My husband pointed out that my son is getting "musky" when he plays basketball. I thought he was joking. I smelled for myself and sure enough - his pits smelled like onions! Isn't this rdiculously young for that? He's a very active, healthy boy. He is not at all overweight. In fact he has muscle definition, if you can believe that! He prefers sugary things but cereal is the only sugary thing he really gets. He knows about nutrition. When I feed him he asks me - does this have protein in it? Or calcium? Does it grow muscles or bones? He will bargain with me - "If I eat all of my meat and 3 bites of veggie can I have 3 cookies?" He would never eat an onion. So food may be a factor - but I think not because of nutritional offerings, but because of the hormones and extra "stuff" they have added? I worry about all the additives in milk - (he drinks a whole lot of milk) and when you take into consideration you can grow a fat chicken from embryo to slaughter in 3 weeks! well, that goes straight into our kids. I have a feeling that's why 11 year old girls are looking like 16 yr olds. The easy answer would be to buy organic, but my food budget is tight already.
It happened to my son at around 5 too. I switched to organic milk and *poof* gone.
In the meantime, try Tom's of Maine deodorant.
Even if you can just get organic dairy and meat it will help your child a lot. If you can't afford all organic meat, you could try eating less meat and more beans, tofu and other sources of protein. I also heard that the antiperspirant is bad for you, aluminum or something. They have some at the health food store, it doesn't work for me, but maybe for your little guy it will do the trick.
I would say yes it young but he is very active & sweat does smell but at what age do they start to smell like a man?I have a 7 yr old who doesn't smell yet.I would have to ask is he over weight?What is his diet like full of junk food or maybe he had onions in his food before the basketball,what about a shower when did he shower last & is he cleaning in all the major places.Maybe if he is showering by himself you or dad need to go back & help him scrub his hair & body & after giving that a try & he still smells call your Dr.
My daughter has B.O. She is 7 and will be 8 in June. She eats healthy food for the most part, of course the occassional junk food, but not often at all. She is a competitive dancer and practices at least 2.5 hours a week if there are no extra practices, and does Tae Kwon Do which is 2 hours a week. She is thin and tall. I think kids are just starting everything earlier now. I have to remind her every day to wear deoderant, but it works fine!
I agree with Denise P. - it may be worth it to go organic (expensive I know, but long-term health issues can be expensive too).
I have also heard of body odor from candida overgrowth (something to think about and research).
Good luck . . .
If you get deodorant, make sure it isn't antiperspirant. Some kids just have odors. We experienced this when my husband coached little league baseball.
Food definitely can play a role, but from my experience most body odor issues come not getting enough water. Plain water. Not flavored. Not juice. Water.
Best way to estimate how much water a person should get without activity is to take their weight divide it by 2. The result is the number of ounces they need to drink each day. This is a minimum number...so if they are active in sports, etc they need to drink more than this. I like to take the result and divide it by 17, and this result gives you the approximate number of bottles of water they need a day.
For example: 150lbs/2=75. 75/17=about 4 1/2 bottles of water a day.
My son started having BO at that age as well. I just bought him his own deodorant and explained to him that he needed to put on it every day when he brushed his teeth. Problem solved.
