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

[mommathatwearspink]

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???

My son has been taking steroids for a few months, he’s been eating loads as they make him so hungry. To me he looks a little overweight, he is infact on the 64th BMI percentile.

Check her height measurements. Ours was 3cm out, a friend's DD was out by 5cm. That obviously do impact the idea if a child is overweight or not. She totally forgot about all this, she never saw the letter anyway.

When DD was in Year 6 and was to be measured again we didn't give consent. She really started getting self-consious about her body, puberty hit and the last thing we wanted was that she reduced her body to two measurements. From what she said there were several girls who didn't get measured as well.

Sorry just to add that actually that was about 6 months ago, so he was bang on 8yo.

If she was in the 94th percentile, she will be fat. They are telling you so you can do something about it. But you can also take advice given on here and ignore it and let your child continue to be fat. Your choice.

Waiting for @ToffeePennie to come back and clarify whether 5 stone for a nearly 5 year old was a typo. That's a hell of a weight for that age, he must be enormous and definitely not "twig thin".

Most parents with overweight children don't recognise that their children are overweight. Most of them say they do physical activity and eat healthily and that there's no fat on them. We've got too used to seeing overweight bodies, we now see them as the norm and have forgotten what a healthy normal looks like. Don't bury your head in the sand!

I don't think OP said her DD was 5 stone? Not in original post and I can't see update from her
Another poster said their 5 year old was 5 stone.

Blimey, DD is 6 stone 5 and 12.5 years old (to the day ). She's 148cm

BMI - particularly in children is such a load of arse! I’d file the letter in the bin personally.

You’re not reading the same peer reviewed studies as I am. The studies I read conclude that BMI is the best indicator we have, particularly for children.

But even if you believe BMI isn’t perfect, a child on the 96th percentile for weight is likely to be considered overweight unless their height is in a similar range.

My two always came out overweight on the school scales. They were always in the 90,s for both height and weight.

My oldest never looked overweight particularly, just solid and muscly. My youngest always looked chubby and round. Both very active, ate well, plenty of organised exercise (at least 10 hrs a week) reasonably healthy diets. We didn't change anything major, just a few tweaks here and there and, rather than discuss food we would generally teach them the rule of input and output.

Now the oldest Is 20, 6ft and still active on the sports field and in the gym, still slim but with a tendency to put weight on fairly quickly if he's not careful.

The younger one is now 17, 6ft4", at the gym daily (sometimes twice) and still 3 days on the sports,field. He is tall, lean and muscular with 42" shoulders and a 30" waist. He borders on being obsessive about diet and exercise.

So it's up to you as a parent to keep an eye on it, tweak where necessary and ensure that exercise features heavily. And you can do all that without making it into a big thing.

@mommathatwearspink
Can't understand why you are ignoring a medical letter.

In denial?

Maybe this is why there is a growing percentage of primary age kids who are obese.

They get flagged up and their parents effectively bin the letter.

She doesn’t look overweight,

Many people's idea of what overweight or obese looks like is skewed.

That's why we have BMI stats.

They told me my DS was overweight, despite the fact he is extremely small for his age (he is 12 and only 130cm), and he is tiny so that he has to have clothes that have an adjustable waist so they can fit. He has a very large head circumference (off the percentile chart) and has a shunt due to Hydrocephalus, which I think messes with it a bit. However he has severe ASD and a very restricted diet so at the same time as being told he was overweight I had a dietician telling me he needed to eat better and put weight on.

Bin the letter!

Quick question (and I do not want to highjack the thread and detract from the information the poster needs): I thought after 2 the BMI is what counts? (I am sure that the last time I typed in my sons info in the NHS (or WHO?) calculator it said that I have to use the BMI one for my 4 year old

DS2 is shorter and stockier than all his friends. When they did PGL at school, he had more stamina than any of his slimmer mates. He outpaced them on mountain bikes, even though he had t done it much before.

As a tot, you'd struggle to lift him because he was so solid. His friend used to almost take off when I lifted him, because he was so much lighter. Not much difference at all to look at, though.

@Chartreuser see I was 5ft 8 age 12 so I was a lot heavier and wearing a woman's size 10/12 as I also had DD/E boobs
There's a photo at my 12th birthday and I'm stood with friends, and literally they're all at my chest level!

Because it's entertaining. All the same age

I can guarantee you that any decent gymnast training for 25 hours a week will be a healthy weight, and probably right at the lower end of the BMI range. Despite all their muscle hmm

Agreed. My 10 year-old trains almost 20 hours per week and is still under 5 stone, despite being pretty much solid muscle.

A 5 stone 4 year-old must be a typo, surely.

@YesQueen in the summer between yr7&8 my son grew from 5ft to 5ft9" . I have a birthday pic taken with his friends (some older than him) and he has his arms stretched out to the side and all his friends are underneath . Most caught him up or overtook him in the 6th form though

To be honest, swimming and gymnastics doesn't mean she isn't overweight. I've seen plenty of obese children at swimming.

"My parents binned the letters" is going to become the new "My parents made me clear my plate" when the next generation are struggling with their adult weight.

That and "My parents didn't recognise how small child sized portions should be".

A lot of children who do dance and gymnastics are on the petite side though. I did loads of dance, but was head and shoulders above everyone else- not because I was older, or very tall, but because less dainty children didn't hang about long. I was strong as a horse, had excellent technique, and looked like a giant in comparison with all the little fairylike girls in my group. Sigh.

I do wonder how the hell these work - from my own childhood I was practically off the percentile chart, hit adult height early and settled to a healthy weight right on the limit of " healthy" - which was correct for my frame as I'm naturally broad.

In adult life I wear dresses as tops, and I've yet to find an office chair I can sit comfortably on - my frame is just disproportionate compared to everyone else. I know I've put on weight since, but getting fat doesn't make your spine grow. If anything it just adds some cushioning.

So do they track you accordingly to people with your proportions, or do they track you according to your cohort?