Did anyone change body shape in childhood...thin to thick

[Brenda]

Hello,

In the children with Hypermobility forum, we are discovering that there are a number of our children who have experienced an unexplained, fairly rapid change in weight, moving from thin to thick. Unhealthy eating habits are not the cause.

Would you mind posting a reply if you expereinced this in childhood?

Are you male or female?

What age were you when it began to happen?

What words of advise would you offer to parents of children now experiencing this?

Does anyone have any explaination for this, other than a shift in activity level?

Has anyone experimented with a gluten-free eating style? (Wheat-free)

Thanks!
Brenda

[Jess]

I gained drastic weight when i turned 21!
i'm female and was on the go alot.
I'm now 24 and a size 18 from when I used to be a size 12!!

[Princess_Sarah]

Hey,

I gained sooo much weight when I was 13 and I'm still trying to get it off, I'm 20 now and its horrible. I was always a really active child and played a lot of sport but when I hit 13 I had an operation on my hip and couldnt put weight through my right side for 18 months - 6-8 weeks recovery, yeah right!
I believe that because I didnt exercise for a long amount of time thats why I gained the weight but I still ate healthy meals, my mum made sure we did eat junk food etc...I was really big around the age of 15 - 17 but I'm gradually losing the weight now *fingers crossed it'll keep dropping off*

[lilwatchergirl]

As I said in the other thread, I was 7 when I went from being a very skinny kid to an overweight one! I wasn't drastically overweight, but I was bigger, and it was a bit of a shock as my diet didn't change (I was eating a bit more - but nothing ridiculous). There was no change in my activity level - if anything, I did more activity around that age than before, as I was starting to take part in new activities like regular swimming. I do remember having an increasing appetite at this time, but my parents kept a close eye on my diet and I didn't eat junk food.

I've swung between underweight and overweight ever since... I did try a wheat-free diet for a while, but not for weight loss (wheat was triggering migraines for me). I lost weight on this initially, but didn't keep it off. However, I wasn't great at sticking to the wheat-free diet. I might try again and see if it helps. I'm definitely sensitive to gluten.

[cnc03]

I gained a lot of weight when I started high school, it appeared very rapidly, and I was very, very sporty at that time, although I think I was doing a little less than before but not enough to cause the massive increase.
On the flip side, I also lost weight very rapidly as well, (without changing anything in my diet/activity level) and went back down to the size 10 I am now. I lost a dress size over night, which was a bit of a shock as there was no reason.
I always put mine down to a puberty type thing, but I'm not really sure.
I'd say not to worry about these things to much, and as long as they're eating a healthy diet, and being as active as is reasonable for them, then hopefully it'll settle down again. Nutrition and activity are more important than actual size (in my opinion anyway).
Hope this helps a bit.

[dawn barlow]

Hi
My son Jordan now 13 was a very heavy baby, from the age of about 4 he started to lose weight and he is now so thin i hate seeing him without a top on. It doesn't matter what he eats he still doesn't gain weight. I was very skinny when i was a child but from the age of about 10 or 11 i really started to put weight on and it has been up and down ever since. Jordan is the only one in our family who is so thin.

Dawn x

[poppy]

dawn it sounds like jordans like me. i were very heavy as a baby but now i have trouble keeping weight on i'm 5"7 and 48kg at the moment

[Jomiddsy]

i was very thin until i reach 16 then the weight went on, I had alot of problems with my diet and at one point stop eating. Ive always been tall....my weight went to 10 and a half stone then at my first child to 12 then to 14 and now currently at 16stone,,,,i try to loose weight, but it doesnt go,,,ive got really skinny arms and legs put a very large baby pouch.

If i eat rubbish i loose weight, when i try to diet and cut down i put more weight on.

The strange thing is that even tho ive put on 2 stone in the last 2 years my dress size hasnt change, im still an 18 (the only difference is the size of my baby pouch and stretch marks lol)

[Eiblis]

My daughter Kat was diagonsed with EDSIII in August by Prof Grahame, up until the age of 12-13 she was solid but not fat, then she suddenly started gaining more weight, mainly muscle though as she was exercising and a member of the local Army Cadet unit. This last year, she is now 17, she has been in more and more pain and had to give up Cadets, it was also suggested by the Prof that it want helping her.
She weighs 97 kilos, and was told by the Prof to lose 50 kilos, I was more than a little shocked by this, as she isnt a big eater, she is 5ft 6.
After the appointment in august she started counting calories so we could present it to the GP, in the course of 4 weeks, she struggled to eat 1000 calories a day, was eating a lot more than her usual, and exercising when she could. She lost no weight at all. Blood tests were done for diabetes, thyroid nothing abnormal discovered.
Since then we have all switched to the GI Diet, still no weight loss, she swims up to 3 times a week an is now swimming 1-2 miles a session. She has toned up but gained more muscle, still no weight loss tho and no explanation as to why she cant lose the weight My heart goes out to her especially when all her friends are looking at prom dresses and she would far sooner wear jeans and a baggy top.

[Jomiddsy]

hi elbis


please give kat a big hug from me,

I know how she feels, i cannae loose the weigh and its not from want of trying, i go to the dietain as well.

god bless baggy clothes

luv jo

[janey]

Muscle weighs more than fat, that may be the reason why she has not lost weight.

[taylor]

Yes! I was very skinny as child, event to the point of my mother taking me to the pediatrician asking him what was wrong with me. When I was about 12, the weight started coming, along with the broadening/thickening of my build in general. It was blamed on me being on crutches so much causing the upper body strengthening. When I started high school at age 14, I was wider and outweighed every boy on the freshman football team! By the time I was 16, I was 5'7" and weighed 216 pounds. Not a good life for a teen aged girl.

At age 17, I was placed on a diet by my doctor- no pills, just prescribed eating. I followed it like a new religion and the weight fell off. I got down to about 146 pounds. Ok, healthier weight right? Not in my case. I felt horrible! I was always tired, I had no energy, I ached and I didn't want to do anything but sleep. To me, I looked funny as well - I have a large bone structure, so my wrist, my collarbones, hips, everything just seemed to stick out. I went back to the doctor and told him that something wasn't right and I came off the diet. In a short time, I was right back at 215 pounds and felt just fine.

When I was pregnant with #1, I gained about 16 pounds. 2 weeks later, the weight was gone. With #2, I gained probably 50 pounds , but again, within a few weeks, it was all gone. With #3 I gained 6 pounds (he weighed 8 lb 4oz!) and with #4 I gained 0. Same thing - within a couple weeks, my weight was back at the 215 mark.

At age 26-27, I decided to try the new Slim-Fast diet - I gained 6 pounds the first week. No more of that for me!

By age 38 I had gained up to about 245 lb. I was told it was stress related. At age 39, I divorced the cause of the stress ( ) and quickly lost back down to my usual.

I now weigh 202. I do have a hard time finding blouses to fit across my shoulders and chest and ones that have long enough sleeves. I am about 5' 7" tall but I measure about 5' 9" or so across from fingertip to fingertip.

The weight used to be a BIG issue for me when I was young- no one want to be the fat girl and be the one getting teased all the time. It took me a long time to get comfortable with who I am and what my weight is. I don't do "diets", I don't yo-yo with weight loss/gain.

I have always been pretty active (when not hurting) and I don't eat "junk" food but rarely. Due to genetics, I have followed a low fat, low s*d diet since age 13 when my father had his 1st open heart 4 by-pass surgery at age 38. I have also watched what I ate due to diabetes in the family. I was just diagnosed diabetic (type 2) 2 weeks ago, along with high BP and high cholesterol and triglycerides.

I have learned to have a bit of humor. Society doesn't like to use the terms fat, heavy, etc. You should see the looks I get when someone says, "Oh, you just have big bones!" and I tell them that's not my problem, it the big meat I have wrapped around them! O r when my ex used to teased about getting a woman with a "coke-bottle" figure and I told him he already had one - just it was a two liter size!

[lilacsunflower]

Hi,

My daughter had a rapid growth spurt at 9yrs and did about 6 years growing in 1 year. She went from skinny to quite chubby for no real reason and that was about the time that she started having lots of HMS symptoms except we didn't know what they were then. her body seemed to be under enormous stress. Luckily the weight sorted its self out over a couple of years so the best advice would be to not panic and stick to healthy eating. She did try a gluten free diet for several months but it didn't seem to help her at all. She is now avoiding tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and some fish as was diagnosed on food intolerance testing - also chocolate and eggs which she doesn't like anyway.

[Eloise]

In the summer of being 14 yr, I grew 6 inchs and went from being the smallest in the class (well except from some-one who was genetically a small person) to being averaged size, and as I fully grow adult I am now normal-ish at 5' 7''.

I was always really really skinny even though I ate continually (family jokes of hollow legs etc!). Although I was never very active as I did have alot of growing pains and the doc's just advised rest and ibuprofen (what did they know).

At 18 when I started Universtity I was just under 8st, and within the first year finding cider and take-aways I put on over a stone and got the stretch marks. (I am female - covered in stretch marks - but no babys yet)

As an adult and the continuing joint pain I have continued to put weight on and I am now in the over-weight catergory at just under 12st (I am 30 now).

Gluten doesn't seem to be my intolerance (I have tried without it). Mainly eggs and fruits (and chocolate - but I don't care I still eat it).

[yogi]

I was very skinny as a child, and at about 14 I started to put weight on. I was never really heavy although at my heaviest I was about 25 lbs more then I am now. I'm quite thin but it's always been a struggle. I put weight on very easily.