Should I be worried about my sons' weight?

[Redtartanshoes]

My ds is 5 1/2. he is tall for her age (about 3"9) and quite a bit boy. He weighs about 5 1/2 stone.

He is the biggest in his class, and is obviously in clothes bigger than age (9-10) but to me he seems fine. He is happy, bright and doing well at school.

Is he much bigger than "normal"? (Whatever normal is?!)

My 7 year old is a couple of inches taller and weighs 3.5 stone.

He is overweight, OP - he weighs more than my DD2 who is 10 and half an inch shy of 5ft. But you are going to tackle it, so he will be absolutely fine. If you carry the changes through into your whole family, you will all benefit so hats off to you.

I think you are definitely right to be doing something about it. Your son is only around half a stone heavier than me and I'm over a foot taller and an adult! Good luck with the GP, I'm sure tackling the problem earlier will save him a lifetime of difficulty as an adult.

Hi

Don't feel sad. I'm luckily that so far mine seem to have inherited OH skinny minty genes but I did realise they weren't getting enough exercise. I was told they should be doing an hour a day, everyday. Also my ds were eating far too much crap.

So we made some simple changes. We now walk to and from school (ds scoots) 20 mins each way. I've enrolled him in mini rugby and uni hock which he loves. I've also looking into swimming lessons. I'm also trying to get him out on his bike a couple of times a week too.

I've ditched the rubbish and cut down the treats to a plain biscuit or pancake ect once a day after evening meal. If they want anything else it's fruit or home made ice lolly ect.

I usually cook slimming world style meals so they are healthy enough, it's just the rubbish they were eating in between.

I sympathise. My 11 year old Ds wears age 14 clothes and is overweight. He hates team sports and isn't very active. We have had to try and change our lifestyles to encourage him to be more active so this weekend he accompanied me on his very underused bike while I went for a walk, then kicked a ball around the park for half am hour with dh. Might not seem much to those wit sporty kids but a lot for him. Its going to be a real battle .....he is also a rather large child in other ways. He takes a size seven shoe already and stand s 5 foot 5. Christ, he's not even 12!

I'm going to go against the grain here.

OP please please please read 'Helping Without Harming' by Ellyn Satter this book before carting your son off to the GP.

My son is the same age and height as your son. He's only 3 stone! Yes he's a skinny child, but he's just below the 50th centile

dementedma I do think you have to not get too paranoid. My DD1 is 12, she's 5ft 6 and yes, takes a 7 shoe. I think she is going to be tall like me (just shy of 6 ft). Getting him more active is the best thing you can do and you're doing it.

DD1 was not at all interested in team sports until she hit Yr7 - she is now in Yr8 and plays netball and basketball for the school, will be on the girls' football team if it gets off the ground and is fitter than ever. She's a size 8 and activity has definitely made her leaner and more defined - her skinny jeans now fit like straight legs... If you can find something to take your DS's interest they can get fit really quickly.

I agree that you need to be really careful raising weight issues with a child - I'd always change the habits of the family as a whole, including healthier eating and activity levels, rather than focusing on an individual's weight and appearance as that can backfire.

Awomansworth

I wasn't commenting on your child, just whether bmi should be used as a guide on whether a child is overweight.

Hope you're ok OP, it's a hard thing to hear.

On a more positive note, I do think that 5 is young enough to be able to tackle his size without causing long term issues around eating, so long as it's done sensibly and sensitively. I think you'll be doing a real kindness if you help him lose weight now rather than allowing him to be overweight as a teenager (speaking as someone who was overweight and v. self-conscious as a teen).

For comparison my 10 year old DS is 5foot tall and weighs 5stone dead. 5 1/2 stone at under 4" seems very heavy. I used to worry about my kids being too skinny, but then I was told by a doctor that not only is it "ok" to be able to see a child's ribs - you should be able to see their ribs - they should naturally carry less weight than adults if eating the appropriate amounts because they're growing too fast to put on fat.

Lots of sensible advice from MN'ers. The main article inside the Independent today was that being obese is not as bad for you as being unfit. (selective bits here)
CHILDHOOD OBSITY OBSESSION MASKS FITNESS TIME BOMB
'nearly half of all 11 year olds are unfit'

1 in 4 obese children have good physical fitness but 40 % of 15 year olds were unfit;
which would harm them more than being obese!
Obviously hard for schools to put 1 hour a day PE in with other curriculum commitments (academic targets).
My militant friend were always saying the emphasis on food was a diversion caused by supporting food industry and after reading this I feel the need to push the exercise more. My dc went on a march today (NUT /NHS/ unison in family) for couple of hours but as it was a nice day and I felt unnerved by what I'd read I suggested the trampoline when we got back.

Also, taller and fatter don't always correlate. My dd was on the 97th percentile when born. She's 7 and wears age 10 clothes

Well done OP. you are doing him a huge favour by dealing with this while he is little. Long before he gets seriously bullied. Long before he gets an eating disorder. Long before he is too old just to grow into his weight. It is not too late, it is all still curable and manageable, it will be fine.

This is parenting at its best- hearing something difficult and putting him first so it gets sorted. Well done. Have some

Your DS may be happy and bright but it does sound like he is overweight.
There are sites where you can compare your child's silhouette to standardised ones to see if they are overweight - apparently most people these days think that slightly overweight is normal.
Sorry can't do you a link - Google it.

My very tall, broad-shouldered daughter (mama's genes!) weighs 48lbs, so about 3.5 stones. Honestly, he sounds very overweight to me. A 5 year old wearing size 9-10 clothes is not "normal", as much as I hate that word. As other posters have suggested, it's much easier to nip this in the bud while he is still young and you have complete control over his diet, rather than battling an incalcitrant, resentful teenager. Perhaps you can enlist your GPs assistance? Good luck!

My DD is 49" tall and weighs 3 1/2 stone - she turns 8 in 3 weeks. So, yes... if your DS is 4" shorter and 2 stone heavier... he is overweight.

There is no sense making excuses - even if he IS the "biggest in his class", he is also sporting a BMI over the 95th percentile. He is not just big, he is obese.

Less food, more activity, turn off the electronics. His heart and joints will thank you.

the OP has already taken on board all the comments and has said she's going to the GP, no need for people to keep piling on!

DD is 6.5, 4ft 3in and weighs bang on five stone. She is in 10-11 clothes as she has a long back and is a broad solid child. Her age clothes are too short and trousers do up half way across her bum rather than round her waist, so it is possible for a child of this age to be in bigger clothes. Perhaps not normal but possible. Ive taken her to the doctors, apparently she is bang on height for weight and they have no concerns.
Your DS may just need to grow into his weight but you need a healthcare professional to give you a totally unbiased opinion.
If he is overweight use it as an opportunity to all have a healthy lifestyle, he doesn't need to know hes overweight, have some fun trying new foods and activities.
All the best.

Interesting Row, that's exactly what my dd was at that age. I entered those measurements into one of the things on here, and she came up as overweight. Except she is 7 now and I entered those old measurements. The only one that is correct ime is the NHS one.

Because your and my dc are so tall, they are automatically classed as overweight, as so few dc have these measurements at this age, the calculators can't read it properly. My dd is now in age 10 clothes, she has just gone into age 10 school trousers, the age 9s were flapping round her ankles. She isn't overweight though, and I get a bit fed up of the assumption that because a dc is much taller than average they are fat. Dd was born tall. She isn't skinny, but she fits her age appropriate clothing with no problems

You can't tell enough by BMI.

Look at your child's middle.

Are they carrying pudge around their middle? Can you pinch an inch or more? Love handles.

If they have any excess abdominal fat they're overweight and need to slim down.

I was a skinny child, and then turned into a really fat chub at 8 or 9. By age 11 I was 5ft 5 and skinny. I grew about 3 more inches then stopped growing at about 121/2. Just because a kid is a bit chubby, it doesn't mean they will stay that way. Puberty and growth spurts often eradicate the problem.
I think there is an almost hysterical thing about kids being overweight. But everyone is different and develops at different speeds.

I think there is an almost hysterical thing about kids being overweight.
That is because far more kids in the UK are overweight than underweight.
Being underweight can be cured in a matter of weeks.
Being overweight can take a lifetime to deal with.

Yes that sounds very overweight to me. I also have a very tall child but he is in proportion.

I think there is an almost hysterical thing about kids being overweight

and so there should be. It is often taught/learned bad habits and is very hard to undo. It's totally unfair on the child as they have little to no control over it.