Two Year old “overweight”

Why go for a two year review and then completely ignore what they are telling you?

It sounds like you are making changes the nutritionist would have recommended eg semi skimmed milk not whole milk for age 2 and above.
Is it worth accepting the referral which is unlikely to be quick and then by time it comes through with an appointment cancel if not needed.

In my experience as a mum with a chunky toddler and a nurse who sees lots of patients the parents BMI seems to be the biggest indicated. Our eldest was chunky and her 2 year check flagged she was overweight, DH and I very healthy active and slim. By the time she was 5/6 she was slim with healthy BMI (she’s strong though- muscular thighs and a 6 pack!). 2nd DC was always slim. Same diet same home etc.
I find with kids who are overweight if the parents are overweight they tend to stay that way and follow their parents whereas with slimmer parents they tend to thin out. I know weight is complex, being fat doesn’t = greed but for the majority if the whole family are overweight it’s due to lack of activity and eating too much unhealthy food.

I would certainly see the nutritionist, and see what they have to say, and what their specialist opinion is.

As a Registered Nutritionist, be thankful for the referral. I am very busy with children who were overweight as toddlers and became overweight and obese teens. Nutritionists will not put your child on a 'diet' or try to get them to lose weight. We're trying to get them and their family onto eating a healthier nutritious diet, full of variety and in balance (including the right portion sizes). So rather than lose weight the aim is for the child to grow into their weight so that they grow up in proportion to their height to be healthy and strong. Be grateful that this has been flagged at an early age so you can more easily change things.

I hope that the lack of answers from @oopsididitagain66 means that they are reconsidering accepting the onwards referral.

It’s not to cast blame, just to set small children up for a healthier life as they grow up. If there’s nothing that needs changing, that will be reassuring.

Might be worth doing as advised, save him any problems when older?

What an utterly bizarre response. Have you literally no imagination to know that some of us work with kids, and work with the same kids for many years, in all sorts of roles??

OP has had it explained clearly to her. She's been told the child is overweight

She might not agree and she might choose to disregard it given he is so young, but she has been told clearly.

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/health-survey-for-england/2022-part-2/childrens-overweight-and-obesity
Interesting as well that 72% of the mothers of overweight & obese children felt their children were the right weight.

I'm a childminder so I do see a lot of children through from toddlers to teenagers to be honest!
I don't think it's hard to tell that a 2 year old is overweight, you can see by looking at them.

Even if the PP's experience is purely anecdotal, 1 in every 5 kids in the UK aged 10 - 11 are living with obesity according to the NHS.

How much cows milk and is it full fat, reduced fat, or skimmed?

A two year old does not need full fat milk and should only have a couple of ounces of milk at mealtimes.

Full fat milk fills a toddler up, does not provide a full range of nutrients including iron, and leaves less room for foods that do provide a range of nutrients.

Weird that you would track the weight of other people's 2yrs olds all the way up to 10yrs. How many children have you tracked exactly? Do you go round nurseries taking charts and then follow these kids through to year 6? How do you make the assessment that a 2yr old is overweight - based on their length, weight, and diameter of their skull? Do you go around with a tape measure?

Or is your experience actually just based on a couple of kids from close family members - in which case extremely limited and purely anecdotal?

Hi - my 2yr old was in the obese range, however! And this was the critical piece, they were born 98% percentile. In their red book, they had tracked exactly as they should against the line.

HV look for large rising and large falls - that don't track against the line because that indicates an external or medical issue.

For example, if you have a child born 50 per centile and at the 2yr review they are 25 per centile that indicates that there could be an underfeeding or medical issue. Likewise if that child rises to 75 per centile it indicates an over feeding or again medical issue. These issues don't automatically mean - 'bad parent' but it merits a discussion.

As my child was born 98% then this just automatically put then into the obese range at 2yrs but the HV took one look at the graph and said - absolutely exactly where they should be and we were sent away. I was worried about it, so was asking lots of questions. HV was very clear that they are only interested in cases where a child has dramatically 'left the line'.

Between 2yrs to 4yrs old DC dropped from 98% to 96% to 93% - very very slowly over 2yrs (so not dramatic).

Then they started school, had a massive growth spurt and dropped to 81%. Their weight hadnt changed, but their height did. A drop from 93% to 81% by age 5 is not 'dramatic' when their height has shot up.

Now we have a healthy per centile child who just has a stocky build but is a perfectly healthy weight.

So look back in your red book you can see and calculate where your child should be weight wise based on their birth rate and other weigh in checks.

Although lots of posters seem to have had overweight toddlers who quickly thinned out, I must say the children I've known who were overweight at 2 are generally still overweight or obese at 5 or 10.

My daughter was always on 95th+ centile as a baby but once they started doing BMI she dropped to 50th as she was heavy, but also at least a head taller than the kids in her nursery- so definitely not overweight. She basically is tall and scrawny which is how I’ve heard kids should look. Does he have any weight on him? He may be slightly overweight

My DC was always over 90th percentile. In nursery around age 2 the woman who owned it (and had about 40 years of childcare experience) randomly said to me one day that my dc was completely normal and if anyone made weight comments just to ignore it. By the time DC was in school they were still tall, but very lean and healthy. So they grew out of thr toddler baby fat. I never worried about if because of what she said and I did trust her view. It’s a bit anecdotal but as a parent you will know when to worry. If they are running around and eating healthily it may just sort itself out.

My son was like a little sumo wrestler at that age. He's 25 now, 6'3" and disappears when he turns sideways. No UPF or sweets. He was a big baby and always around the 99th centile. As long as your child's eating a healthy diet with age appropriate portion sizes I wouldn't worry too much.
Edited to add - we are a tall slim family.

wow for the hv in the uk where most ppl are overweight, to tell you this, i suppose id take her advice to go see nutritionist. a lot of parents overestimate portion sizes even if healthy food

I was a fat baby and a really fat child. I’m old, so no UPF back then, all home made and healthy, desserts only on weekends, no sweets everyday and I was very active. But, looking back at pictures I was very, very chubby. DM says she was worried because DB was the exact opposite. But I got to about 7 and it just…went? Neither of my parents have ever been overweight and I have never been overweight since.

95th percentile for BMI - BMI takes into account height and weight.

You say he's 95th percentile. If this is for height and weight it isn't an issue. However your child needs to be on the same percentiles for height and weight.

Then why are you posting on here?