DD been having some health issues and has recently had a bout of viruses. I decided to weigh her first thing and was worried to see that she’s fallen to the 4th percentile. It may be the viruses alone are responsible but I emailed the school nurse and will discuss this with her consultant next week.
Onto my AIBU... the NHS BMI calculator says a child is only underweight if they are at, or below, the 2nd percentile. Children are only considered overweight if they are above the 91st (I think) percentile. Yet every other chart I’ve checked (e.g. the CDC have a simlilar calculator to the NHS) says below the 5th percentile is underweight and above the 85th is overweight.
According to the NHS then, I don’t need to worry about DDs weight loss, and parents with children between the 86th and 90th percentiles don’t need to be concerned either. Of course I am left wondering why the NHS criteria are different and a cynical part of me thinks it’s resources driving policy rather than good practice.
So AIBU to think this, or are there sound reasons for the 2nd and 91st percentiles being the NHS boundaries for concern instead of the 4th and 86th?