to think these people are in denial about their children's weight?

[Sops]

Our childrens' reception class has just been weighed and measured and we have had letters home telling us the results.
Yesterday two other mums asked me where how my ds scored (81st percentile) saying that of their two, one was 'on the top percentile of overweight' and the other obese. I made non-committal noises at this, and just said that they both looked pretty average to me, and in the end both mothers agreed that really it meant absolutely nothing and neither of the children really had a weight problem and they weren't 'going to take any notice of it'.
Is it just me, but if my children were assessed as overweight/obese at five I would be taking a long hard look at our lifestyle and making some significant changes.
Are they right to ignore it or should they take action?

My DD2 is tiny and I have opted out of the measuring/weighing.

Kids all grow at different rates - sometimes they put weight on before they stretch, sometimes they stretch and are mega skinny til they put the weight on to balance it.

I don't know, it depends on the lifestyle of the family I suppose, if they're having unhealthy food all the time.

If I received a letter saying that my child was overweight, I would look at our diet/exercise/lifestyle and make subtle but significant changes. I might even to to the GP for her/his advice and recommendation of a healthy weight.

Those charts aren't the be all an end all - individual's frames do make a difference - but the top centile of overweight and obese do sound like cause for attention and action at least.

Absolutely. Would they be so apathetic if their child was deemed dangerously underweight? Muppets.

My friend was told by the nurse her daughter was obese based on the charts at 2 years old.

We laughed our arses off tbh as if you'd seen the girl you'd realise nothing could be further from the truth, she's an energetic, skinny child.

ds1 always comes in at the top centiles too but he's so scrawny all the pants that are the right length fall down as he's got nothing to hold them up..... he's just an incredibly solid child, as opposed to dd who seems to weigh less than you'd expect for her height. ds2 is scrawny too and although he's only 50th centile for weight, he's 9th for height so according to the charts he's 'out of proportion'

Whilst I have seen parents deluding themselves i've seen more cases where the charts just don't give an accurate representation of the child, active kids have better muscle tone and thus weigh more.

Do the children look overweight? And are the mothers overweight? Because we all tend to view other's weight in comparison to ourselves. I find that when I put on a few pounds, other people look thinner, rather than myself looking fatter if that makes sense.

They should at least have a think about their lifestyles, although BMI in children is notoriously inaccurate at indicating health, assuming that is the system they used.

Can I also point out, my eldest plays a sport at international level.

Whilst still at school he and the rest of the team participated in a study at a local university where they were measured, had BMI taken, blood pressure, and did some exercise and had oxygen levels, heart rate taken all that.

Every single one of them was clinically obese.

A friend of mine had a letter home about her 5 year old daughter being obese she is very tall I would estimate the size of a 7 year and average build.
Her 3 year old on the other hand is big and she is aware of it and is cutting back on her snacks and milk intake she used to have up to 3 pints a day.

I think that it can depend on apperearance. But some children carry body fat until they hit puberty. My eldest was large at school and is now a size 6 without a change in diet. My youngest has always weighed heavy, she doesn't carry body fat, though. She is now 13 and in a size 8/10 so is her sister but shows overweight on the scales. My DF and alot of the men in my family were heavy weight boxers, we carry alot of muscle naturally. If you were to try to guess the weight of most of my family, you would be amazed at what they weigh.

If a child has a sedentary lifestyle and eats junk then yes you should not live like that but children do come in different weights and shapes. You should feed your child healthly food, no one would argue with that. But it depends on what action you mean?

Also a bad diet is bad for those that do not put on weight as well as those that do. It is not only fat people who get heart disease and strokes.

Also DD1 was always quite chubby despite a good diet and 3 nights dancing and 1 night playing football plus all the practice she hit 14 and lost it all is now 19 and a size 8.
DD2 has been slim since the age of 3 ate like a horse and up until 3 months ago was monitored for being underweight.

If these charts or whatever decided my DC were overweight then yes I would look at our lifestyle/diet as an entire family and if I thought things needed changing then yes I'd change them. If however, I didn't see a problem I wouldn't.

Maybe these mothers are in denial, maybe not. I don't see how anyone can be in denial their child is obese and yet plenty of people just see their own obesity as "being curvy" or "big boned" or "it's all genetic". I must stress I'm talking about obesity here, not being slightly overweight.

Genuine question.

Why bother having your children weighed and measured if you're not going to take any notice of any recommendations/centile measurement?

Rosebud- it isn't a choice, schools do this as a matter of routine. You do not have to opt out just because you know your own child and their lifestyle better than what a peice of paper says.

WTF? They weigh children at school now? Ummm have they confused their role of educators with that of parent.There is no way I will be allowing this. I can see if my child is fat or thin because I am not a thicko. Fecking nanny state.

The centile for weight doesn't mean much unless it's taken in conjunction with height, and the disproportion between the two is the key indicator. 81st centile for weight is fine, if the height centile is about the 80th as well - it just means you have a larger than average child.

You said they looked average though - if they are average then why do you think the mothers are in denial?

PS: children have been weighed and measured at school since at least the 1960s, and I think it may go back to the 1940s (when the main concern was underweight and malnutrition).

It is an important tool for health planners, and is the only way to spot emerging trends, and/or geographical areas where there is a higher than expected proportion of over or under weight children and target interventions.

bustersmummy your son's sport wasn't sumo was it

Moogster - no, rowing

Gin?????

FFS I need some of that

I was given an ear lashing by the HV because my 6mo was 'seriously overweight' according to the chart but she backed down once I insisted she also measure his height. Then he turned out to be perfect weight for his height.

If your child is flagged up on one of these charts, you shouldn't just dismiss it, but a little common sense is needed.A sensible person can tell by looking at child whether they are overweight or not.

Our 5 year old was assessed as being overweight for her age - she really doesn't look it at all, so we were aghast and did have a good look at her diet etc. To be honest, we couldn't see anything that worried us, except for the fact that she loves milk. So, we have cut down on her milk but continued to feed her the same. She's very tall for her age and both me and dh are perfectly ok weight wise, and there is no history of obesity in either of our families - if anything we're all a bit thin! It is a useful tool if you take it seriously but it can cause upset too. DS who is 11 was assessed as being perfectly ok, and he was a balloon shaped baby!

MotherofHobbit is talking sense!