to ask about DDs belly?!

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DD is 4, she will be 5 in November. She is a healthy weight on the BMI charts, very tall (114cm), active and eats healthy food in normal child portion sizes, with the occasional treat on birthdays or days out.

I was reading a thread earlier, and I have noticed it on many threads that pot-bellies should be gone by the pre-school years but she still has a notable sticky-out belly which extends as her day goes on, and flattens out a bit by morning! She has no excess fat anywhere else on her body (legs, arms, face all thin),, and her digestion is normal so I don't think it's wind or anything like that. Is this still a normal body shape at her age, or is it something I should get checked out? I notice that many of her friends have flat bellies by now.

My daughter (3 1/2 ) has this. I get it too

Completely normal, might just mean she's not hit her growth spurt yet

Ds2 is 7 and still gets this a bit, the typical pot bellied look. By the end of the day usually.

He's like a stick insect though, so so skinny all over and not a pick of spare fat anywhere (although technically a healthy weight...but only just).

He's had a check up recently and the GP seemed happy enough.

Sounds like it's not fat, but lack of muscle tone - more monkey bars and running up slides.

My son is almost 4 and his pot belly is only just starting to flatten. It's nothing to do with a lack of muscle tone as he is incredibly active and has a little six pack when he tenses. I think it's normal for some kids to keep hold of this shape for a little longer than others, everyone is different after all!

Is she a bit hypermobile, flatfish feet etc? I've noticed it tends to go together.

My DS was very much like this until he was about 7, he has ridiculously skinny belly. He is now 9 and has a 6 pack.

DD still has a belly and is 6, although it is definitely less sticky outy these days.

I think PP is right, it is to do with core strength, but DD can monkey bar forwards back ward and sideways , so as long as your DD has plenty of excercise she'll be fine

Totally normal. My daughter had this at four, and explained to anyone who commented that it was because she was a girl and there were eggs in her tummy. (She also told one boy not to push her because there were eggs in her tummy and he would break them.)

DD had this and as an adult still does. Also hypermobility and with a very deep inward curve to lower back which I think is what gives that pot bellied appearance. In kids with straighter spines I was still told it's often usual for children up to 5 or thereabouts to have a pot bellied look.

My extremely fit 4 year old (loads of monkey bars, scooting, cycling and climbing frames etc) has this too.

I think it's a normal body shape for the age and some children don't lose that little tummy until they are older. I remember my younger sister having this too, and she is ever so slim with a very flat tummy now. I think the change happened at c. 8-9 years old for her. I wouldn't worry about it.

I still have this at 28 - along with a deep curve in my spine! I really wish someone had helped me out with it when i was younger though. I'm a size 8 so it's not fat!

Start of reception year, I think with some exceptions they tend to still have slightly chubby wee hands, skinny arms and legs and little bellies that stick out after tea! End of reception year (my DS at least) tummy is flat, and he generally looks like a child not a toddler. His hands are proper child's hands not squidgy any more. They all progress at different rates and have different body types. But it seemed to me that they start school still looking like a bit toddler-ish and lose this as the first year progresses.

My DS still has this, and also a very deep curve in his back, and he's 10. He's very sporty and active (does fencing, parkour, swimming, scoots or rides his bike everywhere), well within the healthy weight range, slim muscular arms and legs, but after a big meal he looks 6 months pregnant! All the men in DH's family are exactly the same shape though so I'm not worried about it. Interesting that people have mentioned hypermobility - I'm not clinically hypermobile but my rheumatologist (I have joint issues secondary to an autoimmune condition) has described me as 'very bendy' so maybe he's a little bit that way inclined?

It is unfortunately more and more normal.

That belly is fat that has laid down in the tummy area. It has the same effect in children than it has in adults. It's affecting their health long term (see issue with the apple shape, big waist measurements etc...).
The reason is eating too many carbs and sugar in general (as in too many for them - children do need more carbs than us adults).

The fact that her arms, legs etc... are all thin doesn't mean that the child is thin and in good health btw.

Last word re 'it's normal for a child to be chubby starting Reception', I would encourage you to look at children at the beach/swimming pool when you are abroad (France and Germany are two good examples for me). You will see that it's not normal for children that age to have a tummy. It didn't used the be the case in the uk either.

Fwiw I have two dcs who have always looked very thin compared to children here. Dc2 has even had comments aboutbit from 'friends'.
Take him to Germany (or France) and he looks normal, just like any child there... Dc1 who is think by British standards actually looks to be slightly in the big side....

That belly is fat that has laid down in the tummy area

Mmm...in the case of my ds (7) I can assure you it's not.

I don't think you get it tbh...people are talking about the stretched potbelly look some young dc have, usually those on the skinny side. Not layers or rolls of fat.

I'm talking about fat that lays underneath the abdo muscles so fat you can't see/feel as a roll of fat.

There is plenty of talk about how you have skinny 17yo who actually have fats around their organs. They don't look fat, they don't have a roll of fat. They do have a bit of a belly.

If it's not fat (and it's not linked with the curvature if the spine, which is a very specific condition), how do you explain the belly. And the fact that most children in other countries do NOT have such a belly at that age???

My DS grows out then up, nightmare finding clothes just before the spurt!

As long as digestion is normal and there is nothing to suggest anything more sinister I wouldn't worry x

Okay thanks for your thoughts. I'd have thought if she was overweight then she would be so on the centile and bmi charts but perhaps not.

If it's not fat (and it's not linked with the curvature if the spine, which is a very specific condition), how do you explain the belly

Bloody easily. Food. Water. Wind - in the case of my ds anyway, whose belly becomes more round as the day goes on. He has no fat, no flesh on him, to hide it. Any big dinner eaten or couple of pints of water drunk gives him a noticibly different body shape for a while.

Up to school age it's just a very natural body shape - and not an indicator of underlying fat or poor diet or anything else.

She also told one boy not to push her because there were eggs in her tummy and he would break them

This is so funny and cute. She sounds great.

I would suggest you measure her around the middle first thing (when it is flat) - it it measures less that half her height then she is fine, if it is more than that then you need to make some little tweaks to her food and exercise.

Thanks OddBoots that's a really useful suggestion and I will do it when she wakes tomorrow. I'm reasonably confident that her middle is less than half her height - she's very tall!

do you measure the waist? like inbetween the hips and the ribs?

Yes, the waist.

I don't like the fact this link is to a weight loss site as it sounds like your DD is or a healthy weight but it dies give a good overview of the research findings www.weightlossresources.co.uk/children/monitor_childrens_weight.htm