Diet Advice for an Obese Kid

[Lost Dog]

It's actually for the parents, of course.

My friends have a 12 year old son. He's about 170 and not very tall. They have another son (16 years old ) who's very fit, btw. The dad is very, very fit and athletic. The mom isn't fat.

They claim that they have very little in the way of non-healthy snacks around the house. Fruit, veggies, nuts, etc. They don't even have crackers around the house. They are the family where the kids' friends don't like to go, because they got no treats.

From what they describe, the kids not eating ANYTHING hardly. He is pretty sedentary, but still eats very little (so they think). Obviously, the kid could be sneaking things, but it would have to be outside foods. He's homeschooled, too, so it's not cafeteria or vending machines.

On a week long camp, the counselor told the parents that he needs to see a doctor. That something must be wrong for him to eat so little and weigh so much. His diet had been watched closely all week. There were treats, but he hardly ate them, either.

They took him to a doctor, who claimed the kid was allergic to everything (except kamut). I find that hard to believe. They also took him to some sort of homeopathic dude who said basically the same thing (only he didn't use the term "allergies," he used "intolerances.).

At one point, the family (16 year old excluded) got on the Atkins diet for a while. The boy dropped 15lbs pretty quickly. I don't know why they stopped.

My friends say that he often seems down and sad. Depressed? This is how I was as a 12 year old. However, I clearly ate too much. I was very sneaky.

They asked me for advice, and I can't really give them too much. I'm not qualified to dole out advice on someone's child. I'm hoping that there's a resource I can point them to.

I'm not going to workshop this here, but I wanted to share enough background so that someone might have an idea of where I can send them.

Thanks,

Roland

[JoshDunn]

To a different doctor would be my first start. Sometimes it takes fresh eyes to test for something different. Other then that a nutritionist would be the next best place. You did the right thing not offering advice as it needs to be from a medical professional.

[Mark57]

Is there some reason they, or you, are ruling out the allergy diagnosis?

I work with a woman who lost 40 pounds over a few months time once she finally found the right allergist and discovered her intolerance for soy. And that stuff is in literally everything now, just read the labels.

[Alcoholiday]

i thought possible thyroid levels. not sure though.

If the kid dropped 15lbs on adkins, i think if he was a little more active, logic tells me he would be able to get his metabolism moving, and be hungrier.

That said, just because the kid is fat at 12, it may just be "baby fat." I was fat at 12, and played basketball and baseball. I wasn't grossly obese or anything, but then i got to high school at 15 or 16, and got down to around 155 at a little over 6 feet. The body does weird things.

[Lost Dog]

Originally Posted by Mark57

Is there some reason they, or you, are ruling out the allergy diagnosis?

I work with a woman who lost 40 pounds over a few months time once she finally found the right allergist and discovered her intolerance for soy. And that stuff is in literally everything now, just read the labels.

I told them about people with allergies, reactions, and intolerances to wheat, dairy, etc. I didn't mention soy, but we talked about eliminating certain foods to see what happened.

My (and their) skepticism was that the doctor said he was allergic to everything but kamut. Kamut is an ancient form of wheat. Everything BUT that, huh? Seems odd. He basically said "what can we do? He's allergic to all foods."

[LisaS]

well I'm sure the weight would fall off on a kamut-only diet. That would prove it, right?

[Mark57]

Originally Posted by Lost Dog

My (and their) skepticism was that the doctor said he was allergic to everything but kamut. Kamut is an ancient form of wheat. Everything BUT that, huh? Seems odd. He basically said "what can we do? He's allergic to all foods."

Well then, the skepticism seems well founded. Where'd they find this guy anyway? Gluten, soy and peanuts are obvious places to start, and eliminating them one at a time should be fairly simple.

[andrew_plamondon]

They should see a doctor, maybe ? Or maybe get his BMR tested.

[mcmargie61]

Maybe he needs to be evaluated by an endocrinologist to determine if he has a metabolic disorder. Maybe I'm missing something here, but I'm not sure how food allergies are contributing to his obesity. Their pediatrician should be able to refer them. I'm surprised it hasn't been addressed by his pediatrician anyway.

[rixatrix]

My coworker is allergic to pretty much everything, too. She's allergic to uncooked vegetables, peanuts, wheat, dairy, you name it.

When she was in high school, she said she went on an elimination diet (lots of rice) and lost 20lbs inside a month (and she's tall, thin and Dutch to begin with, so 20lbs is massive for her frame). Anyway, I can't claim to know how allergies affect the body to gain weight, but I have heard enough stories of food allergies to know that they can screw you up.

What ever it is, that poor kid!
I grew up chubby in a family of athletes - step-mom ran marathons, dad ran, step-siblings were naturally athletic, lean, tan, and good-looking. And when I was on the tennis and swim teams, at my BEST (5'5" and 155lbs) my dad demanded to know what I weighed, looked it up on those GD height/weight charts, and told me I had to lose five pounds. NO LOVE.

I hope that kid can find the success he needs at weight loss, whatever the problem may be. It's heartbreaking to be the fat kid.

[frogguruami]

Originally Posted by Lost Dog

From what they describe, the kids not eating ANYTHING hardly. He is pretty sedentary, but still eats very little (so they think). Obviously, the kid could be sneaking things, but it would have to be outside foods. He's homeschooled, too, so it's not cafeteria or vending machines.

Well, my first thought, as homeschooler myself, was that a unit on eating healthy, healthy habits, etc. might be in order. Eating "hardly anything" could in itself contribute to being overweight.

Originally Posted by Lost Dog

They took him to a doctor, who claimed the kid was allergic to everything (except kamut). I find that hard to believe. They also took him to some sort of homeopathic dude who said basically the same thing (only he didn't use the term "allergies," he used "intolerances.).

You would hope that a doctor would be a bit more specific!! If the doc didn't do metabolic testing also I would recommend a new doctor.

Technically speaking "allergies" and "intolerances" are different things but they tend to display the same symptoms so they are often used interchangeably. Food allergies/intolerances can cause weight gain, especially dairy and gluten. I don't have any fancy scientific research, just person experience and the experience of a number of families with allergies! Also, people tend to associate the word allergy with stuffy nose, rash or some other outward symptom. It is not always that cut and dry. If the child does have allergies then he may subconsciously realized that food makes him feel like crap. Could explain why he doesn't eat much.

An elimination diet always a better indicator of allergies than blood or skin tests. Especially if those "allergies" are actually "intolerances" which don't show up on blood tests. It might be something they could consider doing. They are a PIA to do but they don't last forever (1 month usually).

HTH, I deal with food "intolerances" and my son has multiple chemical sensitivities. When I do not avoid my "trigger" foods, even cross contamination, I can not loose weight and I feel like curling up in a ball and going to sleep.

[RobLL]

I quite agree that this kid needs to see a specialist who can address whatever metabolic/intolerance/allergy problems he is facing. Also his brief success on Atkins may indicate some sort of glucose function problem. Why did the family drop the Atkins diet? And why not get the boy on the low carb version of TNT? Rob

[Lost Dog]

Thanks everyone.

From what I gather, they've gone to several doctors over the last year or two, and gotten conflicting info. They do want to go to another doctor, but they seem to feel like they are flying blind. Most of us do our research and know more about nutrition than the average Joe. They don't.

I think I have some direction to give them. Things to think about and discuss with the doctors.

Thanks again,

Roland

[Cynic]

Originally Posted by Lost Dog

Thanks everyone.

From what I gather, they've gone to several doctors over the last year or two, and gotten conflicting info. They do want to go to another doctor, but they seem to feel like they are flying blind.

They should by all means see another doctor and get another opinion. They should perhaps try to find one that is either a nutritional expert or a gastro-intestinal specialist.

[Jack P]

Food allergies can make a huge difference. I have a friend with a child who is autistic and they've seen big improvements by cutting out gluten. Some people can tolorate different forms of grain - is it possible to doc meant that the only form of wheat he wasn't allergic to was Kamut? I know spelt is often tolorated by people with gluten issues.

An easy way to start on an elimination diet is to go with foods that are known to have low allergens - rice, for example - and slowly start to add other foods in.

[MuscleMom23]

What about a bariatric specialist or a nutritionist. My doctors were grossly undereducated in nutrition. Still are even when my new one thinks he IS educated.

Now, I had an obese child, not greatly, 175 5'5" at 11 yo he is 13 now. But hefty never the less. I noticed he had MY eating habits were I loved all carby starchy foods. IN EXCESS. My DH and DS 10 are very muscular and love their meat.

Anyway DS gets a cancer that was there when he was a little guy, embryo in fact. He loses a TON of weight and grows. He is now 5'10.5" and 170 lbs. He is skinny fat. As I am learning to incorporate protein, I see him trying to copy. It is really hard for him. I can't "force" him to eat my protein, he just won't do it.

All this to say, just because he doesn't eat very much, does not mean he is eating balanced meals. Maybe not enough protein since atkins worked.

How about that?

[Espi]

Allergies & food sensitivities can screw with food absorption as the offending foods often damage the gut. This has the result that the body goes into conservation mode and lowers T3-output.
Avoid offending foods and T3 output will go up again and the boy will lose weight.

Took me years to discover this was true for me. Avoid the offending foods , up the protein intake and even with the same amount of calories (or even more!) I could lose weight as long as there was no gluten, soy & dairy involved. Legumes are bad news too.

BTW, some people have very specific allergies/sensitivities, so they can eat oats, but other people have allergies that aren't so specific. Hence I also need to avoid oats, since oats have a type of protein that is extremely similar to gluten. Sheep's/goat's dairy is possible, but still elicits an immune response. Same for rice that is too processed, like rice protein powder.

It is possible he'd probably fare best on a diet that cuts out all grains, all dairy and all legumes but not fruit & veggies.. so not Atkins but a Paleodiet.

He should also get a complete thyroid panel, w tests of TSH, free T3, free T4 and antibodies (to rule out eg. Hashimotos)