to worry about slightly chubby 4 year old DD?

[microferret]

My DD is 4 and a half, 107 cm tall and weighs 20.3 kilos. Our daycare provider flagged up her weight as a potential concern at the last meeting we had, a couple of months ago... It has been on my radar since she was about 2 though.

I'm at my wits' end... We did everything right. She was EBF until 6 months, and then we slowly introduced solids. We offer lots of veg and fruit. I made sure small amounts of sweets and treats were part of her daily intake because I wanted her to have a healthy attitude to them. She loves them, but doesn't over do it. She understands that there are limits, and accepts them. She doesn't overeat at all! She's active, she runs about a lot and rides her bike. It's baffling.

After the meeting, DH and I decided to take some action. We decided to skip carbs in the evening, so she has a dinner of protein and veg, and then some olives or a small amount of nuts if she is still hungry. But it's made no difference - she's still gaining weight at a worryingly steady rate. She has a sweet treat after daycare at about 4pm, just to make sure she doesn't feel deprived. Breakfast and lunch are normal, with carbs. The daycare staff don't feel she really eats too much, they say she eats just like the other kids do, who are all of course skinny as rakes.

I'm really at a loss at this point. It's a mystery as to why she gains weight constantly. DH and I are both slim, we eat lots of veg and model good behaviour. I wasn't a very skinny child although I was never overweight until my teens, but even I remember feeling horribly different and chunky because all the other kids were beanpoles and I was more muscular, with short legs. Even though my mum was feeding me super healthy stuff and I only ate sweets and desserts at weekends.

I just don't want her to suffer like I did. It's a quandary.. Do I take action now (and what fucking action, really, apart from starving the poor kid???) and risk screwing up her relationship with food, or do I relax and wait for the puppy fat to disappear, and risk the problem getting worse?

Has anybody experienced similar? Can you offer tips?
*if you're coming on to tell me about your kid who was fat until 2 and then became a skinny minny with a huge appetite and hollow legs please don't. It's not the same situation and isn't helpful.

Her build may be like yours. I’d also move from daily desserts to maybe a small portion of fruit and weekly /weekend desserts. Could you post a picture of a typical meal for her (thinking about portion size)?

Just increase her physical activity and cut out the sweets.

I agree with you about allowing a sweet treat every day she's four FFS.

It doesn't matter how old she is, no one needs ice cream and sweets every day.

Ice cream or sweets everyday feels a bit much. Some fruit or a small yoghurt (no added sugar f course) is still something nice. What does she eat for her meals and what are the portion sizes like? Does she have a lot of processed foods, or do you use jarred sauces etc? (Lots of sugar). Can you list what she eats on a nursery and a non nursery day?

Please don’t cut out or reduce carbs. She’s a growing child. She needs carbs. Replacing with protein is not healthy.

If you think you are correct with her diet (and tbh, if you think cutting carbs in a 2 year old is the correct way to help her lose weight, you need professional advice), and she is still over weight then you need to see a gp, and ask for a referral to a dietician.

Roughly Weight for a child under 5 should be 2(5+ age). So 18kg. But that is only approximate, child weight and growth is bery variable.

If you are concerned take her to a doctor. But cutting carbs for a child is not the answer. They need energy. Portion sizes are often an issue as children don't need as much food as we often give them.

I'd also check portion size.

I'd also drop the treat after daycare - she doesn't need this at all. It is literally extra calories.

What is her typical breakfast/dinner? I'm guessing lunch is at daycare.

What about drinks? Does she drink a lot of juice etc?

As an example, my 4.5 year old eats a kids IKEA bowl half full of porridge and maybe half a piece of toast. Dinner = 2 tablespoons of couscous, some cucumber, 3 meatballs/chickpeas/tomato sauce. Pudding might be a piece of cake, pie or fruit. (Lunch at school).

But is she actually overweight ? If your concerned take her to the nurse and get some advice. Your just concentration also on what she eats but what about exercise- not all 4 year olds are active. Kids are all
Different shapes and sizes she may not be the skinny kid and it could just be her build. I have one skinny bean pole and the other is skinnny also but heavier and a bigger build.

Sweets nuts and olives are all high calorie. You should log her calories for a few days and see exactly what she is consuming.

What does it say on the NHS BMI calculator?

www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-weight/bmi-calculator/#check-your-bmi

She has a sweet treat after daycare at about 4pm, just to make sure she doesn't feel deprived.

This is the red flag for me. She doesn't 'need' a sweet treat. Make it occasional, and NOT a treat. If you want to reward her, give her something else.

Have you calculated her bmi/followed the curve in her red book?
What is she eating on an average day? Including portion size.
She doesn’t need treats everyday.
Is she getting the min of an hour exercise a day?

I would look at her portion size at meal times, and definitely cut out the daily treat!

I don't think offering a sweet treat daily is helping develop a healthy attitude, no matter how small. How about once a week instead?

I don't agree with cutting carbs out of a meal either. Complex carbohydrates are an important part of balanced meals.

Sorry to be negative. Hope you find a solution soon op

if you are worried then contact your GP or health visitor and ask for advice. She may be about to have a growth spurt. Don’t do anything radical to her diet until you have spoken to a professional. A quick look at the NHS charts suggest she is on the border so just worth jeeping an eye on rather than taking drastic action, but if she is about to grow then that may change in a couple of weeks. They don’t encourage children to lose weight but not gain it at such a rate so you won’t see results like adults, but much more slowly.

Ok, try not to project your childhood too much.
Check her BMI against a calculator or chart for her age. Weight doesn't tell you much of her height is also above average. Is her weight going up the percentiles on the chart or following a line?
Check portion sizes - i read somewhere that a child's portion should be about the size of her fist. Do you give her a child sized plate/bowl? That can help portion sizing as it doesn't look like a tiny meal if the plate is in proportion.
Maybe mix up the treats more. Ice cream or sweets every day seems a bit full on, that would be more of a once a week here. What about sometimes having nice fruit for the after school snack, or crackers and cheese, or yoghurt, or bread stick and hummus. Something you don't usually have will be seen as a treat, it doesn't have to be pure sugar.
And yes, check what she has at childcare. Ours claimed to be healthy but there were puddings with every meal, and snacks too. Does she have a meal or snack at childcare in the afternoon? Ours had lunch at 11-11.30 and a fairly hefty tea at 4-4.30, so DS only needed a little snack at home in the evening not a full on dinner.
Maybe keep a food diary for a few weeks so you can see if you can spot any issues, or can take it to the doctor and say this is what she's having and you're worried she's still overweight.

Roughly Weight for a child under 5 should be 2(5+ age). So 18kg. But that is only approximate, child weight and growth is bery variable.

Where does this calculate come from, please? Just thinking about my own DD, and have never heard of this.

*calculation

Ice cream and sweets would be an unusual after school snack. Something like toast, banana, grapes, ham/cheese were more our go to. Nuts and olives are also high fat. To be honest none of it is bad unless she’s chugging bowls full. Low carving a four year old is silly.

I second all the advice above, but also wanted to check that she has semi-skimmed milk as opposed to whole milk?

There’s probably much less calories in the carbs with dinner than ice cream and nuts every day. Cards aren’t the problem the amount of calories are

If log everything she eats for a few days using MyFitnessPal and see what she is actually eating and see what the balance between carbs fat and protein is.

If you are a family that eat 'loads' of fruit and veg then maybe the excess calories are coming from there.

Two of my DC got a bit chubby at around 3 years of age. I carried on as I was with there food but just gave them a little bit less and really watched their sweet intake. It wasn't hard. They weren't on a diet, it was just I was being a little careful.

I think it's good to think long term with kids who are chubby - it's ok if they take a year or so to slim down as long as they do.
Little kids shouldn't be 'stocky'

First don't panic... children vary a lot and chubby preschoolers often stretch out amazingly once they are at school. MyDS1 was very chubby until he was 5 then it vanished and ever since he has been very slim..to the point that as a young adult he wishes he could gain weight!
Having said that..the puddings and treats..even if they are only 80 calories a time, are all adding up and just aren't needed. We never had puddings.. a dinner is enough if it's the right mix of protien veg and carbs. Treats should be occasional.

With my 4 we had 'sweetie day' Saturday we went to the shops and the children had their pocketmoney treat..(no set amount ) and that was it.. they could have a nice bag of sweets, and either eat the lot or pace themselves. I did it for their teeth, but the side effect was they looked forward to it, but simply didn't expect to eat junk any other day. Result... all have fab teeth and slim, and the habits have continued now they are young adults.
I'd have a check with the gp and if there are no other issues, then check portion sizes and absolutely quit the daily treats!

What does your child drink as a main drink? If the answer is fizzy drinks then cut them out