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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be really annoyed with the NHS for their BMI checker?

163 replies

kw1986 · 10/05/2011 19:19

Now I know my 3yo DD is healthy so I was just checking out of curiosity to see what her BMI was. Shes 3ft 3in and weighs 3st 1lb... Put all the details in and up it pops saying she is OBESE purely because she's in the 99th percentile!! Since when the fuck does that make you obese???

If I work out her actual BMI number it's 19.4 which falls into the normal range (lower normal actually)

Now what if some parent who doesn't know this is a pile of shit actually thinks their child is obese and starts cutting down on food etc? Its made me quite irrationally angry really. They are the NHS for petes sake, surely they should know better. (Prob doesnt help for the entire first year of DD's life I had a stupid HV that kept telling me DD was too heavy despite being on the same percentile for her weight AND height, and also her head circ.)

AIBU to be so annoyed right now?

www.nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/Healthyweightcalculator.aspx

OP posts:
Original poster
kw1986 · 11/05/2011 17:28

Retook DD's measurements this morning... Shes actually closer to 3ft 4in and weighs 3 stone exactly (post poop lol). That still makes her obese.

But I dug out her red book (which hasnt seen the light of day for about 2 years) Being 3y 2m, 3 st puts her just above the 98th percentile (in the book). Her height puts her just under 98th percentile. Doesn't that make her pretty much in proportion? She has been on or around the 98th percentile since birth.

I wouldn't say Im in denial as before she was walking she was a wee chubber and I def recognized that, but obviously slimmed down and grew upwards so she leaned out quite a bit. And she doesnt stand out at the park or softplay, she has the same kind of build as most of the other children her height. (apart from she has slightly broader shoulders and a bigger head than a lot of the wee girls)

OP posts:
Insomnia11 · 11/05/2011 17:29

I don't know what percentile DD2's weight/height is but she is 27 months and taller than most three year olds. She looks slimmer in the middle than most toddlers though. Long limbed and long bodied. I think she will be the tallest person in the family.

SardineQueen · 11/05/2011 17:33

Looking at the NHS thing in the OP

DOB say 1/1/07

One child 3'6 and 2 stone 11 = middle of normal
One child 3'3 and 3 stone 1 = obese

It is 14 pounds in a stone isn't it?

Original poster
kw1986 · 11/05/2011 17:34

I didn't check because I thought she was obese, I was genuinely curious as I thought it would give a BMI number like an adults one.

On the NHS one, if I keep everything exactly the same but make her just 3lb lighter (to 2st 11lb)... That puts her into the healthy range... How can 3lb make the difference between being perfectly healthy to horribley obese with health issues?

OP posts:
Straight2Extremes · 11/05/2011 17:34

Don't think you can jump from normal to obese like that you have to go through 'overweight' first.

SardineQueen · 11/05/2011 17:40

Hmmmm

3'3 tall

3 stone = obese
2 s 13 = overweight
2 s 12 = overweight
2 s 10 = healthy

That seems like quite a small difference to get from healthy to obese? I'm sure they've done their stats carefully and everything but still...

ChristinedePizan · 11/05/2011 17:40

But when you only weigh 3st, 3lbs is 10% of your weight. And that's a fair amount.

OP - please just talk to your GP. You have nothing to lose. If they say that she's fine then great, you have nothing to worry about. If they think she needs to have her weight watched, it's very easy to cut down on calories for a little girl who's very active.

colditz · 11/05/2011 17:41

If you're worried, take her to the doctor. then, if the doctor says "she's perfectly healthy, those charts don't always give y6ou an accurated answr" then you know she is perfectly healthy and you can scratch it of the eternal maternal neuroses list that we all have.

Original poster
kw1986 · 11/05/2011 17:41

Straight2Extremes Well if you add those 3lbs gradually it goes back up through overweight before getting back into obese. So its not a jump.

I was just saying that 3lb is all it takes to get back into a healthy range. (Or remaining the same weight, an extra 2 inches would do it.)

OP posts:
ChristinedePizan · 11/05/2011 17:41

(and I know that 4lbs is 10% of 3 stone - I was working on the original stats you posted)

Straight2Extremes · 11/05/2011 17:51

Well the numbers seem small when you think of it in relation to an adult but on a child that weight can be quite significant.

DilysPrice · 11/05/2011 17:58

Partly depends on family history. DS was disproportionately heavy as a pre-schooler, but he was also the image of his dad and uncle, both of whom were chubby little boys but grew into lanky adults and are still slim at 40. I chose the risky path of complacency, and worked on the assumption that if I didn't keep cakes, crisps and biscuits in the house then he'd slim down like them as he grew up - which he is obediently doing, in his own good time.

I know that a lot of people assume wrongly that their DCs will grow out of lingering puppy fat, but I think that family weight patterns are very informative, if your family is largely overweight then you need to be much more careful than if they've all got BMIs in the late teens.

thaigreencurry · 11/05/2011 18:06

I don't really understand it then KW because if she is on the 98th centile weight and height I would have thought that was okay. Those slight variations that sardineQueen has posted don't make sense either if ds is unwell or off his food his weight can fluctuate by 3 or 4 lbs in a week which by those stats would probably move hime from obese to dangerously underweight in a matter of days!

lljkk · 11/05/2011 18:20

EvenStar -- that's 24 kg! Almost as heavy as my nearly 7yo DS (very "solid") and my 9.5yo DD! DD is petite, but not miniscule; several in her year smaller than her. I'd be seriously thinking about that if it were my DS.

I am pretty sure that on healthy weight adults the rib cage should be at least partly visible, no?

SardineQueen · 11/05/2011 18:26

Depends what shape you are lljkk.

I think that blanket rules about which bits should be visible and which not could be misleading. As per the example earlier of a person with a small top half and visible ribs, and a honking great bottom half. People who are less "in and out" have less visible ribs. I haven't met many men with visible ribcages for example.

SeenButNotHeard · 11/05/2011 18:31

It really is up to you what you do with this information though isn't it?

I've just used the same BMI checker and my six year old dd is 5 inches taller but 1lb lighter than your dd putting her in the 34th centile.
And tbh - I have wondered about her looking a little on the chubby side recently. (But realise this is just in comparison to her brother who is apparently only in the 6th centile and really is a rake)

If you are not worried, then, well, don't worry!

Rowgtfc72 · 11/05/2011 18:49

Dd was 4 in March and in the red book comes out as bang on the 99th centile for height and weight-for a five and a half year old ! I checked with the HV as she is four stone and was told as she is bang on weight for height ratio not to worry. She isn't a skinny dainty little flower, shes solid, but you can see her spine and ribs and hips. Have no idea about BMI but would have to say some kids without looking overweight are just naturally "solid " !

dealer · 11/05/2011 20:07

I've been meaning to check dd2's for a while, due to thinking she looked rather too chubby compared to how her brother and sister were. Had started to think that I may be one of these mums in denial. She's got a very round face and pot-belly.
As it turns out she's absolutely bang on the 50%, with the exact measurements given above, 3'6 and 2st11.
It does seem crazy that if she gained about 4 pounds she'd be obese, but since I thought she was chubby anyway maybe that makes sense.
Just chuffed I don't have to make any major changes to be honest.

queenebay · 11/05/2011 20:19

I have 7 yr old, 4ft 3, size 2 feet, 4.8 stone and skinny. According to chart is obese. SO mentioned it peaditrician as a different assesment who said she is perfect, totally in proportion and being thin doesnt equal being healthy.
Lots of children have perfect BMI levels even though they have crap diets. My dd is on 99th percentile and eats lots of fruit and veg, is constantly on the go, enjoys sports etc.
I now dont look at the charts, they mean naff all. As long as your child eats and sleeps well and is active then ignore charts.

zonkin · 11/05/2011 23:52

Inspired by this thread I did height and weight measurements of my 2 DS this morning. Had been discussing last week with DH how we thought DS2 was getting a bit podgy. Both DS in normal range but DS2 is getting close to overweight (tho still normal) and we are going to make a few non major changes (he drinks a lot of milk so change that from whole to semi skimmed).

Looking at the figures OP's child does need to lose weight.

I am quite sensitive about this issue having spent my childhood being just a bit chubby and then a large chunk of my adult life being a lot overweight. Am now back to normal (age 40) and REALLY, REALLY do not want to wish the awful life of being overweight/having an unrealistic attitude to food/weight on any of my kids. DH is v slim and I used to tell myself it was that he was "naturally thin no matter what he ate". Took me a long time to realise that is a myth. He had a normal attitude to food and I didn't.

tyler80 · 12/05/2011 06:52

"Looking at the figures OP's child does need to lose weight"

I think the whole point is that figures alone cannot be relied upon in isolation

nooka · 12/05/2011 07:20

I think that part of the point is that when children are little it really doesn't take very much change to nudge them back into a more healthy weight for their height. It's not really about putting them on diets, just making a few changes so they grow into their weight and so they don't go on gaining it. Much easier when they are very young, you are in control of their diet and exercise and they don't need to know anything about it.

TheLadyEvenstar · 12/05/2011 08:41

lljkk

DS2 is really not a concern for me tbh. He had a predicted birth weight of 10lb I however went into labour 5 weeks early and he was born weighing 5lb 15oz. If you think about it, if I had gone full term with him he would have gained approx 6oz or 1/2 a lb a week for the last 5 weeks then he would have been around 8.5 lb born.

Different doctors have had different opinions....imo it is me that matters, I am with him daily I see what he eats etc and I see the amount of ativity he does. He is just naturally bigger than average. I don't come from a small family height wise and we are broad as in I have 18.5" wide shoulders, and they don't shrink if I lose weight!!! he is also broad.

zonkin · 12/05/2011 10:38

The figures are a pretty good indicator tho. (Except in extreme cases - eg. an athlete). I spent my childhood being described as stocky/big boned/solid. In fact, I was overweight.

tyler80 · 12/05/2011 11:09

I'm not an athlete, I wouldn't even say I'm big boned. I'm just heavy so according to BMI I'm overweight.

I'm sure I'm not unique and there will be a minority of the population for whom BMI just does not work. Why shouldn't this be the same for ladyevenstars children or the op's child? Yes BMI is an indicator, but to say the figures say your child is obese so that must be true is just silly.