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?

This does not include children whose genetics dictate that they will be tall regardless. And in any case your daughter is not overweight going by those numbers.

Nhs bmi calculator can be quite scary- used to say my DS was “very overweight” as well but he was just due a growth spurt! Encourage a healthy balanced diet and exercise, don’t focus too much on numbers as it can be quite dangerous for kids especially girls.

I can't work out the centile charts at all. She's on the 98th centile for height and the 99th for weight on the chart, but she comes out as 98th centile on the calculator things you put weight and height into. She doesn't have any problems running or climbing on playground equipment.

She has some little rolls on the top of her belly when she sits down but I can see her spine etc. She really doesn't look massively overweight.

An eight year old should not weigh 7 stone 1. She is extremely overweight as this is almost double the normal weight of a child her age. I would imagine that a lot of the problem is portion size and snacks. She should have three meals a day and drinks should be mainly water or milk. Squash and fizzy drinks should be a treat. This way she should maintain her weight and slim down as her height increases. It would be a good idea to seek medical advice, possibly a dietitian.

Here you go. 98th for height and 99th for weight gives you a BMI centile of just above 98%.

You keep posting the same thing but, honestly, if she is 7 stone at 140cm then she will be much heavier than most of her peers. Several people have explained why being tall doesn't necessarily mean that she isn't overweight. It is probably best if you speak to your GP or someone else about her weight.

As a comparison, my DD is 139cm (so nearly same height as your DD), and weighs 5stone 2. She’s 10 and for her age these are both equivalent to just under 50th percentile (ie, in good proportion), and 48th percentile according to NHS BMI calculator.

I realise that it seems illogical that high percentile height AND weight don’t mean normal BMI. Aside from children growing “over tall”, you can’t assume the underlying data for the height and weight percentiles are in “normal BMI” proportion. As a result the highest percentiles are skewed by overweight children; the lowest are skewed by underweight children.

@Violinist64 She already eats 3 meals a day and doesn't drink squash or soda.

With all due respect: you are going to need to accept that your view on how a child looks is not reliable and not going to change the situation here.

Your child is very overweight.

Yes she is quite overweight but I wouldn’t encourage weight loss to her unless she specifically talks to you about it. Instead, you should give her smaller portions, watch out for liquid/empty calories, and promote a balanced diet focusing on all the food groups with occasional treats not zero. Also encourage exercise which it sounds like she’s keen on already.

has she always been quite chubby looking? She could be going through a slightly overweight phase before a growth spurt at that age. What about you and her DF? Are you genetically prone to putting on weight?

unless she is very overweight for a considerable period of time I would not worry. Just provide her with all the resources to keep healthy now and particularly in the future.

it can be sometimes good for children to be overweight as children and then lose it as they learn how to manage weight as adults in comparison to kids with high metabolisms who put on weight when they slow down as adults.

OP, there should be no rolls of any kind on an 8 year old really.

8 year old DD is very tall (95th centile ) and is 25kg eg 3.9stone for context

OP you sound in denial. Your daughter is overweight and instead of messing around working out percentiles you should figure out how to tackle this- or call your GP.

You should be able able to see a young child's ribs. If you can't they are overweight op.

The child is already 98th centile on height, much higher than her parents' height suggest her adult centile is going to be; what kind of growth spurt do you think she's going to have?

And no, it's not "good" for a child of 8 to be obese. Ever. Your post is just more denial.

@astronewt
1- sorry didn’t see the parents heights. Yes that doesn’t really sound like she’s going to have much of a growth “spurt” but she still has a fair amount to do and is around puberty age.
2- I didn’t phrase that correctly, sorry. What I meant is that children who are overweight as children, if helped correctly to manage their weight, are often more successful in staying a healthy weight as adults compared to peers who struggle when their metabolism slows down. OP needs to ensure her DD gets the support she needs to lose weight whilst avoiding provoking any sort of Ed/poor relationship with food/body. If so it will be a valuable lesson for the rest of her life.

OP it does sound like your DD is really overweight. She’s at least 2 stone heavier than I was at that age.

Try not to panic, book yourself a GP appointment to get some help managing this. It’s good that she’s already active but you probably could get some help with food choices / portion sizes.

Think of this as a wake up call and a chance to make changes that will positively benefit your DD for the rest of her life. You can’t change the past but you can change the future.

@SamanthaVimes well said and agreed

It's really difficult. My DS is very tall - currently 6'6" and overweight, yet, we've never been that sure how overweight he is as he's always been over the 99th centile.
Plus it's skewed too for tall people even for adults.

DH is 6'6" and 108kg which is apparently overweight, but his waist is 36" and there's no fat on him at all.

I've also put DS2's weight and height in - he's 5'8" and 44kg which apparently is underweight.........

TBH if he looks fat he probably is, and you need to scale down snacks.

She's always been a little on the chubbier side since birth but she's put on a bit of a belly over the last six months or so. But I don't think I've ever been able to see her ribs. Her dad is a bean pole, I used to be quite slim but piled on the pounds when I was pregnant- I had gestational diabetes.

Then it sounds as if her portion sizes need to be modified. Smaller portions at mealtimes. Breakfast cereals should be unsweetened and fairly plain rather than those aimed at children. If she has a school dinner, she could have something like a boiled egg and toast followed by some fruit for tea. No snacking between meals. Perhaps sweets once a week.

If she's obese then more than half of kids her age must be too. She honestly doesn't look huge, she just has a bit of excess belly. I was expecting her to be slightly overweight.

OP I wouldn’t keep repeating the same statement over and over again. The truth is she is overweight which is not a “bad” thing as long as you take initiative and manage it. As Samantha said you can teach her good habits for life.

Sadly, statistics will show that indeed a lot of the other children in her class will be overweight/obese. As others have said, we have become more used to seeing overweight children. And overweight children often go on to become overweight adults. I am sure that you do not want this bleak future for your daughter. It is time to act.

It might help to post a picture? (Obviously hide her face for privacy).

My (now) 11 month old until recently has been called overweight by the health visitors...she's still on the same centile now...(go figure). She's currently above 99.5th centile for height and about 98%centile for weight...the HV have only looked at weight, recently I've had a couple who have actually looked at her height. Anyway, I posted a pic of her on here (after having a rant about it) and everyone said she looked perfectly fine. She is much taller than her friends...but then so are me and her dad (I'm 5ft 11 and he's 6ft 2)...we'd have been surprised if she wasn't tall.

Well now you know she's obese, hopefully you'll be aware that your judgement is skewed and you shouldn't rely on it. Hopefully you can tackle the issue from this point on.