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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

158 replies

Sops · 08/05/2011 10:16

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?

OP posts:
GiddyPickle · 08/05/2011 19:09

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

EllenJaneisnotmyname · 08/05/2011 19:15

I feel your pain, defineme. I have to do something similar with DS2 and DS3 who are at least not twins. DS2 gets full fat milk, butter on his bread etc, DS3 has semi skimmed, unbuttered bread, diluted fruit juice. Neither realise they aren't getting exactly the same.

worraliberty · 08/05/2011 20:01

Warraliberty - SIZE DOES NOT INDICATE HEALTH!!! Just because children were thin at your primary school does not mean that they were all healthy!!! You are talking about teo things that can be related - size and health - but are not always related, to the point that it is really very wrong to assume thin is healthy and fat is unhealthy

Excuse me, where have I said size indicates health Manatee??

Everyone knows underweight or even 'normal weight' can mean the child still has health issues.

What I did say was children should be thin and I stand by that.

ginger55 · 08/05/2011 20:25

What really annoys me is the blame the Govmnt and other agencies put on poorer people for being overweight - in any supermarket, the cheapest food (and most convenient) happens to be the worst kind of food i.e. pizzas etc - it seems like it's a conspiracy - the very food which is constantly pushed by food companies as 'good value' and 'fast' is then eaten by targeted people who are then blamed for eating it!
In short - the Govmnt should come down hard on the manufacturers and literally insist on putting health warnings on the packets - let's take the focus from the consumer to where it should be, on the multi million pound food producing industry and greedy supermarkets!

princessparty · 08/05/2011 20:34

SIZE DOES NOT INDICATE HEALTH!!!
that is true.I marshall (and run)many races and there are people of all ages shapes and sizescrossing the finishing line with respectable times.If you can run 10k in under an hour in your 50s+ you are fit.

ManateeEquineOhara · 08/05/2011 20:34

So you think they should be thin for aesthetic reasons Worraliberty??? That really is disconcerting.

ManateeEquineOhara · 08/05/2011 20:35

Or if not aesthetically, or health reasons, then what?!

EllenJaneisnotmyname · 08/05/2011 20:37

Healthy children should be thin, Manatee.

ManateeEquineOhara · 08/05/2011 20:39

That is simply wrong. Healthy children come in a variety of sizes as do healthy adults.

tyler80 · 08/05/2011 20:49

I like that flickr group manatee

BluddyMoFo · 08/05/2011 20:54

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

worraliberty · 08/05/2011 20:54

So you think they should be thin for aesthetic reasons Worraliberty??? That really is disconcerting

Errr no Confused

They should be thin so they don't have fat clinging to their internal organs..causing all sorts of health problems like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and colon cancers to name but a few.

EllenJaneisnotmyname · 08/05/2011 21:05

Sturdy and robust! More euphemisms, like my 'well covered' one. It's the medical opinion that you should be able to see healthy children's ribs. You can't see my DS3's ribs, so I'm not being complacent about it.

ManateeEquineOhara · 08/05/2011 21:05

So you do mean health reasons then!

I think you will find that the epidemiology of diabetes, colon cancer and cardiovascular disease is far more complex. Fat is very possibly a contributing factor in some cases, the media reporting of fat erodes the 'possible' and presents it as a 'certain'. However even if fat is a contributing factor, you can also take the presence of sodium lauryl sulfate in shampoos, and various other carcinogens in household cleaners, the cow proteins in dairy, or radiation from flying. And them their are genetic factors which are complex and interact with the environmental factors.

EllenJaneisnotmyname · 08/05/2011 21:07

Unhealthy children can be thin, too.

ManateeEquineOhara · 08/05/2011 21:09

EllenJane - please read more widely around what constitutes a healthy child. It is certainly NOT a consensus in medical opinions that you should be able to see a child's ribs!

EllenJaneisnotmyname · 08/05/2011 21:13

You're not as well read as you think, then! But, really, listen to yourselves, sturdy and robust! It'll be big boned, next.

ManateeEquineOhara · 08/05/2011 21:13

Thanks Tyler - it really shows how simplistic the BMI is.

BluddyMoFo - indeed!

ManateeEquineOhara · 08/05/2011 21:17

I think that I am doing pretty well on this subject actually EllenJane, having written a dissertation on the subject, and continuing in this area. There is a wealth of literature to counteract your statement.

This - www.amazon.com/Fat-Studies-Reader-Sondra-Solovay/dp/0814776310 being a great place to start.

EllenJaneisnotmyname · 08/05/2011 21:28

We'll have to agree to disagree then, manatee. I'll read your link with interest if you'll have a look at this one. BBC health

timetomove · 08/05/2011 21:29

Can I just ask a question - DD is 6 and has a healthy diet. You can see most of her ribs but she has a sticky out belly like a toddler. Do you think this suggests that she needs more exercise to develop muscles? I think most of the other kids in her class no longer have this.

ManateeEquineOhara · 08/05/2011 21:34

I have read that. It is typical of the way in which obesity is presented in the media. Parents may well think their children are normal when their BMI falls into an 'obese' category, but that is because there children are normal and healthy and so they have no need to consider that they wouldn't be.

The comment about 10 year old's ribs is not referenced - it is quite probably the opinion of the journalist.

As usual in media portrayals, they fail to mention that that links between fat and health are vague.

worraliberty · 08/05/2011 21:34

Errrr well consultant paediatrician Professor Mary Rudolf, who advises the government on obesity, would disagree with you Manatee Smile

From this rather disturbing link....

The problem is that we have all adjusted to overweight as being the norm. Understandably, parents compare their own child with the children around them.

Did you know that a healthy ten-year old's ribs should be clearly visible? Many parents would consider that such a child was quite underweight.

When one in three children at primary school is overweight, it is not surprising that it is hard to identify when a child has a problem.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12226744

ManateeEquineOhara · 08/05/2011 21:35

Timetomove - if she does not take much exercise she probably needs more, if she is active then probably not! Go by what she does rather than worrying about her shape. :)

worraliberty · 08/05/2011 21:35

It's not the opinion of the journalist but the consultant paediatrician Hmm