To think that at 5'8, 9 stone is not overweight, for children or adults?

[randomusername03]

Took ds (12) to gp earlier in the week, to be absolutly crucified for him being overweight. In front of ds no less. Which Im probably more annoyed at, he has asd eating difficulties enought without restricting his food anymore. But I genuinely dont look at him and see him as overweight. Hes not a skinny thing but hes not overweight neither imo. Im 5'9, if i dropped to 9 stone (I wish, havent been that weight since i was at school) people would question whether I was anorexic. Or have I turned into one of these mothers that genuinely cant see when their kids are overweight?

I was sure the thing was "obese kids are generally taller" but this isn't an obese kid.

In the far-off days of my prime - late teens - I was 5’7 and 9st. Not a ‘petite’ frame either. I was scarily thin, looking back. OP I think your GP sounds very uninformed.

You could be overweight at that age if your belly is flabby and you lack muscle in legs and arms. But regardless I would complain that the doc should have told you without your son there.

From what you’ve said about your height and the height of males in the family he’s going to be tall. I wouldn’t worry too much but I’d encourage family walks, whatever sports he likes and whatever veg he’ll eat - even if that’s carrot sticks on the side at dinner.

That's mad, I'm shorter and heavier and not overweight.

I'm 5'5 and my weight fluctuates between just under and just over 10 stone and although my stomach isn't completely flat, I'm definitely not fat, so if your son is 5'8 and 9 stone, I can't see him being fat at all.

How can he be overweight if he's not overweight.

That’s absolute madness.

I hope your son’s okay now he can see he’s not actually overweight

A child's bmi should be lower than an adults to be healthy. Calculating these measurements he is towards the upper end of normal, so whilst he's not overweight, it's something to consider to ensure he doesn't gain relative weight to height. A healthy diet is all he needs basically.

People do forget that children should be leaner and also if young children are given to high calorie diet they grow taller quicker than they should.

Im not mad for thinking that within that healthy bmi range there will be range of body types. Some will be lean and mean, some will be rounder and softer, and some will fall between the two (ifgwim). But neither is unhealthy? Its just different body types. Ds2 has a completely different body type to ds1, not more healthy or overweight, just different build.

Oh god. I’m shorter and that weight, and people often comment on how slender I am… (I notice / am vigilant about these things since I suffered from an ED for many years). Your gp is ignorant, and I’d actually make a gentle complaint since they should be made aware of the damage that their words can do (even in inspiring you to start this thread/question your own views!).

in children, the best things you can do is to encourage daily activity (including walking to school of doable), plus generally ensuring (regardless of any junk they eat at school) that you give them veg, oily fish, pulses, berries and other fruit, eggs now and again, etc, you know the drill!

That’s my height and weight and has been since I was about 13, excluding pregnancies! By most people’s standards I’m pretty slim e.g. wear a size 8.

I’d complain about the GP. It’s unacceptable that he said it, and he wasn’t even correct, because he didn’t bother to measure or weigh him. He sounds incompetent. Contact the practice manager.

I have been 5ft 8 and 9 stone. I am still 5ft 8 but haven’t been close to 9 stone for many years. Anyway, when I weighed that I was widely considered to be very slim.

People on this thread are comparing him to an adult, but he's 12 yrs old. That seems pretty young to be weighing 9st.

Is he particularly flabby or something?

It has to be something visual then if he didn't weigh him.

I'm pretty sure I was around 9stone at 5,4 when I was around 13ish. And wasn't classed as overweight then on school weigh-ins. My weight hasn't changed significantly since then bar during pregnancies. For a 5,ft8 lad it seems completely fine

It’s quite young to be 5ft 8 too but he is.

Wow that's even worse. He basically looked at a child and body shamed them. Way to encourage eating disorders Complain to the practice manager.

But he's also 5'8, which is really tall for a 12 year old. Ive been 5'5 since I was about 10, and I was tallest in my class until we were all about 13, excluding a select few.

I think the overweight/over tall thing is if child isn’t naturally meant to be tall. A 5f9 mum and over 6ft male relatives will mean a tall child.
My dd was always tall and is now 5ft 11 at 17 - so being much taller than peers wasn’t a sign of being over fed just a result of tall genes on both sides.
I’d do nhs calculator for his age. If it’s fine I’d ask for a follow up call to gp.

I do think it's worth pointing out to the GP practice manager that the GP didn't weigh or measure height or take into account that the family generally is tall and therefore height is likely to be genetic rather than caused by too many calories at too young an age.
And that children can very easily develop eating disorders, so a little bit of tact and sensitivity goes a long way. There's a difference between warning a child that they have to be careful because they are eating too much junk food and outright calling them fat.

You can’t compare with an adult because people should get considerably heavier during puberty and you say he’s pre- pubescent. Those measurements are well within healthy range so either your measurements are wrong or it all seems really odd that it would be mentioned at all. what did you take him to the GP for? Did he get weighed in year 6?
I agree nothing should have been said in front of the child whether there was a concern or not

Christ, I would complain to the surgery and ask for an explanation and also ask why he didn't weigh measure him

I was always a tall child meaning I weighed more than my peers, but was also very very slim, to the point it was suggested to me I had an ED.

Absolutely. It’s also true that when a child naturally hovers around the higher centiles it’s easier for them to slip into being overweight without anyone noticing it. Puberty, the change to senior school, more freedom to buy snacks…

I took him to gps because ds said he could feel a lump in one side of his chest. i couldnt feel anything untoward but thought id better get it checked out. Ds has a little bit of gynaecomastia, he had this as a baby and now again as he has started to go through puberty. There are not 'moobs' by any stretch of the imagination, and from what Ive been told from previous gp visit, is caused by puberty, common enough and will most likely disappear as he goes through puberty. He is not flabby, but hes not thin like his brother neither.