Overweight Toddler

[PeppaAteMySoul]

My almost 3 year old is overweight according to the children's bmi thingy. He has always been solidly built and has followed the 90th percentile since birth.
My own upbringing was slightly chaotic/ neglectful. Not an excuse but does mean I feel out of my depth sometimes when it comes to feeding my son/ activities. I want to revise his excercise and diet so he learns healthy habits young.
Does this sound okay? This morning he had half a bowl of porridge for breakfast and a kiwi. He had 2 custard creams with his cup of "tea" (warm milk) as a snack. Luch will be pasta and pesto (which has sweetcorn, spinach and tomatoes in it- though those will be picked out). Dinner will be either a veg korma and rice or butternut squash soup and one slice of bread. Pudding will be fruit or a yoghurt.
We have already been to the park for an hour this morning and will play in the garden later. I don't have a car that I can use during the day so we already walk everywhere. Is there anything else I can do? His diet and excercise seems okay to me but as I was brought up on ketchup or sugar cube sandwiches most days I'm aware my opinion may be skewed.

I think you're doing fine and shouldn't pay too much attention to BMI charts. I had a very tubby toddler who is now a skinny 14 year old. It isn't uncommon (especially for boys it seems to me) for children to get a bit chubby and then have a growth spurt which uses up the extra fat. So maybe this time next year he won't be overweight at all. Keeping him active is the best thing you can do for him, so well done and try not to beat yourself up.
If you really want to fine tune his diet, you could find an alternative to the biscuits and yoghurt, but because of the sugar more than anything.

Sounds absolutely fine to me, but if you're worried cut out the custard creams and give him a piece of toast or a banana instead. You sound like a lovely Mum. And if he's active any excess weight will just come off in time anyway. But his food sounds nice, and healthy. They do say kids' yoghurts have too much sugar in them (mine have them so certainly not judging), but better that he has yoghurts than not if he won't have a lower sugar one. I bought the new oat cheerios for my kids instead of regular cheerios. Hardly any sugar in them. They were so disgusted and when I tried them it was like eating cardboard!

That sounds good to me OP! Healthy and nutritious food choices and opportunity for exercise.

If you're really concerned about DS's weight I suppose you could substitute the custard creams for a banana/satsuma/breadsticks or something a little healthier but I'd say the rest of his diet is good and part of creating a healthy attitude towards good I'd not making anything 'forbidden' as it becomes that much more desirable!

Has a HCP flagged his weight or is it just something you've looked up? You may find he 'grows in to' his weight as he gets taller and more active.

Sounds like you're doing a great job to me!

If he's always been 90th percentile I wouldn't worry as a lot more worrying if there is a sudden dip or rise. I'd ignore bmi tbh.

Also as someone said he could be just about to have a growth spurt.

*towards food is

Not 'towards good I'd'!

Yes, I thought when typing the biscuits might not be the greatest of ideas. He seems to have a treat like thing everyday at snack time. Yesterday it was a slice of homemade coffee cake and the day before a few squares of white chocolate. Will try replacing with something healthier or just cut out the snack all together and just give him his milk. Tbh it only started because I wanted five minutes peace to drink a cup of tea and eat a kitkat!

My dd was a chubby toddler. Now at 3 she's starting to slim out.

I wouldn't worry too much, especially by the diet you've posted.

They tend to slim out as they grow up

Yy need mine were fatties at 2 and slim now at 4 and 5

That sounds fine to me. You can change from full fat milk to semi-skimmed at aged 2, don't know if you have made this change yet? I have found milk very filling with one of my children - is he still having milk at night?

My eldest was very overweight as a toddler, I worried a lot about it. But when he started school and took part in the national weight/height study she was in the normal range (albeit top end of normal). She is now 11 and has just taken part in the second stage of the same study (as she is about to finish primary school) and is now at the lower end of normal.

Looking back her weight problems as a toddler were largely to do with full fat milk - she had tons of it. When she was about 3 years old I banned milk during the night (she still sometimes had milk at night) and bedtime and changed to semi-skimmed. Her diet remained healthy throughout and she's always been active and sporty. Changing her milk made all the difference.

Aged 3 there are loads of sports your DS could start. How about swimming once a week? Learning to ride a bike? Football, tennis, karate, ball skills - lots of organised sports clubs he could join.

And when I took him to the doctor about something unrelated recently I mentioned his weight and they said "he's a bit of a chunk but fine" which was about as clear as mud to me anyway.

You do sound like a lovely Mum!
I was referred to a nutritionist for DC3 (much to my chagrin as I considered myself a good cook and feeder) and it was useful. Maybe get or borrow a couple of cook and nutrition books, I had an ancient and very old fashioned one from MIL. Above all be pragmatic. we're not certain what constitutes a good diet, use your eyes and watch his energy levels!

Sounds pretty good but where is the protein (other than in the milk)? Could you maybe up the protein and decrease the carbs slightly? He doesn't need to lose weight, if you can keep it stable for a few months he'll grow up into it.

There doesn't seem to be much protein in his diet, and my DC are only allowed sweet things as puddings, to save their teeth. Otherwise, his diet seems fine.

He won't eat any kind of meat or fish. I do give him boiled eggs and cheese and things but unsure what else has protein? He likes chickpeas so I make chickpea fritter things for his lunch or dinner once or twice a week.

It sounds fine to me. You could switch out the biscuits for a small helping of nuts. Does he drink much water throughout the day?

My son tends to fill out quite a bit, and often looks quite chubby, then he shoots up in height a week later.

Chickpeas, pulses generally (beans and lentils), nuts, eggs, tofu, dairy products - these are all good sources of protein and will keep him fuller for longer.

Can he have nuts at 3? For some reason I got it into my head that he had to be 5 or over. See I am clueless.
I might try and make a lentil cottage pie for tomorrows dinner.

I can't remember my parents ever thinking about this kind of stuff. We had big bags of sweets most days. Chips and beans or egg for dinner. Ketchup or sugar sandwiches for lunch. Surprisingly I still have all my teeth and am not overweight but I don't want that start for my own children. My parents still think I'm mad for caring about this stuff and whenever they see him they do feed him nothing but crap. Luckily it's only a few times a year!

My eldest was a chunk at 2, started to balance out a bit at 3 but still quite well built. He was on the 90% line for weight and height.
However he caught chicken pox at 3 1/2 and he turned into a skeleton practically overnight and has stayed very slim since. He is in reception year and on their BMI chart registers as slightly underweight despite having been generally eating a lot better recently.
It'll balance out, don't be scared of giving the odd treat, but as others have said switch it round for different things.
FATE that's interesting about milk, my eldest has always had full fat, probably a big contributor to him being a chunky toddler.

Some people avoid whole nuts until 5 for fear of choking but you could give nut butters, or used crushed/ground nuts if that worries you.

You can have nut butter, but you'll need to watch intake as it's very calorific. While nuts should be avoided until 5.

Soca bread or farinata is made from chickpea flour and water and is a good alternative to bread.

Here's some healthy recipes on the good food website. I have the opposite problem with my ds as he's underweight.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/healthy-kids

What are your portion sizes like OP? It's this which seems to confuse many....

My eldest (5) is a big child, so always looked chubby as she was still the shape of a normal child her age but on a bigger scale. She clearly has a predisposition to be overweight so we keep an eye on what we feed her. She was under a consultant paediatrician for a long time for other issues but we asked about her weight and were told to just be careful not to feed her too many carbs.

It sounds like you're already pretty on top of the diet, I'd only allow one custard cream (just reduced my youngest's (2) bourbon allowance from 2 to 1). Also think about portion sizes, my eldest will have seconds and thirds of stuff like pasta if we let her, we don't. They don't need to be given food every single time they say they're hungry, because frankly my two seem to be permanently hungry.

I don't think you need to worry, just be aware of it when making decisions about food, which it very much sounds like you already are. Some people will disagree with me but I don't see a problem with young children not being skinny.