Can anyone explain child centiles to me?

[olivewreath13]

AIBU for thinking it's really confusing, or am I being thick?

I've been diagnosed pre diabetic this week and trying to overhaul my diet and tackle my weight as it's got out of control.

Youngest DC is also looking quite chubby. I'm trying to work out their BMI but everything gives me a weight centile, which don't seem to take into account their height? But their height must be a factor?

How old? That's very high.

The advice is usually to allow them to grow into the weight, not lose it. So cut out snacks & sugary drinks, review portion sizes, increase the proportion of salad, fruit & vegetables at meals.

It’s so difficult for a parent to accurately critique their child’s weight.

A good rule of thumb is, if you can’t see defined ribs, spine, hips or clavicles your child is likely overweight.

(obviously it’s a little more complex than that but it’s a very good foundation to work from).

How old is your dc?

She's 8. No rib definition, but I can see her spine. She is quite active, I'm wondering if some of it is muscle mass? She's definitely carrying some extra chub but I really wouldn't say she's obese.

The 'BMI centile' and is different to the separate height and weight centiles which are plotted from birth in the red book. So you can be a high number on weight centile and still be OK on BMI centile if tall. In contrast to what @astronewt said.

Mine was the same - also poorly at birth and dropped to 0.4th centile for weight and 75th centile for height. Once she got well and we started weaning, she caught up and is now around 65th for weight and 75th for height. She actually looks in proportion now rather than super scrawny limbs. Those early pics make my heart break!

There’s no such thing as her having extra muscle mass. If her BMI is 98th centile she is very very overweight. But you can fix it - why don’t you make an appointment at the doctor for advise on what to do next

BMI centile of 98% is right on the border of overweight/very overweight

I think this is very nearly correct, except I think if the child in question were at the 90th centile then 89 of the children would weight less, the child themselves would be the 90th and 10 children would weight more, am I right? (genuinely asking)

*weigh

You should be able to see an 8 year olds ribs OP. It’s not muscle preventing this.
Now is the time to fix it OP because the older she gets the harder it will be to reverse it.

OP can you confirm that the 98th centile is for weight in kg and height in cm?
Contrary to what other posters have stated, 98th centile for weight & height is obese. Anything over than 95th centile weight & height is obese.

Her BMI on the CDC calculator thing is 23, 98th centile for weight. I'm honestly so shocked, she doesn't look how I imagine an obese child to look. She has a bit of a belly, but she's certainly not massive.

@Underscore21 she's 141cm and 7 stone 1.

Just to put that weight into context - my (skinny - other end of the bmi spectrum, hovering around 9th centile) 13 year old weighs the same.
Primary aged kids shouldn't have a belly.
Sorry.

@Underscore21 are you saying that if a child is 98th centile for both weight and height that they would be classed as obese?

Just take her to be checked out at the GP, OP. Children grow and gain weight at different rates, if you’re worried have a conversation with a medic, not a bunch of vipers on the internet who have never even seen your child!
:-)

Basically, he should be on the same centile for weight, as he is for height - that would mean he was proportional! If he is on a lower percentile for weight than hight, then he's on the slim side. If he's a higher percentile for weight than hight, he's on the chubbier side!

DS1 is 50th centile for hight and 75th for weight, so a bit heavier than average, but mostly all muscle so not worried!

DS2 is 98th centile for hight and 75th for weight, so a bit underweight

That would be an ideal weight for their height

@Sunnyshoeshine sounds very very familiar.
U was just talking to a friend about it yesterday - his baby photos make me so sad now because I didn’t realise just how sick he looked back then 🥺 he was like a little bobble head with a matchstick body.
He’s now at the lower end of a health weight, and is Mr Average for height. He’s visibly smaller than the other kids in his class but he no longer looks poorly!!

That’s really not true, because there is a range of weights within the healthy zone where a child (or adult!) isn’t “underweight” or “chubby” for their height, but perfectly fine weight. At the extremes, then yes, bring very tall but very low weight, or vice versa, is obviously problematic, but just being a different centile for weight and height isn’t necessarily problematic by itself.

OP not to sound like I’m picking or anything and I’m sure your dd is absolutely gorgeous as she is but 7stone 1 at 8 is a bit heavy is it not ? My dd is 13 and weighs 7 stone, she’s 5ft 1 and not visibly ‘thin’ or anything like that. I think the goal with kids though is not to get them to lose weight at all but to maintain as they grow so they become more proportionate. You say your dd is super active, what does a typical week look like for her? Does she have a sport she competes in or anything like that that you could up the ante with ?

No @vera16
For each individual child, you enter their biological sex, their dob or precise years and months, height in cm and weight in kg. The calculator will then work out the child's individual centile with all variables taken into account. This is how we calculate centiles when assessing risk for general anaesthesia.

Sorry, but that does sound really heavy for her age and height. If you’re unhealthy yourself it might be trickier to spot.

Sorry my dd is 12 not 13 typo on phone

@AnonyMouseToday only just. According to the rcpch charts used in the UK this gives a BMI centile of just under 91%. Anything over 91% is overweight and anything over 98% is very overweight.