Preschooler pot belly

[teacher54321]

Ds is nearly 4 and is on the 98th centile for height and weight (he's always been between the 91st and 98th since he was born-is in nursery but taller than a lot of children in reception). He's heavy but in proportion, has size 13 feet and is going to be a big tall boy. My concern is his pot belly! You can see his ribs and his spine, his little arms and legs are lovely and slim and he's not chubby in the face but he still has the slightly protruding tummy when he's standing up. Is this normal? He's very very active and fit, runs around all day and is in the right aged clothes. I was just wondering if this is something I should be worried about...

[Thurlow]

It sounds quite normal to me - DD is 4, a skinny little minx, no waist to speak of, you can see her ribs and spine too, but she still has quite a prominent pot belly. I think it's something to do with their stomach muscles?

[teacher54321]

That makes me feel better-I had a sudden loss of confidence yesterday after reading the 'are parents of fat children abusive' thread! We also had a trip to the dentist this morning and was convinced that would be terrible but luckily it was fine!

[wigglesrock]

My youngest had her little pot belly until she was about 4.5, she's just turned 5 and it's gone completely. It's not flat now, it's concave - she's tall too, much taller at the same age than my older two daughters. Looking back at photos from last year - she's really stretched out - all legs and elbows , like a cheeky Bambi!!