Shit, my kids are nearly overweight.

[Rainallnight]

2 and 4. Thought four year old was looking bigger after lockdown so got the tape measure and the scales out, ran it all through a NHS calculator and she is only just within ‘healthy’ weight.

I never thought I would be that person.

Need to nip it in the bud right now.

Don’t know why I’m posting, really. Just wanted to offload as can’t tell friends.

Oh and I definitely won’t make them aware. I already try to talk about food in the way @cancelculturemeinyellow has suggested so I won’t be making a big deal out of it at all.

Though DD will definitely notice the absence of treats and cause a fuss.

@Bananabread8

On the contrary.

My DD (age 7) is a very healthy weight (3st 7) and height (125cm) for her age.

I can hardly buy clothes that fit her anywhere.

If I get the right length the waists are HUGE.

Next, M&S, Asda, I just don't even bother.

Kids clothes are made way bigger than can but my healthy weight child.

@Bananabread8

Don’t use BMI for kids. My child had a letter from school saying he is over weight.... he is not at all. You will know if your child is over weight. Clothes sizes will indicate this for a start.

As a country we've completely lost sight of what a normal weight looks like. If your son's school is concerned i would take him to the GP and check. Clothing sizes are not at all a reliable way to tell - one of mine is 5-6 in Next and 7-8 at Sainos. She's nearly nine.

Unless your kid is unusually sporty then BMI is probably a fairly decent indicator.

Having said that I was 9.5stone at aged 10 and solid muscle being a competitive swimmer chasing a national time. I was also unusually tall though.

I for one applaud the OP for wanting to maintain a healthy weight for her kids. Is it a coincidence that countries like Japan have almost no overweight or obese people and live a very long time in good health? I know correlation and causation aren't the same but there's lots of evidence to back that theory up

I for one applaud the OP for wanting to maintain a healthy weight for her kids. Is it a coincidence that countries like Japan have almost no overweight or obese people and live a very long time in good health? I know correlation and causation aren't the same but there's lots of evidence to back that theory up

Just curious, but correlation/causation between what? Being thin and being Japanese? Does that need to be “proved”?

@ArriettyJones eh? Correlation between having low level of obesity in a population and living a long time with less health conditions.

I know my granddaughter is overweight ,she is on the go all day park outside front door she will be on her scooter,bike, or running up and down with her pushchair ,she doesn't eat a lot but never loses weight,her sister was the same only not quite as big, when she was about 6-7 she lost it all and is now quite skinny and never stops eating

@Rainallnight have you looked in their red books? What percentile are they for weight AND height?
My 7 months old are 23 lbs and up on the 90th percentile, but they're in proportion

[quote cancelculturemeinyellow]@ArriettyJones eh? Correlation between having low level of obesity in a population and living a long time with less health conditions. [/quote]
Oh I see. Sorry I missed that bit. I didn’t realise it was an unproven theory,TBH.

Yes, so they’ve always tracked the higher centiles and I’ve not worried about that before. But something is off here — DD in particular looks a little bit chubby.

I don’t actually have their red books on me because we’ve been living in another country since just before my mum died. But it’s a good idea to take a look when we get back.

Id look for you but in only have boy books. I think you can get it online

www.rcpch.ac.uk/resources/uk-who-growth-charts-0-4-years

What body type are you and DH? Tall/athletic/skinny/fat?

My DC were chubby tots (officially “overweight” when weighed at school age 4) but both were just very big for their age

I never worried as DH and I both 6ft+ and sporty and I knew I fed them good stuff, and indeed over time they shot up and are both teens now, tall and very low-medium weight

If you know you are giving them good food, let them eat it and just make sure they are outside a lot

At that age my kids needed about 2-3 hours daily of mad running around outside

not sure that wearing the size of clothes for their age means they are not overweight........

Its surely linked to height primarily?

A lot of trousers have waist bands that are adjustable. So would fit most children?

Thanks @SleepingStandingUp That’s really helpful. So DD is on the 91st centile for height and 98th for weight.

Good to see the MN hysteria about food and weight extending to children.

I mean they ere 2 and 4 FFS.

[quote SaddestDay]@Bananabread8

On the contrary.

My DD (age 7) is a very healthy weight (3st 7) and height (125cm) for her age.

I can hardly buy clothes that fit her anywhere.

If I get the right length the waists are HUGE.

Next, M&S, Asda, I just don't even bother.

Kids clothes are made way bigger than can but my healthy weight child. [/quote]
I agree. My young teen is 160cm and 47kg, so a healthy weight for his height. The waists on the right length trousers are huge. School trousers are okay as the fabric is lightweight so they can be pulled in with the adjustable elastic (still has M&S age 13 long), but jeans are more difficult. A child could easily be overweight and have no problem fitting in the right size clothes for their age.

@Rainallnight - don't you dare beat yourself up over this after all you've been through. I am so very sorry for your losses. You're aware now, so just take sensible, manageable steps - healthier snacks and a bit more running around.

@Rainallnight

Thanks for all the replies and for being kind. I half though I’d get slated.

Yes, it’s absolutely lockdown, with lack of movement and too much snacking. Also - and not excusing myself here, just explaining - my DM died a couple of weeks into lockdown and my DF had died not long before that, so I was having a horrendous time. DP was working like the clappers upstairs and I was on my own with the DC downstairs, grieving like mad, and I definitely got softer about snacks and treats because it gave me ten minutes peace and a sit down.

Also, my DM’s iPad came home from the hospice and I began to let DD watch cartoons etc on it - again for peace - which we had never ever done before. So the sheer extra sitting that comes with screen time is definitely a factor too.

I get the arguments about growth spurts etc but I do believe, as some posters have said, that obesity is an epidemic and it would be all too easy to put my head in the sand and wake up one morning with fat kids, and with the life long health issues that entails.

@Bananabread8 and @Blackbear19 Yes, it’s a kids’ tracker on the NHS website which is based more on centiles, I think.

@Ricekrispie22 Yes, I think school will be super helpful.

You've had a tough time

It's also good that you've noticed. It's not so long now until the schools go back and routines are closer to normal which helps. You could begin nudging closer to your normal routines ready for school.

Our routines have certainly slipped in the last 4+ months, no school runs, no extra curricular sports, bored to death of walking and missing the competition of parkrun. I'm fortunate that my DCs are the type to get away with it until they are 30 rather than any virtue on my part (I've gained a bit from an increase in boredom snacking and becoming sedentary, they've got away with it), but they still need a template of balanced diet and being active to get them off to a good start in life.

Children's clothes are a very poor guide to height/ weight ratio. Mine are the low end of healthy weight but clothes always look scruffy. In order for t-shirts (age appropriate) to reach their waist, the shoulders are halfway to their elbows. Fortunately DS1 (9) only wears shorts as I have to buy age 6 for them to stay up on his waist, and DS2 (7) tends to have his 4-5s up his ankles and clinging on to his hips as the best compromise between staying on and length. They are actually average or maginally below average height, but bottoms have to be bought small because I can't yoink the waists in enough on the age appropriate clothes even with cords/ button elastic.

Our friends dismissed the letters sent from their school checks ("broad build, big bones, built like rugby players"... since then the children have gone beyond the realms of chunking up for a growth spurt, and are now looking much more like ex rugby players who still like to keep up down at the social club.

It is much better to quietly keep your eye on it and tweak and not build up a major mission in the future.

@Pikachubaby We adopted DD and DS so they won’t inherit our body types! As far as I’m aware, their birth family are mostly very overweight but I’ve always put that down to being poor and having shitty lives.

@Crunchymum

Good to see the MN hysteria about food and weight extending to children.

I mean they ere 2 and 4 FFS.

It's not hysteria to want your children to be healthy

Op, my DD had a tummy at end of summer last year. She lost it quickly when back at school and not eating constantly.

One of my sons always gets a little chubby just before a big growth spurt.

I’m so sorry to hear you lost your mum-I also lost mine just before COVID and it’s been a struggle to eat properly and set a good example during this frankly horrific time. DS has had far more screen time than usual, I find baking really therapeutic unfortunately and we’ve all chunked up a bit. However we are taking baby steps towards making some changes and have been doing lots of runs/walks and bike rides and massively cut down on the sugary snacks. Have also been making sure he has proper meals at lunchtime (eggs on toast for example) because it fills him up more than sandwiches and other snacky things that aren’t great for him. Otherwise he just whinges for food all day. DH has just gone back onto MFP, I’ve completed couch to 5k and we’re all doing daily bike rides. But I didn’t make all those changes at once-try to do one thing at a time. Grief is awful, you have my sympathy x

My 3 year old is now "overweight". I noticed she was looking pretty chunky. In the last few weeks she has grown a few cm but is still overweight by BMI and bigger than most of her friends.
I'm sure this is at least partly lockdown. Our diet is healthy, all evening meals from scratch and plenty of fruit and veg. Only drinks are water and milk.
Its exercise which is the problem. Pre lockdown we would walk round the petting farm all day, or run around at soft play, go swimming, active play at toddler group, dance lessons.
During lockdown it was one 30 minute walk per day. We would spend whole days indoors doing craft, baking, playing with toys, but a considerable decrease in physical activity.

What I'm doing is trying to follow the NHS recommended 3 hours if active play for a preschooler. Now that play areas are open this is much easier. I really hope it helps as I have been overweight until very recently and I dont want that for her