To worry about DD weight?

[LemonCrab]

Just seen on another thread that a child's centiles should be within 25% of each other.

Is that right?

I measured 8yo DD this week as she wanted to know if she was tall enough for a certain ride. And she always hops on the scales while cleaning her teeth as enjoys the little light show our scales do.

She's generally about 50/50 for things. Was born that way too.

But currently is 75/25.

She has shot up recently.

So I wasn't too fussed as I'm sort of expecting her to maybe gain some weight before another growth spurt. She's always been very narrow, but isn't bony, you can see her stomach muscles, but not bones ERT. In my opinion she eats well and is a healthy child.

I wouldn't worry too much but I'd monitor the situation (if she likes to step on the scales this should be easy), make sure she is eating portions suitable for her age and more if she is very active. You could add in an extra snack like a handful of nuts or something else energy dense if you think she could use something extra. Perhaps switch her to full fat milk if she has skimmed? Get her involved in food prep and cooking?

I'd also try to limit her exposure to media sources which might show very thin or underweight women/models as an ideal beauty standard.

And I'd just be aware of behaviour like declining sweet treats (eg if offered cake at a birthday party) or foods that might be somehow perceived to be 'bad' (like the carbohydrate portion of a meal) or pushing food around/cutting it up but not actually eating much.

Hopefully she will catch up to a healthy weight soon without any effort!

Thanks @LAgeDeRaisin

She eats really well I think. Currently has a bit of a pistachio addiction so has a handful a day. So will keep that up.

She also has peanut butter sandwiches for lunch most days (2 slices of wholemeal bread) as well as veggies and a yogurt. If not peanut butter then maybe

Dinner she'll have what we have but a smaller portion. Today was pasta with tomato sauce, cheese and olives. And fruit crumble with custard for pudding.

Breakfast she had porridge (we only use full fat milk), a banana a bit later and then we had a long walk and grabbed a hot drink just over halfway and she had a chocolate babycino.

Maybe today she ate a bit more than usual due to the walk with the drink and dessert because it's the weekend.

I literally never weigh or measure my children. They are wearing age appropriate clothe sizes, they have a healthy, balanced diet, physically active the way kids should be and they’re happy and healthy. That’s all that matters.

That all sounds normal and reassuring. I'm sure she'll be back to a healthy weight soon.

You could always cast an eye on the scales in a month or so to check she isn't losing any and it's going in the right direction to put your mind at ease.

I think that's more of a thing for babies/toddlers

They often alternate between growing upwards and filling out a bit. If she's eating well I don't think you need to worry at all - or start her worrying.

When mine did an upward spurt, her trousers would continue to fit because she'd get so skinny that they'd sit lower. Then she'd fill out a bit and all of a sudden they were much too short!

I usually just go by looking. You should be able to see their ribs under the skin but not emaciated.

I have lean children. Age-sized clothes droop off them for width when I buy for length. They have ribs and abdominal muscles without looking bony. Their faces are covered nicely (and show when they concertina their way through growing.) They loiter at the low end of normal weight height, but given that DH and I were twiggy children, they have hearty, varied appetites, are rarely ill and are fit and energetic, I have no concerns. (DS1 was a lean toddler, and under dieticians for allergies and they never had issues with his light build)

DS1 (10) is now slightly under the healthy threshold, but doesn't look "thinner" than usual and no significant changes. He's stretched up a lot recently and is ravenous. His build looks the same as the "healthy" 7yo.

If we were all roughly the same for both then we'd all be the same sort of build as people who were the same height as us but clearly that's not the case!

Don't worry unless she loses weight or really drops the centiles with her weight

Thanks everyone. I wasn't in the least bit concerned until I read the 25% thing. Makes more sense if it is for babies.

*@BogRollBOGOF Age-sized clothes droop off them for width when I buy for length. They have ribs and abdominal muscles without looking bony.

they have hearty, varied appetites, are rarely ill and are fit and energetic, I have no concerns*.

I could've written this too. Everything is huge around her waist. I find H&M and Gap best. X

Oh also she's got no clue I had any concern.

I grew up being told I was fat. When I look back now at photos I wasn't.

But it has made me determined to pass zero weight issues to my DC. DD in particular.

So I don't mention weight. At all.

She'll comment on the scales "it says 3.9 again today!" Or if it's gone up I'll always just say "well you do look taller so you must've grown"

When we do our Joe Wicks we comment on the mental health benefits (which Joe always does too) and her dance classes we comment how happy they make her. They start with planks and sit ups so she knows that's about strength.

Same with foods. No mention of fat. And actually DH and I don't avoid fat (I avoid carbs but don't mention it, just I have veg instead on my plate when it's a pasta meal or I have cauli rice when they have normal etc) because mummy really loves veg so has extra.

So fingers crossed I've gone the right route with it all.

She's happy and healthy and full of beans. So I guess in a few weeks I'll do her height again (if theme parks open on April 12th it'll be a good check) and she can tell me the numbers on the scales and I'll just keep an eye. X

If you put the numbers into the NHS BMI calculator for kids, it will also give an indication of where she sits.
Which is the higher centile, height or weight? I'm assuming height from what else you have said.

My kids sit down towards the lower end of the NHS scale - typically 6-10% for DS1 and 25% for DS2. They are healthy, fit, eat well, but buying trousers is a nightmare, and they are noticeably thinner than many of their classmates. Prinary ages kids are meant to be skinny!

That’s completely normal for a child/tween/teen.

Yes YABU completely unreasonable to worry. Childrens height and weight should be on different percentiles (height higher). Healthy children are really very lean after the toddler chub has worn off.

Mine usually tend to look a bit chubby before a noticeable height increase. They’re average for a while and then the cycle starts again.

Ah thanks @TierFourTears I hadn't thought to BMI.

Just been on the NHS one and it says 13th centile and that's healthy! Perfect.

I should've done that in the first place and then I wouldn't have wasted all of your time!

My children grow like squeeze boxes, they’ll be short and wide and then long and thin and then wider again and then longer again...

Also my girls recently did an activity where my 6 year old was in with mostly 8 year olds. Pretty much every single one was a string bean. It’s like between 6-8 they only grow up, not out. So it sounds quite normal for the age in my admittedly limited experience

Thanks @Porcupineintherough - reassuring to hear. Lean is the perfect word for how she looks right now.

"@Greygreenblue It’s like between 6-8 they only grow up, not out. So it sounds quite normal for the age in my admittedly limited experience"

I think she's only grown upwards since she was about 3 bless her.

The women in both mine and DH family are large busted. I'm wide hipped and thighed (not a word) , whereas DH family are all very narrow with skinny legs, (although all gain weight very easily around the middle but keep the skinny legs) so I don't know which side she'll fall of those.

But I expect when puberty starts her height will slow a bit and she'll gain some weight as she changes shape. That's when I began to get a bit overweight. But she eats a lot healthier than I did as a child and is a lot more active so I'm not anticipating an issue. Also none of the diet obsessed negativity I had with my mum, nan and aunts.

I have an 11 year old who I have to choose a balance for things like leggings and now buy age 8-9 or 9-10, she still needs to tighten the waist with a hair bobble and they are a bit short but age 7-8 which fit ok at the waist are too short. 10-11 or 11-12 would be a better fit length wise but the extra waist fabric would be excessive. She eats like a horse though and I'm not in the least worried, she's always been slender and in smaller clothes but now the height has suddenly stretched. I'm quite sure if I ever actually weighed her and calculated there would be a massive centile mismatch but she's healthy, fit and strong with loads of energy and a huge appetite so I'm not in the least bit worried. Your dd sounds like she's doing fine too. No harm to give extra snacks if she wasn't a then though or a second handful of nuts (mine will eat the entire packet)

It's fine - as long as there aren't significant changes suddenly. If your child abruptly drops 2 quartiles then the paediatrician would want to see her. If she's consistently on the 25th centile then j wouldn't worry.

DS is 16th centile for weight and 93rd for height - DSis is a paediatrician and says he's fine. DC in my family are usually very skinny, and DH is 6'5" so the height probably comes from there.