to think they'd think of this?

[DontOpenDeadInside]

Dd3 (5) was weighed at school the other day. I got a letter yesterday saying that at 108cm and 21kg she is "overweight". Now they probably weighed her in her boots and school jumper, but I weighed her this morning and she is 20.3kg which puts her into the healthy range. Now not only could this cause upset to parents (not me, I was sure she was healthy) but national statistics will have one more overweight child, when she is not, I am sure there will be others, as such a small amount of weight can make a big difference at that age.

"Sorry, its a bit more than 2/3rds, but still healthy." I love your maths if you think that 87th centile is 'a bit more that 2/3rds'.

Rolls eyes...

The little girl clearly doesn't look overweight. I have 3 DDs and they all wear their age in clothes so they are of average size. However, my oldest DD weighs heavier and her BMI is above average. Looking at her she is tall and lean and very active. You can see she has no issues with her weight. I would be fuming if I got a letter home like this (school, NHS or otherwise) as they have taken a very generalised measurement and put my daughter into a category she doesn't belong.

I know there's a very serious issue with childhood obesity and it's definitely something that needs to be addressed however I also think that making children conscious about their size at such a young age is not the way forward.

needascarf you are right about the ribcage, I mentioned using that method myself upthread. Too many people think that children are too skinny if you can see their ribcage but you should be able to see the ribcage in a healthy weight child. We have lost sight of what a healthy weight child should look like. I think the photo of OPs child does show her looking slightly chunky, but it's hard to tell in a loose fitting dress.

Jeese looks like a normal little girl OP you know what she eats, her level of exercise and genetic background I wouldn't worry. Children flutuate for one day to the next my DD gets chunkier before she had a growth spurt.

If your worried see a nurse and check your being honest with yourself

I've worked in a school for the past 11 years and have witnessed 11 years worth of children getting weighed. Every single time they have been asked to remove shoes and Jumpers. The school nurses are not idiots.

We got a letter like this from school a couple of months ago. Dd was just over the borderline.

The last time we measured her she was 6 cm taller than in the weigh in and when she stood on the scales the other day (post bath so naked but with - very long - wet hair) she weighed 2kg less.

This measurement actually puts her in the lower half of the "healthy" weight.

The height one is simple - she was presumably due a growth spurt. Not so sure about the weight although she's had a tummy bug since then so maybe that is it? Or maybe she was desperate for a wee (she has a bladder of steel!)

I get why they do it but it did stress me out a bit (not least because - girly swot that I am - I went through the entire booklet and the only thing we didn't already do was give her semi skimmed milk) and actually it was all for nothing.

Surely though if parents are discussing removing boots/peeing/pooing before their kids are weighed, they know they are right on the cusp of being overweight?

At the moment, over a fifth of 4-5 year olds are overweight or obese and a third of 10-11 year olds are overweight or obese and that's just in England alone.

This seems to indicate that many parents appear to be just not listening because the problem seems to get worse, as kids get older.

Perhaps they're relying on growth spurts that either don't happen, or they don't solve the problem?

OP, only you know what your child looks like without that dress on. If you can't easily see her hip/rib bones or you can see belly fat (especially if it folds when she sits down) then she's overweight.

BMI can be very generous anyway. When my DS was in year 11 I knew damn well his belly was too big and that I needed to help him lose weight, but according to his results, he was in the healthy weight category.

I limited his unhealthy snacks, got him out exercising more and he lost the weight.

He's 16yrs old now and slim, but when I look back on his pics as an 11yr old, I can quite clearly see that his belly was fat, even though his results didn't reflect that fact.

They do think of that op. Ds1 was weighed in his clothes but his shoes were removed, otherwise they wouldn't get an accurate height measurement.
I know he took his shoes off because he came home wearing someone elses (they were the same as his own).

My two were measured in pants and vests when they were weighed in reception and y6.

DS is 5, 112cm and 17.9kg. He is often told he is "too thin" and with the trouble we have getting trousers for him you would think he was but he is actually a healthy weight.

I think it's easy to not want to see an issue but instead of getting upset OP why not use this as a chance to evaluate her diet and activity to see if there are any small changes you can make now to stop it developing into a problem later?

That little girl in the photo looks perfectly normal. Completely. All this about 'evaluating her diet' and increasing exercise will add to the OP's worry that something needs to be done due to her DD being overweight. She isn't overweight. The OP has been misled by the weighing.

She doesn't look fat in that photo but solid/chunky and so is perhaps on the verge of becoming overweight. It is probably just as well that they have drawn it to your attention in case the growth spurt you are expecting does not happen.

According to BMI charts a child aged 5 who is 108cm tall and weighs 20.3kg is just inside the overweight category, but this can vary depending when her birthday is and if she is almost 6 then she will be just inside the normal weight category. Is she almost 6 OP? Could that be the reason for the discrepancy between your results and the school nurse results?
Either way 0.7 kg is not a lot and she is borderline either way. It is very easy to increase activity at this age and reduce unnecessary snacks which will work towards putting the child in a less borderline position on the bmi scale.

I know the upper normal weight it recommends for me for BMI is much too high and I would feel quite fat if I was that weight, but BMI scales are much less accurate for children. The rib test is still the best indicator IMO.

She looks a healthy size to me. These weight checks don't factor common sense. On looking at a child you can tell whether they're carrying a little extra weight. On speaking to the child or parent you can establish exercise done, portion and content of meals or snacks etc.

These weight checks are just another means of labelling people and ticking boxes.

BMI is fallible as it takes no account of build.

Ds1 is 7, 132cm and a hair under 5 stone. He's 'overweight' which is the biggest load of rubbish I've ever heared.

He's big - wide shoulders, massive feet (size 4) huge head that will only fit into a baseball cap for age 12-14. My DH is 6' 3 and similarly built, and has been 'obese' by BMI since he was a teen.

I'm not looking at ds through a mothers eyes - there's not an ounce of excess fat on him, anywhere. I could play a tune on his ribs they're so prominent when he raises his arms.

But, he's also an 'overweight' statistic.

I went for a check-up recently. I am 5'6" and weigh around 9.5 stone. The nurse said, "I don't agree with this but according to my chart you should be 10 stone 11"!

Your nurse read it wrong. And it doesn't even work like that.

Why do people insist the charts are wrong just because they don't understand how they work?

Doesn't work like what? And I trust the nurse.

It doesn't mean the charts are 'wrong' - just that they are a guide, and a one-size-fits-all. They can't take account of everyone's body type/make up and so for some people end up being useless.

I totally agree with ineedascarf. Recent study in British journal of general practitioners showed that the vast majority of parents do not recognise that their child is overweight. That is why these letters are so important in tackling the child obesity crisis.

These threads are always full of "oh, but she looks fine and healthy". Please take it seriously.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-32069699

Yes, but Miranda, it is NOT a non-existent problem. She is either overweight or very nearly overweight. It is hard to hear but it should be taken seriously.

She looks on the verging on overweight side to me too.

If I'm honest she looks no different to many of my dc classmates. Who I also think are verging on overweight- I definitely think we have a skewed idea of normal these days.