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Original poster

To be horrified the NHS classes 5yo DD as overweight?

655 replies

mommathatwearspink · 28/06/2019 16:32

DD (5) had her school night and weight check at school earlier in the week. Received a letter today saying that she is on the 94th percentile and classes as overweight for her age and height.

Im horrified! She doesn’t look overweight, does gymnastics and swimming each week, doesn’t over eat, treats are limited and I cook healthy meals from scratch most days. What the hell am I doing wrong???

OP posts:
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9
WindsweptEgret · 30/06/2019 10:04

Eaudear Those Daily Mail sad face pictures are what overweight young children do look like, if they look like overweight adults then they are very overweight.

Eaudear · 30/06/2019 10:09

Yes, most of the kids in the news stories do actually look like overweight kids.

cornishladywithapottymouth · 30/06/2019 10:19

"OMG this is the sort of issue that will have kids being bulimic when they are older. Defo bin the letter, but try to get some action to prevent this going on., and talk to your child s sh understands that she doesn't have a problem"

This is ridiculous! The letter is sent to the parent, not the child. It's then up to the parent to make some tweaks and lifestyle changes for their child, who need never know about it.

Alexkate2468 · 30/06/2019 10:25

This is so depressing. So much good advice being offered on here yet still people saying to bin the letter. Why? Why would you ignore a warning about your child’s health? Surely it should be taken as a prompt to take a step back and honestly review your child’s lifestyle? Take the rose-tinted specs off! I’ll echo what many have said - our view of a healthy weight is seriously skewed. SO many children are overweight. I see it daily. A tubby little reception child (quite cute with squeezy cheeks that everyone loves) is now so obese in Y4 that she cannot bend her legs on the carpet. she cannot stand up from the floor without help. She cannot fit at the school dinner table. It’s heartbreaking.

Also a Y6 wearing an adult 10/12 sounds overweight to me.

MyGastIsFlabbered · 30/06/2019 10:36

I don't think BMI is that accurate- according to mine I could lose half my body weight and still have a healthy BMI. I'm not denying I'm overweight for one second and I am trying to lose it, but I'm not morbidly obese. I'm a size 14.

Whyknot · 30/06/2019 10:46

Off the back of this thread I've just measured DS 8, he has come out at being on the 28th percentile. I was fully expecting it to come out higher. He's 4st 7lb and 138cm, so tall. Can see ribs just about but definitely has some fat. I think he's about to have another growth spurt, which will then slim him down again. But I'll be keeping an eye on it.

DH family are mostly on the bigger side and always exclaim at how skinny he is, which he certainly isn't, I think what is viewed as normal is very skewed these days.

Interesting thread.

titchy · 30/06/2019 10:47

I had this with my daughter saying she was obese, she clearly had no fat on her at all! I was fuming they couldn't just look at her and judge!

And that ^^ denial folks is exactly why we need the programme to stay.

Hotterthanahotthing · 30/06/2019 10:51

I was glad I had let my DD be weighed in yr 6.She had started to compare herself to other girls and thought she was fat.She was 5'5"(all father's side of family very tall including the women) and had started her periods so was naturally changing shape.
It was good to show her the letter as she was bang on the 50th centile.We had a chat about healthy eating though as that never hurts.
She wasn't into adult clothes though and I would think 10-12 large for a child that age.Adults fill them due to developing wider hips and busts at 16 my DD still has a marrow pelvis and wears 8-10 clothes.

WorkShirker · 30/06/2019 10:58

I had that letter 2 years ago and was upset at the time, but looking back at old photos I can see ds was a bit of a chub! Long term it prompted me to stop rewarding behaviour with food, e.g. if you're good you can have an ice cream, and making an effort to walk everywhere as well as limiting snacks. DS will never be skinny but he is now in normal range. Hth

GrumbleBumble · 30/06/2019 11:52

We live in a "nice" rural community there are probably only a dozen kids in total in our primary (210 kids) that look visibly over weight. One of that dozen is at an after school activity with my DS. I provide DS with a snack for the club (not sweets/crisps but as he is on the 25 centile for BMI we don't insist on no snacks/supper healthy snacks). This visibly over weight child has a less healthy snack and tries to pressure my son (and others) to share theirs too. The child clearly has an unhealthy relationship with food already which at 6 or 7 is very sad. I have taught DS that he can choose to share his snack if he likes (him and a different child often swap to go halves) but that he can also say no and is not obliged to fed this particular child.

MrsWombat · 30/06/2019 12:05

Walk as much as possible, go to the park every day and keep them off their screens. Cut out rubbish snacks and only drink water. Don't kid yourself that their single swimming/football/gymnastics lesson has ticked a box that makes them superfit. It doesn't, it's the equivalent of taking them to the park and just counts towards their recommended daily 60 active minutes.

Get your head out of the sand and do something about it. Overweight 5 year olds turn into obese 11 year olds.

aPengTing · 30/06/2019 12:10

I despair at all these people still in denial. A Y6/7 girl wearing adult size 10-12 is probably overweight

I was a size 10 in year 6 and very tall. I weighed 10 stone and was clearly very overweight.

(And that was an old size 10).

Alexkate2468 · 30/06/2019 12:57

Coming back to this again and thinking about the size 10/12 Y6 girl... surely tha would be closer to obese? I’m 8 and a half stone and a comfortable size 8 at 5’5”
To be a 10/12 I’d have to put on 2-4 stone.
A 10 year old close to 10 stone is very wrong....
Unless my thinking is way out...

Ihatesundays · 30/06/2019 12:58

DD is aged 10 and nearly 5ft. If I buy her a size 4-6 it’s often too big still.

Random18 · 30/06/2019 13:16

Reading some of the ‘outraged’ articles I am shocked at the weight of some of the kids.

My almost 8 year old is less than 4 st and is between 75 and 91 centile for height.

My 4 year old is just over 2st 10. He’s older now I would imagine than some kids when they got measured. He’s decidedly average in every way and not at all skinny.

jennymanara · 30/06/2019 13:20

@alexkate I always wonder where people shop? I would not be a 12 at 12 and a half stone. In fact last time I was 12 and a half stone I was an 18.

QueenOfAshes · 30/06/2019 13:22

I actually don't think it's helpful to compare children to each other anymore than it is in adulthood. Esp not children 8+ and for the same reasons I have a problem with using only BMI charts, it doesn't take anything but weight into consideration and opinions/outcomes aren't based on an individual level.

It's very normal for girls going through puberty to put on weight. One girl at 10 could be starting her period and have gained weight as well as filled out around her chest, legs, hips and stomach and grown in inches, where another child may not have. The child could be very tall or very athletic, or be wider set than average.

Where weight is concerned, you always need to look at it person to person, it's not a one size fits all and it's entirely unhelpful to measure health (which is what it's all about after all) on a set of scales alone.

WreckTangled · 30/06/2019 13:28

Its based on height too not just weight. And the range of 'healthy' is massive. I would be concerned if my child was just teetering into the overweight before a growth spurt too.

With all the information available to us about being healthy people have no excuses.

titchy · 30/06/2019 13:28

I have a problem with using only BMI charts, it doesn't take anything but weight into consideration

Eh? BMI takes weight AND HEIGHT into consideration - that's exactly what it is- a ratio of one to the other Hmm

nolongersurprised · 30/06/2019 13:29

it doesn't take anything but weight into consideration and opinions/outcomes aren't based on an individual level.

BMI is calculated using height and weight.

plobsalt · 30/06/2019 13:30

Having to get an electrician to rewrite for a Bosch is annoying. But is it better that the machine heats its own water rather than using the house hot water?

CaptainMyCaptain · 30/06/2019 13:32

I didn't get fatter when I started my periods. I was actually teased at school for being skinny, no idea how much I weighed.

CaptainMyCaptain · 30/06/2019 13:33

Wrong thread plobsalt ? Grin

HJWT · 30/06/2019 13:34

When this happened at DN school 70% of her class were overweight, I think to look at the kids you would probably say 1 or 2 of the kids could do with a bit more exercise, the rest were stick thin normal children. Its a load of sh*t 😁

WreckTangled · 30/06/2019 13:35

I don't know much about washing machines Grin

I also didn't put on weight when I started my periods. I think I could just about fill a topshop size 6 when I was 14.