To be upset with NHS over DDs weight?

[Fudgefudgefudge]

DD is 4 and is in reception. Recently she had her vision, hearing, weight etc measured at school and yesterday I received a letter from the NHS saying that they are referring her to Morelife. Having googled it I'm mortified, I had no idea my child was that overweight! I checked the NHS site which measures their BMI and using the measurements they provided it shows DD being obese and on the 99th percentile

Now I breastfed DD up until her 1st birthday and she was a big baby back then but over the years she's slimmed up if you know what I mean and to me she just doesn't look overweight. She has a healthy appetite and I am well aware of how to eat a healthy balanced diet etc but I do allow a treat for good behaviour. And DD is a very active, she would rather run than walk and I don't drive so she's used to walking places.

AIBU to be upset about this? What do I do? Ask the GP their opinion? It's made me doubt my abilities as a mother as I never even considered she could be obese.

The increasing trend of overweight children also suggests that lots of parents don't understand enough really, really basic nutrition and energy output for their children.

Being six foot as a man would put you above the 85th centile for height. I would consider that tall for a man.

H

And the average female height in the UK is five foot four, not five foot six!

Five foot four and a half actually Almond! Don't take my truly average status away from me!

YABU to be upset with the NHS, I've done quite a lot of research through work regarding childhood obesity and there's so many complications later in life.. All the NHS have done is informed you of your child being overweight, so you can do something about it - don't be upset just make few changes. As a PP said, parents rarely notice their child is overweight, even in some quite obvious circumstances.

Anyone still on this thread could I ask some opinions? Here's my three boys, the aforementioned twins and five year old. Twins are almost 8 and average height; 5 year old is shorter than most in his class.

The twins are wearing age 7-8 clothing but anything with a non- adjustable waist just falls off them. DS3 could do with age 3-4 for waist but needs at least age 4 for length. The age 4 jeans in gap were only just long enough but the next size up are truly massive!

I don't have scales at the moment but I'm curious as to what people think. As I mentioned before they mostly eat well, more than likely don't exercise enough (esp. if it's truly three hours of sweat inducing exercise a day they need!).

They're all wearing age 5-6 swimming trunks because DS3 is a pain in the arse and wouldn't wear his own. DTS2 is the one in the daft pose, he is definitely quite a bit skinnier.

Anything WITHOUT an adjustable waist

The one in the middle looks like his tummy is slightly protruding but so does DD's and she's 49th percentile (but also younger so not as long time to develop her abdominal muscles)

First one is fine, second has a good covering , can't see blearily enough on third - he looks somewhere between the 2?

Yep he's the bigger one!

I'm not worried but I want to make changes now while they're young. I have signed em up for junior park run which will be nice to do together as I took up running this year.

DS3 is such a different shape - I've always put it down to being a full term singleton (twins were 4 weeks early so skinny as well as not heavy which was a trend that has continued), but maybe I'm part of the adults that can't tell when their kid is a bit plump? Saying that, his belly doesn't stick out at all, even if he is a bit wider than the other two ever were.

That seems really stupid considering he's just turned five

Sorry to hijack OP!

Its hard to tell from the picture of your 5 year old. Junior park run sounds like a great idea though, running is really good for weight - ever since my mum took up running she has been extremely fit and healthy and almost scarily tiny.

actually, was on phone earlier, they all look ok'ish. slim legs, you can see the hips on the one in red trunks, the first one fine, the second one who you've scribbled green you can see his collar bones and he's probably only a tiny bit over- and if he is, park run and a sensible diet / portion size will likely sort that out quickly :)

Thanks hodd. I'd post better pics if my bastarding wifi wasn't down!

I think all three look ok Felicia. The one in the middle I would say is in the healthy weight range but possibly in the higher end. I have a dd in the higher end of the healthy range (I checked over the summer) and she is probably slightly chubbier than him.

I am confused with all these different charts and calculators. When do kids grow out of the chubby phase and start getting leaner?

I have a DD, 3 in January and is currently 99cm height and 37lb weight. She dies have a bit of a chubby tummy.

And her appetite just shot up ten fold! I do worry as I am morbid lg obese and do not want her to be like me.

This is the NHS BMI calculator strayduck. www.nhs.uk/Livewell/loseweight/Pages/BodyMassIndex.aspx

It says a healthy BMI is between the 2nd and 91st centiles, so quite a big range.

So I think that means that if a child is in the overweight range then they weigh more than 91% of children of the same age and height as them.

Thanks so her body mass is 82 percentile and high end green, I guess I need to keep an eye to make sure we don't slip.

I am guessing height is taken into account as she is quite talk for her age?

Yes height is taken into account. One of my dds who is 9 is very similar bmi to your dd. She loves her food like me and dh (who are obese) so yes it's something to keep an eye on. My 12 year old is v slim and not as greedy as the rest of us. They've both been like that since toddlerhood.

Obviously I do not say anything like that to them and I only weigh them once a year.