So I grew up pretty chubby. Nothing extra, just chubby. Enough so that I wasn't good at many sports. Couldn't run very fast. Got winded easily. Not good at skate boarding. Snowboarding was difficult enough, add extra weight... Bad self esteem. etc etc Now, I'm starting to feel the pressure of aging enough to want to get healthier so I'm doing my research. Here's the thing. I'm 32 and still chubby. Research indicates that fat cells, the storing tissue cells that store fat, they don't die. No matter how much weight you lose, you still keep the same amount of fat cells. They will sit there skinnier, less filled with fat, waiting for you to consume too much and they store it right up again, increasing your bulk all over again. This explains why we all have friends that seem to consume way more than we chubby people do, yet they do not gain an inch around their belly. As they were growing, they did not grow as many fat cells, thus, when they have too much now at an older age, they just don't have any tissue to store it in. Follow yet? Now that might not be 100% correct way to put it but the fact is some people don't have as many fat cells as others. I have a son now. He's two. He's got a little belly, obviously, but it's, yaknow, there. He looooooves fatty stuff. like most kids do. That research points to this: if i didn't eat the way I did as a child, I wouldn't be as chubby as I am now. I'm wondering if I'm doing the same thing to him as what happened to me as a child. I can't find for the life of me the way in which when we are growing how we increase the number of fat cells. It's a common problem in the way media will give out research information. Reguritaged without the rest of the information that people want to know. Internet peoples debating... yadda yadda, the internet is a huge message board with a fan boy for every way of thought. My google-fu is strong but I can't find it. I'm wondering if someone can shed some light on the matter. I know what you're thinking and I don't want to give off to some master plan in which I cause my son health problems because I didn't give him enough fat. Let me assure you that I don't want to do that at all to that extreme. I know some might say that it's obvious that I don't want to give my son too much fat as well. That's not what I'm asking. In fact, if I can find out how, I plan on keeping every single one of his little fat cells packed with fat. I'm just wondering if the number of fat cells grown can be slowed down. I want a little more information on the subject. How do we increase the number of fat cells while we are growing. Is it a certain type of fat intake? Strictly how much fat total? Does anyone know yet? I can guess that there is a genetic predisposition to growing the number of fat cells, too, but is there a way to slow that down? I have health issues that I need to correct now. Being the way I did when I was younger caused me alot of unneccessary uncertainty in myself. If I can I'd like to take a little of that away from my son if I can. If that means he get less red meat or something easy like that, I would totally do it. Step right into this thread and leave your thoughts, or even better, your scientific data, links to superior google linking, or whatever. I'm hoping that a biology major comes by but you all can leave your thoughts. I'm guessing Penny-Arcade has enough diversity in users to come at this idea from every angle. That's why I'm posting this here. Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler This discussion will be for a good cause. This is my cute and stocky ass son. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChYwx8b91y0

I'm no doctor but I think that belly is normal for a kid his age. He's not overweight. The way I understand it high protein high fat diets are just dandy for growing kids. Tons of carbs are fine too, as long as they're complex carbs. Growing bodies gonna burn up some calories. Sugar is the problem. Soda, candy, it's all awful. Trans fats are equally terrible. Any fast food and anything that has hydrogenated oil on the label. Kids shouldn't really require any special diet. They're little furnaces. An active lifestyle and quality food should be your primary concern. Take all this with a grain of salt though, I'm no expert.

Fat cells, while not as finite as brain cells (at least, as brain cells may be, considering new research that shows humans can regrow neurons, but that's neither here nor there at the moment) don't really fluctuate in amount very much. The reason someone can get fat again after having liposuction isn't that the fat cells re-grow, its that the still existing ones not destroyed by liposuction simply increase in size to fill the void. Fat is fat, whether it's ten thousand fat cells that are holding a gram of fat each or a thousand that hold a hundred grams of fat each (numbers not actually representative of fat cell count or capacity, just for example purposes). If you're worried about how much fat your kid is getting, ask your pediatrician. As for eating habits, it's shown that kids who are taught to eat healthy from the start continue that trend later in life, and are thinner and in better shape through their adult lives. Kids eat what you let them eat. If you give in to his complaints and whining when he doesn't get overly fatty foods, he's going to keep complaining and whining until you give him overly fatty foods. If you only offer healthy alternatives, he'll give you shit until he gets hungry enough to eat the healthy alternatives, then it's only a matter of staying the course. This isn't to say that you need to put him on a fat restricted diet. Kids grow at a terrifying rate. Fat is essential to basically keep the body from beginning to eat itself. Literally, if you don't give a kid that age enough fat it can cause brain damage. That said, again, ask your pediatrician, it's what s/he is there for.

I'm no doctor but I think that belly is normal for a kid his age. He's not overweight. The way I understand it high protein high fat diets are just dandy for growing kids. Tons of carbs are fine too, as long as they're complex carbs. Growing bodies gonna burn up some calories. Sugar is the problem. Soda, candy, it's all awful. Trans fats are equally terrible. Any fast food and anything that has hydrogenated oil on the label. Kids shouldn't really require any special diet. They're little furnaces. An active lifestyle and quality food should be your primary concern. Take all this with a grain of salt though, I'm no expert. I don't know. I'd still be wary of weight issues. My friend's kid doesn't have a belly. He gives him pop and gum, too. I suspect he might even give him candy. However, he won't eat meat. He's a little Vegan. Sometimes you can trick him into eating a chicken nugget, but most of the time he'll just throw it at you. Weight is a tricky thing. You have to literally change your lifestyle and what you eat.

The number of fat cells are irrelevant to how fat you are, and fat intake isn't what makes you fat. Someone should probably explain basic nutrition to you.

^ instead of being an asshat, why don't you try? Or not say anything at all?

I think the reason why fat kids tend to be fat later in life is a combination of nature and nurture. Some people have higher metabolisms and burn calories much faster than other people doing the same everyday activities. These people are unlikely to fat as children. Fat children with lower metabolisms will never get higher metabolisms. The nurture bit is probably very important as well. Kids learn everything from age 0-6, that's the age their brains are most malleable. Childhood is also when they pick up queues and attitudes about food from their parents, peers, and the media. If a child never develops good eating habits and healthy attitudes about food, he or she is unlikely to do so later in life. Also, if you make exercise an everyday activity that the child is used to, that can also help.

^ instead of being an asshat, why don't you try? Or not say anything at all? I'll write something up tomorrow. I wasnt really going for asshat.

You are correct in the fact that fat cells usually don't just disappear. In fact, once fat cells fill up your body will in fact make more fat cells which will make it easier for your body to store fat later on. Honestly, if you're really interested in learning about the science behind fat from someone that is one of The Sources on dieting: Lyle McDonald's Stubborn Fat Solution will give you more than enough chemistry to gnaw on for a while. As already stated, fat intake doesn't correlate really well with fat stored (some fat will be stored from any you take in though, don't fool yourself into eating sticks of butter because you are lifting Teh Waits).

All this "number of fat cells" stuff sounds like excuses not to get into shape. Forget about it and don't read any more of that shit. If you're just chubby, plenty of people fatter then you have gotten into shape. Eat healthy and exercise and it really doesn't matter how many fat cells you have; you will achieve a healthy weight and be fit cardiovascularly (unless you have a genetic pre-disposition to heart/cholesterol problems, you should probably figure that out as your diet would need to be more regimented then). As far as your kid, his normal development will dictate that he gain a significant percentage of his bodyweight per year for awhile (he's still growing, you aren't). Don't put him on any crazy diet without discussing with the pediatrician. They should have metrics to determine if he's becoming overweight. But yeah, kids eat what their parents eat, so if you eat crap he's going to eat crap. Having a kid was the best thing for my eating; I now cook 90+% of my food, mostly from scratch and I use good ingredients. My kid's now 16 months and eats mostly what we eat and I know he's getting a balanced diet because he eats what I eat and I eat well. Down the line, when he's taking a bag lunch to school I'll have less control over what he eats, and can only hope how we've raised him has affected his tastes and that he likes the food we send with him.

OK, your little boy is not fat. He's cute. Children often have squishy little tummies, others are just naturally skinny. His healthy diet is totally within your control, you buy the food, prepare it, and then give it to him. Its your decision whether he eats healthily enough, or just eats crap. If he has a high fat diet now, that's what he'll think is good and right to eat, and you'll be storing problems up for him in the future. If you give him a balanced diet, with plenty of fruit, veggies, carbs and proteins, he'll be fine. Cut out the very processed stuff - kids don't need the fat and salt in chicken nuggets, but do need the protein and fat in chicken. Make your own food for him, he deserves the best you can do, not the easiest. Make sure he gets plenty of exercise, running around, playing chase, a tricycle, a football, whatever he enjoys. Take him swimming. Set good eating habits now, allow a few treats now and then, and you'll set him up for life.

Basic rule of thumb, the less prepackaged food the better. IE what's LewieP said.

He's two years old. Forget all that crap, just focus on making relatively healthy food and take him outside to play. All this stuff about more fat cells is pretty irrelevant, if you want to get into better shape you can improve your diet and exercise and that will give your son a good example to follow as well, but don't project your problems onto him. Ross of rosstraining says what I'm getting at pretty well here/

It is really hard with kids. Kids bodies will always get a little tummy like that before a growth spurt (and they will eat like crazy!). With kids his age you don't want to limit their food intake, you just want to make sure they are getting lots of healthy foods and snacks and not much junk. Also do lots of active play. Don't think of it as exercise, just run around and play with your son. Unless your kid ends up morbidly obese, I would think more about being healthy than wieght/looks. Being a little bit chubby doesn't mean he/you can't also be cardiovascularly fit. Focus on being active and eating healthy foods until he is past the first couple stages of puberty. Genetics does play a huge factor and once your kid gets to their mid to late teenage years they may need to become more aware of what they are eating. I was on a fairly serious swim team in high school (we worked out for 90 mins 5 mornings a week and swam for 2 hours 7 evenings a week) and they had a nutritionist come in and do evaluations at one point and the caloric needs of the teenagers on that team (all exercising the same amount) ranged from 2200 to 7000.

The number of fat cells doesn't change, and it's unlikely that you have more. It's that yours are more full of fat than your skinny friends. Fat has a very specific purpose in a body, both for basic life functions and for metabolic purposes. For your own purposes, you likely need to reduce the number of calories you eat. You're probably eating more than you realize through "sneaky" foods. For example, a "wrap" at subway has like 20 fewer calories than a "bread" sandwich at subway, yet everyone thinks they're healthier. As for your son, he's really too young for his current weight to be anything but baby fat. Most kids are (and should be) a little roly-poly until they get older, and even me, for example, who was a very slim teen and now a slim adult, was 32 lbs at 12 months -- VERY big. I could ask my biologist PhD wife to come in here and say the same thing I did, if you want. But nothing you eat or do is going to increase the amount of fat cells you have. Because ultimately, even if someone has 10% more than another person, if they don't have fat IN them, it doesn't matter.

number of fat cells do change. you can't get rid of them but you can certainly gain more. sure they will hypertrophy with increased fat storage, but that is what they are designed to do. its really of matter of making your calorie expenditure more than your calorie intake, its not cutting out fats completely. in fact a balanced diet is shown to be more effective in losing weight than any other diet. but you need to be active. as far as your kid goes. he looks fine, just start making healthy eating habits now. inclluding changing your own since he is going ot emulate you. as soon as he gets predisposed to shitty choices in food that is what is going to stick with him. keep him active and eating healthy

The best thing you can do for your son is teach him healthy eating habits as he grows up and get him involved in exercise. As for now, don't worry about it. Toddlers eat the number of calories they require naturally (which can be A LOT). If you are concerned, you need to talk to your pediatrician. Don't diet your child without consulting a doctor ( I know you didn't suggest this, but FYI). People are genetically predisposed to be chubbier/leaner/bulkier...a variety of things. The number of adipocytes you have is not the reason you are chubby, its the amount of fat the adipocytes store. And yes, geckahn, the amount of fat you intake is a very large factor into why people become fat. I'd like to see your reasoning behind your statement.

The number of fat cells doesn't change, and it's unlikely that you have more. See, I was accepting this until MTS said: number of fat cells do change. you can't get rid of them but you can certainly gain more. This topic isn't as much about me. I'm currently doing cardio for an hour or 2 a week and a bit of free weights. It's about how I can keep my boy happy as hell and maybe along the way save him a bit of future pain. I'm curious about the number of fat cells mainly. What causes our body to say, "yaknow what? we better get more of those."? As for his diet, I try to be very diverse. On a normal me and him at home day: He's a banana freak and can eat two a day, but normally i go for one. He eats carrot or green beans every day or every other day. He eats alot of cheese and lots of milk. I try to give him a slice of bread or two a day. Normally in the form of toast and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Eats fig newtons or nutragrain bars daily. He normally has a slice or two of normal oscar myer bologna a day or a hot dog. Mac and cheese or Chef Boyardi Ravioli. He can pile in the fatty stuff tho. The cheese, milk, and meat is what I worry most about. He does excerise, you can see in the video that he's a mover.

The number of fat cells doesn't change, and it's unlikely that you have more. See, I was accepting this until MTS said: number of fat cells do change. you can't get rid of them but you can certainly gain more. This topic isn't as much about me. I'm currently doing cardio for an hour or 2 a week and a bit of free weights. It's about how I can keep my boy happy as hell and maybe along the way save him a bit of future pain. I'm curious about the number of fat cells mainly. What causes our body to say, "yaknow what? we better get more of those."? As for his diet, I try to be very diverse. On a normal me and him at home day: He's a banana freak and can eat two a day, but normally i go for one. He eats carrot or green beans every day or every other day. He eats alot of cheese and lots of milk. I try to give him a slice of bread or two a day. Normally in the form of toast and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Eats fig newtons or nutragrain bars daily. He normally has a slice or two of normal oscar myer bologna a day or a hot dog. Mac and cheese or Chef Boyardi Ravioli. He can pile in the fatty stuff tho. The cheese, milk, and meat is what I worry most about. He does excerise, you can see in the video that he's a mover. Again, fat is pretty critical at that age, since they're growing so quickly. People joke about having the "metabolism of a 4 year old" because kids that age really do have psychotic metabolisms. You're not feeding him Kool-Aid and McDonalds every day, you're giving him healthy stuff that is providing the nutrition he needs. Cheese and milk both provide good protein and good fat (as long as you don't mean Velveeta or that cheese product in a can, of course).

He's two years old. Forget all that crap, just focus on making relatively healthy food and take him outside to play. All this stuff about more fat cells is pretty irrelevant, if you want to get into better shape you can improve your diet and exercise and that will give your son a good example to follow as well, but don't project your problems onto him. Ross of rosstraining says what I'm getting at pretty well here/ Thats for that link, that was great.

take three deep breathes man. if that is what he is eating you are certainly doing a lot better than the majority of parents.

I'm not freaking out dude. I don't think he's fat, or that I was doing a bad job, I never said that. I'm curious on those points for the sake of curiousity and in research perhaps grab a better understanding.

The best thing you can do for your son is teach him to be comfortable and happy in his own body, even if he does have a belly or a little extra weight.

i want to echo that's it's more important to regulate the quality of the food your children eat than the quantity. a healthy diet with fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and quality meats (and just as importantly, WITHOUT copious amounts of simple sugars and processed foods) will go a long way toward helping the body regulate its weight naturally.

The best thing you can do for your son is teach him to be comfortable and happy in his own body, even if he does have a belly or a little extra weight. I'd imagine it would be incredibly uncomfortable to be in an obese body.