What’s a normal weight loss for an 8 yr old?

[Molly357]

My son has dropped from the 75th to 43rd centile over a year or less. I haven’t weighed him in that time which is why I don’t know. He’s complaining of being tired for last 4 months . So I checked his weight on nhs calculator. He has grown 10cm over last year.

Has he actually lost weight in that year, or has he just not gained any/much?

What is his height percentile? If his weight and height are now similar percentiles then that sounds fine and just a growth spurt (losing of puppy fat) if his weight is now significantly below his height it might be worth a chat with a Dr.

He’s gained 1.5kg in a year. However doing less exercise due to lockdowns.

I didn’t realise there were separate height and weight centiles- I’ll have a look. He’s always been fairly skinny. His blood tests show iron levels are at the low end but GP asked if he’d lost weight and I wasn’t sure.

They won’t be interested in weight if he is still growing in height as normal.

My eldest has been been under the paediatrician for lack of growth and weight and they weren’t concerned about weight at all

Yes there are percentiles for both ideally they should both be following along similar ish lines.

Hs hasnt lost weight.
He just grew taller

Losing weight is literally losing weight.
So 40 last year
38 now.
You can track on centiles but if he grown his centile weight migyt decrease. That is not "losing weight"

I would have thought that if activity has decreased and you are 10cm taller then you would put on more than 1.5kg over a year.

Agree, he’s not lost weight just not gaining at the rate he would normally.

Have you looked up his height percentile? If you give me the figures I can do it for you. You literally can't tell anything until you know both percentiles as it really means nothing to us that he has grown 10cm if we don't know how tall he was to begin with.

Weight has gone from 75th to 60th so that’s ok I think. Thanks for letting me know about separate centiles. Height has gone from 60th to 80th centile.

Sounds like a growth spurt. Some kids who are especially active actually grow more when they stop being active. My son is a competitive swimmer and loads of swim mums are commenting that their kids are growing during lockdown.

Thanks Bunnybigears. That may well be what happened. Appreciate the input. I’ll stop worrying now 🤣

I would say that was fine.

DD aged 8yo had pneumonia, and when they weighed her for the medication we found she was lighter than she'd been the last time we'd weighed her-over 3 years previously. That did cause a worry at the doctors and she was monitored for a couple of years to check she was growing.

Last year my DD1 went from 33rd centile (BMI) to 2nd. She had grown in height (maintaining her height centile), but had lost weight in numerical terms not just weight centile. She was visibly much skinnier despite the appetite of a small but rather greedy pony. The GP felt it warranted sending her for a blood test to check everything was OK despite getting taller, so growth alone mustn't prove everything is alright. (They came back clear, and it remains one of life's mysteries. She eventually regained her BMI centile after a few months of extra portions both at home and school. I now keep a very close eye on her ankles, which were the most obviously skinny part)
As your DS has gained some weight, even if not as much as you would have expected, it could well be down to being mid-growth spurt/just finished a spurt. DD1 tends to fill out then shoot up, whereas DD2 grows in weight and height much more evenly. I would be keeping an eye on it and approaching the GP if necessary, just don't let it be seen by DS that you are monitoring it so DS doesn't become obsessive/anxious. It's why I watch the ankles - no regular weigh-ins needed, and when I do weigh her (every 6 months or so) I use the fancy ones at the gym that measure height too, so I can go under the guise of 'getting an accurate height to see how tall you are/see if your tall enough to go on the bigger rides at < insert theme park > next Summer' etc.

I will be watching carefully as he is noticeably thinner and has some other symptoms which made me wonder. It isn’t normal growing behaviour for him.