Pre-schooler's weight

[Todietornottodiet]

My 4 year old is 3'5" and weighs just over 3 stone. On the NHS BMI calculator she is hovering at around the 90th centile so she's on the border between normal weight and overweight. She's always been around this centile, and is an active child who eats well.

I've been reading though and it seems that statistically speaking, a child of this profile is much more likely to be overweight as an adult than a child who is, say, on the 75th centile.

Does this mean I should take small steps now, to minimise future risk, or do I accept that this is the way she is, an energetic and beautiful child who is at the higher end of the BMI scale?

FWIW, I am also a healthy weight at the higher end of the BMI scale so I don't know if it's just genetic. DH is a bit smaller-framed.

Is she 90th centile for height as well?

Oddly enough, I actually did a BMI check on my three boys this evening. My 8 year old is on the 46th centile at 3st 13, so seeing the difference between mine and yours I would say she is heavy for her age.

Her weight and height combined put her at 90 on the NHS scale. Maybe centile isn't the right word! She is about an inch taller than average for her age, I think.

How tall is she? One thing I’ve noticed with mine is that she hasn’t changed weight much at all between 3 and 4. I don’t know if that is typical but you might find she grows taller but doesn’t gain much weight. To put it in context though, my 4yo is 91st centile for height but around the 60th for weight and was maybe 80th at 3. She was noticeably heavier than most of her friends at that age but also much taller. I imagine your little one will be much heavier than her peer group.

You can get the separate charts for height and weight on the RCPCH website. 19kg at 31/2 would put her between the91st and 98th for weight.

Sorry I completely misread that you had a 31/2 year old not that she was 3ft5. Ignore my post re centiles above as she’s clearly not 31/2.

You're not far off as it goes. She's 91st centile for weight and 75th for height. She is definitely bigger than most of her friends but I put that down to us being ex-pats and the average British body being decidly less willowy than our continental neighbours, regardless of how slim or fit we are!

Sadly, that gives her a BMI around 18.5 so above 96th percentile for girls her age using CDC child BMI calculator. It puts her into obese range.
Speak to your health visitor of GP - or primary care provider rather than accept dietary management advice from Internet.

www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/bmi/resultgraph.html

Thanks for directing me towards that calculator - it puts her at 94th centile according to the specific measurements.

Assuming this is the American calculator? How is it that one website says she is a healthy weight and the other practically obese?

Unfortunately can't speak to family doctor as, despite being otherwise very good at her job, she told me to diet when I had a BMI of 23, and then again to diet when I was 3 months pregnant and hadn't put on any weight. So I don't trust her on that score.

Interesting that the results of the CDC one come out differently to the NHS one for me. The CDC one has my child at the 62nd and the NHS the 51st. Not sure if they are using different comparators.

For comparison my 4yo ds is the same height as your daughter and is 2 stones 10lbs. I'm pretty sure he's just about average.
Occasionally his bmi gets higher and then he shoots up in height making it even out again.
Could she be due a growth spurt?

Weirdly the nhs one plots my dd at 89th and says it’s healthy and the link up there has her at 86 and overweight
Op- children grow and change so much. If your dd has high muscle mass it can cause her to seem overweight too. I’d give her a healthy diet and lots of activity rather than worrying about it at this stage. My observations for working with kids is that chubby pre schoolers often slim right down once they start school. If you did want advice maybe call your school nurse or some councils have wellbeing champions.

Look at her in undies? Does she have a tummy? Extra fat on her arms?

My ds is 7, he is 99th centile for height and 75th for weight (under hospital for medical condition). The dr was totally suprised as him being on 75th as he looks really slim.

My ds is 7, he is 99th centile for height and 75th for weight (under hospital for medical condition). The dr was totally suprised as him being on 75th as he looks really slim.

Being 99th for height and 75th for weight does make him slim though as his weight centile is lower than his height centile.

I don't know their weights / bmis but both of mine were chubby as toddlers then naturally slimmed down at school age as they became more active. I would keep an eye on her diet and make sure that she is eating healthy food rather than sweets and snacks. I would also make sure that she is getting plenty of exercise. But I wouldn't try to limit her food intake.

My DD is 4 and has a tendency to be at the upper end of the BMI scale. She's pretty active, but just really enjoys her food (takes after me!) Last time I weighed/measured her she was around the 75th but she's been around the 95th in the past.

I do try and manage it where I can. I keep a very close eye on portion sizes (I find grandparents are the worst culprits for giving her FAR too much food, and she'll happily eat all of it). I'll buy lower calorie foods for desserts/treats, e.g. ice lollies instead of ice cream. I don't worry about it too much though and I definitely don't make her aware that I'm trying to limit her intake.

I have friends whose DC are leaner but often they are also fussy eaters so a different source of worry. We all have our crosses to bear as parents!

The more I think about it, the worse I feel.

It doesn't help that our diet is less than perfect as well. When I went to the supermarket the other day DH asked me to buy mini-Magnums for our one year olds as the big ones are too big for him. Obviously I didn't get anything at all because it is fucking ridiculous for a one year old to eat an entire ice cream, but it shows the kind of mindset we're in.

If you cannot talk to someone professionally qualified, I’d not fret too much but might encourage a healthier intake. Less magnums and more salad, perhaps. Use healthy family eating not a diet. Do research and review portion size and snacks/treats without becoming obsessive.
At four her eating is still in your control and a few minor changes will probably see her grow taller without weight gain.
If your BMI is naturally 23ish, chances are she’ll get leaner too.
Definitely don’t lose weight yourself!