP#: 208.54.86.xxx Hi Janis, apologies for the delayed response. It’s been a month and I’m really getting concerned about Jason. He spent a week with me as he had a term break from school and looked even larger. He had went to the doctor for an annual checkup right before he came up to me and he was 240 at 5’9 - guess I was a bit low with my previous estimate. But, he’s eating a ton. My work schedule is generally flexible and since he was up I wasn’t physically at work for the majority of the day, only a few hours each day, usually around lunch time. I told him that he can cook lunch during that time but he’s ordered fast food and had it delivered to the house every day. And not a small meal mind you. He’ll then shovel down multiple servings of dinner and if I didn’t cook enough he’d just snack heavily after I would go to do work in my home office. Jason’s getting really winded often, he came with me to work for a bit one day and my car park is about a mile from my office (usually take a bus in the rest of the way) but it was a nice day so decided to walk... Jason was getting very tired very quickly. As it was lunch time that day, I had him run down and grab lunch for us from the cafeteria... got a pork dish for me, one for him as well and also a burger. When asking him why he got two lunches he simply said one isn’t enough for me. He’s gained so much weight in less than a year, 60 pounds is insane. Janis, how is Paul doing? Does he get winded often? Any heavier?
Reply from Janis, Child's Age 14 - 02/28/19 - IP#: 72.235.193.xxx Hello Felix and Sarah, My son Paul turns 14 tomorrow and reading about your sons is just like what I see with him. Paul is 5'11" tall and weighs 323 pounds. He has a huge appetite at meals and is always snacking. I've given up trying to get him to eat less. All I would get were arguments, sulks, and the "silent treatment". We have vegetables and fruit, which he likes, but he drowns the vegetables in ranch dressing and eats fruit in between cookies, chips, microwave burritos, etc. He goes to a boys' school and is manager for the wrestling team and he has lots of friends and I'm picking up that girls are interested in him. Having a positive relationship with him at this stage in his life is more important than his weight. When he's ready to do something about his eating and weight, he will. Sorry I can't be more positive, but with everything kids this age are exposed to, I'd rather have him feel he can come to me with a problem, rather than avoid talking with me about anything because he thinks all I'll do is harp on his weight.
