@Dollie welcome to the forum. As you care and are likely to share meals occasionally you want to know how to help. It looks like your son is treating this news seriously and as he may only be through a third of his life good health is important.
I am overweight and have been for years plus I do not move enough. My hcp was quite surprised when I described myself as fat and suggested I was undervaluing myself which is ridiculous. I am fat. I wish when I had been diagnosed with high blood pressure in 2006 there had been active encouragement for me to lose weight and move more. In my surgery you become a monitoring exercise for overworked or disinterested nurses. I got the wake up call in June when told my cholestral had nudged up. I discovered they hadn't bothered to test for diabetes and requested a test. The good news is at that moment I was motivated to change. I ditched potatoes bread rice pasta, pastry and red meat. I didn't count calories I effectively went low carb. I spent my twenties thinking the F Plan was wonderful but my version of low carb including eggs fish and cheese meant I lost 2lb a week. When inevitably I was told I was diabetic i tweaked the carbs. No calorie counting but carbs are difficult to find on labels they are on the back under nutrition. Carbs convert to sugar. I remember Tom Kerridge doing a low carb programme and I didn't take much notice. I think when your son starts to lose weight he will be very motivated.
I would say try and drop any sugar he adds to food or drink perhaps halving it and as his palate gets used to it dropping it. Some people use sweetners. I'd also drop mindless snacks. Lots of cafes add crisps it's better to refuse them
Keep a diary of all he eats and drinks then once a week work out the carbs. He can then decide if something becomes an occasional treat a smaller portion a swap or is dropped. Pasta is very carb heavy so should be treat small portion or drop. Some people have substituted edamame or red lentil pasta but I haven't tried it yet. Meat and fish are low carb as well as eggs and to some extent cheese.
Full fat 10% Greek or Greek style yoghurt is lovely. Ignore low fat yoghurt. Add blueberry blackberry or raspberry. If he has a freezer he can buy frozen berry's that he can stir in and should have defrosted at work. Add nuts or seeds. Give up fizzy drinks and drink more water.
Once he lowers carbs he will lose weight. If he is a Greggs fan check their menu for suitable items then contact their HQ if there are none. They are an innovative company.
Being mindful about what he eats and not adding sugar will be sufficient but he may want to take it further. Regular short ten minute walks are good too.
The freshwell site is excellent and informative.
I can highly recommend joining the forum and asking anything he needs to know. He needs to eat more carefully and move more. He doesn't need to change much.
