to think this BMI calculator is bollocks?

[onemiddlefinger]

I'm not particularly concerned with my DS's weight but just after reading another thread I went and checked the NHS BMI calculator and apparently he is VERY OVERWEIGHT!!!

He certainly is big but he is also very tall for his age (2yrs 3 mnts), when recently seeing a pediatrician (for another reason) I did ask if there is anything we should be worried about regarding his size (way over the 99th percentile in weight and height for his age) and she assured that he was in proportion and he was fine. So how do these BMI calculators work?
I find this result to be a bit shocking and complete bollocks at the same time.

This chart shows that it is healthy for a 5yo to look like a skinned rabbit and have a bmi that would be screaming possible anorexia if an adult clocked it.
As an adult, if your bmi is over 25, be honest... are you porky or peachy?

If you are concerned about weight you should calculate body fat
buy some of those cheap callipers and do a seven point measure

BMI is very vague and doesn’t account for body composition at all
for instance yoyo dieters can weigh the same as someone else the same height - but the nature of the way they treat their body means it will be a higher fat composition
Some people build and maintain muscle very easily
some build fat,
genetics aren’t even handed..

look at the origins of the BMI index before calling it a gold standard -

and the over height thing.....shame on you! - you should be talking about good nutrition - not "overfeeding" and has anyone thrown the word stunted in to counter that one yet ?

mintyy
A teenager with BMI in the mid 18s is probably looking amazing.

darkandlight
look at the origins of the BMI index before calling it a gold standard
BMI is just a number.
Interpretation of it varies
BUT
the evidence is now unequivocal, being overweight leads to chronic disease later in life.

Babyboomersrock- a child aged two only needs a pint of milk a day, that includes what is in yoghurts and other foods, older children drinking lots of milk can gain weight

Yes, but the OP said only that her toddler "liked his milk". I am assuming he isn't drinking endless pints of it - and from a weight gain perspective, I'd still be far more concerned about a toddler eating cereal bars as snacks.

As for the photo of the two boys above - the one on the left would have been considered "fat" when I was young. We are so used to seeing hugely obese people now that we think the first boy looks average. He isn't - he's overweight.

The boys in the pictures are playing Augustus Gloop in film versions of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory from 1971 and 2005. It's been a while since I read the book, but I think the character is described as being very fat, rather than just a bit chubby, so I guess the boy on the left would have been considered huge by 1970s standards for him to have been cast in the role.

Yep mrsf his contemporaries would have looked like this

The over height issue has some scientific backing.
See this, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1038/oby.2006.254/full

This research concluded that pre-pubescent overweight children grew taller than peers however eventually peers caught up with them.

actually the paper you cite says that children who grow quickly are more likely to later develop obesity
not the other way around
" it may be preceded by growth acceleration in the early years of life"
and also
"a significant percentage of the children with late-onset obesity had a height less than the 50th percentile,"
interesting paper though

From the report

"In this study, we showed that a significant percentage of the children with late-onset obesity had a height less than the 50th percentile, in contrast to the children with early-onset obesity, almost all of whom had a height above average".
"Moreover, pediatricians should recognize that the fast-growing infant is at high risk for obesity and should initiate nutritional and behavioral interventions at the appropriate time".

It is interesting.

I don't think it says what you think it does..sorry

Maybe I have misunderstood it but it does say that with early age obesity (before 3 years old) almost all the children in the study were above average height. There does appear to be a correlation.
Anecdotally, amongst family my DD was always much shorter and slimmer than several cousins, I had put that down to her parents being relatively short and her inheriting her fathers hollow legs but by 12 she was the taller but still slim, whereas the cousins were overweight, although I don't think obese. Having looked at the pictures from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory I'm not sure we really know what overweight and obese look like these day mind you.

I don't get what people are saying about very tall children being over fed. My dd is 3.5 and is 106cm tall! She is 18kg. Is she over fed because she is so tall compared to her peers?

Are you and her father tall notnow? Were you tall as children? That might give you some idea as to how much her height is governed by genetics.

I am 168cm and DH 193cm.

notnow she has a bmi of about 16 and is on the 67th percentile, so she is a fairly average build. She seems to be fed about right. If she weighed 22kg, then you would need to worry.

Dad's genes seem to be at work here.

My brain has turned to mush in the last few years and therefore my ability to interpret scientific data may not be up to scratch.... But.....

The impression I have from looking at some of the papers and seeing them discussed on other threads here is that there are children who are tall because they are genetically predisposed to be so. But if a very tall (and heavily built) child has parents who are short to average in height, and were short or average as children, then it may be sign that the child "over nourished".

Yes - I hope she doesn't grow too tall.

My 3 year old is definitely bigger than my older two, who are very slim. I was told at her last hosp appt that she is 91st centile for height and 75th for weight and was told this was fine. Wondering now though in light of this thread? My other two are around the 9th centile on the NHS calculator, haven't checked the littlest, might take her measurements tomorrow and see.

I think you also have to look at the genetics within the family. In my case the 3 cousins who started taller than my daughter were from parents that were short to average height I'd say. All of the parents are overweight, with one in particular being seriously obese. It could be in the case of my anecdote that the children were genetically destined to be overweight, I observed it was interesting though at an early age there seemed to be a correlation between their height which likely couldn't be put down to genetics and their weight.
Given the focus on childhood obesity now by the health profession, If your health practitioner isn't worried I don't think you should be.

Thanks for the links.

So my daughter is nearly 4, tall, and slim but not slender. Sturdy in that she feels very heavy to lift! But her ribs are visible. Her father is 6'2" and has gone from skinny in youth to a bit pot-bellied now whereas I am average height and was obese for much of my adult life (now top end of normal). I am so keen for her to avoid that and she eats a more or less healthy diet but I am genuinely confused over whether her height could be over feeding or down to her dad.

Too spotty - she might be heavy to lift, but to be honest, I find weights of just a few,kg,heavy to lift, so that will depend on your strength as well!

people here aren't saying "if your child,is tall then they will be obese later". Its more like: often, when x, y,is also often present. It doesn't mean when y, x is a certitude.

if you have an ok grasp of nutrition, are making sure she gets child size portions, and making sure she runs around a lot then you should be fine.

I really sympathise with not wanting her to go through the same struggles you did, and think the best way to avoid it is to lead by example and to make sure she grows up with a healthy relationship with food. Maybe easier said than done!

TooSpotty, given that your daughter's BMI is around the middle of the normal range, there is absolutely no need to worry! Height is governed by many things including parents' height, nutritional status, and the child's natural growth pattern. My kids were always pretty much exactly the same height at the same age (75th-90th percentile) yet one is now a petite young adult and the other looks set to be tall like his dad. There is a big range of normal not just in the height they end up at, but in how they get there - not all tall kids are destined to be tall adults, and some short kids grow late.

BMI was designed as a population tool- i.e. to compare population trends across time and space, rather than to look at individuals. As an individual tool it has limitations, which are that it doesnt take account of build or body composition (although you could argue that the ranges are so broad that in fact they do at least allow for this). At 5'7'' you're not overweight as a woman until you're well over 11 stone- that's pretty generous.

While it's a bit of a rough and ready tool it's good enough unless you are literally a professional sportsperson in a sport where the training involves consciously building and maintaining lean muscle mass. Not just a bit of a gym bunny. Anyone who's attempted to build lean mass will know that it's no mean feat. You don't just develop kilos and kilos of muscle from going to Body Pump a few times a week.

Also, yes, body fat ratio is a better measure but it's hard and expensive to measure. Also, generally you find that a DEXA scan (most reliable measurement of boody comp) gives a worse scenario than BMI (i.e. even normal BMI people often carry too much fat), so be careful what you wish for.

Fact is, as a population, our BMI is way higher than it was 40 years ago. Look around you. Do you see a population of highly sculpted individuals with six packs and guns of steel? No? Me neither.

Time to wake up and smell the coffee. We're fat.

Aggressive
HEAR HEAR

I have had a dexa scan : it showed my body fat percentage as being 5% higher than those silly scales do.
Since then I have lost 6kg

TBH being really toned just changes your density rather than your actual weight.
I am 9 stone but because I do a LOT of exercise, I'm slimmer than a 9 stone unfit person
IYSWIM