My DS is ENORMOUS. Can I have some reassurance please?

[GinAtMerlottes]

He’s just huge. Always been stocky with a BMI hovering on the overweight but it’s definitely tipped over now. He’s 4.5, 115cm tall and 23.5kg.

He is definitely big boned.... he has
no fat on his ribs but his rib cage is half as big again as his friends, who is a year older. His hands are bigger than those of his brother, who is 4 years older. He takes size 1 shoes.

Over lockdown of course our activity levels are much lower than usual, although we’ve been having our daily walks. He’s just started school, and restarted rugby and swimming.

Food wise, he has weetabix or porridge for breakfast with a cup of milk, fruit for snack, school lunches, fruit or peanut butter and apple or similar after school, and normal family dinner. Has fruit and a biscuit after dinner. Has a glass of squash at dinner but otherwise drinks water.

Eldest DS has always been very slim. My family and DHs family are all overweight. My brother is very very tall, over 6 ft 7.

I can see DS2 is destined to be tall and large, but any tips or reassurance would be very welcome.

@msflibble i’m with you! But I used to work in nutrition research, and the number if people whose kids eat “just vegetables” (deep fried with mayonnaise, or drowned in cheese sauce), “no sweets at all” (but an absolute ton of crisps and mini sausages), “just a bit of chocolate” (a daily mars bar, for a toddler) etc is mind blowing. Many people focus on deserts, and completely forget about the rest unfortunately.
Give them rice, pasta, regular veggies, unprocessed protein, fruit etc as much as they want, but processed food is a different ballgame.

@timeforanew

Panicking and overcompensating is one thing, checking portion sizes and adjusting them is quite different... After lockdown, many kids have more fat than they should (including one of mine). Key is now for them to not gain any more weight before they have comfortably grown lengthwise into their current weight. Being Overweight drives growth, so kids with too much fat tend to be tall, but in most cases that’s the fat driving growth (and then early puberty etc), not the other way round. So be careful with the assumption that “he is just tall”.

As ever when the “overeating makes you tall” statement is made on Mumsnet, I’m politely asking for some kind of reputable citation.

Being malnourished stunts growth but overeating does not make you tall.

@timeforanew think we're in complete agreement yes :)
I think some butter and sauce on veggies is ok but obvs shouldn't be excessive.
With processed/unhealthy foods, I think a bit should be allowed each day at snack time if the child is obsessed with them. Then they can be cut down once the obsession has waned. But yeah, generally meals should absolutely be built around healthy nutritious food, and treats should be available but limited.

@LongtallJosie I can't show you a reference but have definitely seen proper evidence regarding childhood obesity leading to earlier growth (but also earlier puberty hence potentially shorter adult height). I can also think of a child we know who would fit that description.

If I find time I will try to come back with a reference to post but have a good range of procrastination tasks already to help me continue to not get important things done :)

@Pythonesque thank you - really interesting. My own height is very much down to genetics - paternal grandmother also 5’11” despite being born in 1909. Then my Dad 6’5” then me 5’11”.

@Longtalljosie

Here’s the first one I found.

link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00442687

Op when you say he has weetabix or porridge for breakfast, how big is the portion? Is he having say 3 weetabix? Or a larger bowl of porridge? Do you put sugar on the breakfast or anything like that?

Is it possible his dinner portions are a bit on the big side?

Bmi does suggest he's overweight might just be worth some small tweaks that he won't even notice.