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?

That's my point, though. Her height and weight are both 98% centile, unless I'm using the chart wrong. But taking into account her height, the NHS calculator and her BMI both say she's very overweight?

Remember that 27% of reception children and 40% of year 6 children are overweight or obese. It's possible that you haven't noticed how overweight she is because many of her peers probably look similar.

yup this. If your kid is 10th centile for weight by age it means 90% or kids their age are heavier than them. Likewise 5th centile means 95% of kids their age are lighter. If a kid in the 95th centile for height is in the 95th centile for weight it isn't necessarily a worrying sign particularly if they've consistently been above 90% since birth. However is a kid used to be 50 50 and was then 50 60 then 50 70 and is now 50th centile for height 80th centile for weight it would suggest they've put a lot of fat on and step should be taken to reverse the trend.

OK that makes sense thanks. Looks like the cdc cutoffs are different to rcpch.

98th centimetres means two kids in a hundred will be taller than her. Or heavier than her.
A bmi calculator takes in to account weight AND height. Assuming you've used a child bmi calculator she is overweight. This is something to discuss with your gp but there is a lot more to health than bmi. Is she active?

sorry typo - 95th centile means 95% of kids are lighter

So is 98th centile for weight automatically obese even if she's also 98th centile for height? Because that makes no sense to me?

When I say she has a bit of a belly, I mean she has some extra chub around her middle. She's not enormous.

From the NHS here:

”For children and young people aged 2 to 18, the BMI calculator takes into account age and gender as well as height and weight.

Overweight children are thought to be at increased risk of a variety of health conditions, and they're also more likely to be overweight as adults.

The BMI calculator works out if a child or young person is:

underweight – on the 2nd centile or below
healthy weight – between the 2nd and 91st centiles
overweight – 91st centile or above
very overweight – 98th centile or above”

It seems pretty clear from the BMI calculator that your DC is very overweight. As well as a GP appointment, you could also ask your child’s school to speak to a school nurse because you’re worried about her weight - they will definitely know who to refer you to and to be honest they’ll probably be delighted to speak to a concerned but proactive parent who is worried to ensure their child is ok.

At the end of the day it doesn't really matter about centiles or BMI. A 7 stone 8 year old is overweight.

A BMI of 23 in a child of 8 is significantly overweight. BMI for children is different to adults.

Your 8 year old has a weight on the 99.6th centile for her age. Her height is between 98-99.6th centiles but as a previous poster has explained in pre-pubertal children high calorie intake drives growth in height as well as weight gain. It is unusual for children to maintain this centile into adulthood and this would generally be very obviously a familial pattern ie both parents being very tall.

How tall are you and her dad?

The BMI isn't especially useful OP but the centile with all variables correctly entered is.

Children who are overweight at a young age are often "over tall" for their age too. If they are consuming too many calories they can often be tall for their age, and so high on the height centiles too, but it doesn't mean they will be tall adults as they usually grow less during puberty. So being 98th centile on both height and weight charts doesn't necessarily mean everything is OK. 7 stone is usually heavy for an eight year old.

So their weight centile is supposed to be lower than their height, not the same? Because her height is also 98th centile... am I being really thick?

*Unusually heavy

It's not that their weight centile should be lower than their height, it's that it's not ideal for an 8 year old to be the size of a much older child, either in height or weight.

7 stone! My almost 8 year old is 4 stone and 50th centile. Also very overweight children grow taller than they should. I honestly would urgently seek advice to help her

I'm sorry, but your DC is overweight. An 8yo should not have "a bit of a belly", period. It does sound that your standards of what is "normal" and healthy in a child is distorted.

I didn't realise overweight children grow taller than they should until reading this thread. My daughter was born on the 99.6 centile and is now I think on the 91st? She is 98 for height. I just thought because she started on a higher centile that she would remain on it. I don't generally weigh her so I'm not certain on her weight. Oh dear.

She does 9 hours of dance a week, a swimming lesson and a skating lesson.

I'm just over 5"7, her dad is about 6".

I was constantly told my 25 centile weight daughter 'was underweight' but she was 90th centile for height- if she were not getting enough food she would not have grown!

I think with children you can 'look' and tell if they are overweight- and understand they can 'fatten up' before they grow... but if your child has 'rolls of fat' .. look at increasing fiber - and good bacteria - to enable them to be healthier

I'm really not convinced BMI is a good measure

That is really very heavy for an 8 year old, my 7 year old is literally half that weight.

Please tread very carefully though OP and be delicate with how you approach her weight. There are many threads here you can refer to on how to deal with an overweight child without destroying their self esteem and relationship with food forever. I wouldn’t mention weight at all, just encourage healthy eating, filling up with protein and fibre, and moving more as a family. Best of luck to you.

The BMI centile is a different number. If she is exactly 98th for height and weight her BMI centile would be about 91%. You can plot it on a chart here: https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/sites/default/files/Girls2-188yearsgrowthhchart.pdf

Okay. That indicates strongly that her height, genetically, is not going to be 99.8th centile and that she is currently taking in a significant calorie excess which has led her to be both over-heighr and overweight.

Your school should be able to refer you on to a healthy weight team specially equipped to advise on child healthy weights. You don’t aim for kids to lose weight but for their weight to remain constant while they grow… so they outgrow their weight problems.

But @olivewreath13 you really need to, in all kindness, get out of the denial mindset you’re in currently. You are dangerously overweight yourself and you are sending your daughter down that pathway too. It’s not too late for either of you- but you owe it to her to get your head out of the sand, forget about making excuses about her muscles or her dancing or whatever. Being fit does not mean you cannot be fat- and she is fit if doing all that exercise, great, but she is overweight and that impacts her biologically including hormones and is setting her up for a lifetime of medical
issues.

Junior school age children should be fairly lean and ribby, with toddler chub long gone. For them to look "overweight" compared to adults with visible surplus fat they are very overweight. Children don't have the testosterone levels to build up BMI busting muscle levels and the charts have enough variation to take into account a range of builds.

A lot of children are now overweight and that distorts our view of normal. I've had people think my "healthy zone" children are thin and underweight while dismissing the letters they've had about their children at the yR and y6 checks. They do look thinner than their peers but their statistics, appetites and energy levels are all healthy. I know 9yo's superficially the same height and mass as me (but not with the muscle density) and too unfit to climb, run or walk briskly which must make life difficult for them as they grow up.

It's also easy to overestimate activity levels. An hour's dance/ swimming/ karate class can often have a large proportion of time hanging around waiting. Incidental movement and short bursts help a lot, walking to school, active games, playing outside all add up along with formal activity.

It's on your radar now and there are ways of tweaking to make healthier lifestyles and help your child grow into her weight healthily and safely.