daughter and maintaining her weight

Question
QUESTION: Hi, I was wondering if you could give me some advice about helping my 10 year old maintain her weight. She is about 4feet 8inches and weighs about 90 pounds. She has always been a short and very thin, until the last 2 years. Now she has a very hard time with the fact that she is not. She is very muscular and active. Her problem area is her belly.

ANSWER: Hi Jeanette, Try to figure out what has changed in the last two years. Is she exercising less, spending more time on the computer, video games or has she been watching more TV? Has she been buying school lunches? All these things can lead to weight gain.
Try to cut out the foods that are easily stored as fat. Examples are: crackers, fruit juice, excess milk, extra bread, pasta, cookies, ice cream, cake, candy and fast food. Better food choices would be: whole fruit, vegetables, salads, lean meats, chicken, fish, whole grain bread, low fat dairy, and healthy fats like those found in salad oils.
Encourage daily exercise for at least thirty minutes per day, just walking is a great exercise. Hope that helps, Laura Kraemer,Slimkids.com

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for the quick response. I was wondering, since most of her extra weight seems to be in the belly area, do you suggest excerise that focuses on that area?

Answer
Dear Jeanette,
Exercises that target the stomach area will not work to reduce fat in that area, they will only tone underlying muscle. Girls her age tend to gain weight in the belly area, and as they lose weight, they lose it there first. A five pound weight loss will make a big difference in the way she looks, so strive to lose 5-10 pounds. Hope that helps, Laura Kraemer,Slimkids.com

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