to ask is my teenage DS actually obese or not?

[darkhedges]

My almost 14 year old DS was always fairly slim and not above the 50th centile for weight as a baby/ toddler/ primary age child. He had his puberty growth spurt relatively young and is now tall but also a high weight. To look at he is “stocky” in build and has a definite belly and bit of a double chin but not standing out as very overweight. On the growth chart he is 99th centile for height for his age and also 99th centile for weight. As these are at the same level, does this point to obesity or not? Any views would be welcome.

@JonVoightBaddyWhoGrowls the clothing alone I agree, but it's the combination. DS is tall fluctuates between 75-90th centiles , clothing is difficult because to get the length the waist is too big. I just think there's no need to overcomplicate things , if someone has a wobbly tummy, a double chin and it's wearing large clothing it's highly likely they are overweight.
If I have a wobbly tummy, a double chin and wear larger clothes I know I've put on weight without stepping on the scales.

Do you not understand the use of the word ‘and’ in that posters comment?

Is this a fairly recent thing? DS was always like a rake, then at 14-15 he started to put weight on and he looked a bit round. He had a belly and a slight double chin. Just after he turned 15 he suddenly shot up and grew 6 inches in a couple of months. He's like a rake again now
despite his constant carb loading and has shot up another couple of inches.
I would personally just be keeping an eye on it. Make sure he's active and has a balanced diet.

Yes, I agree with this. And that's why I said if he looks overweight, then yes, that's relevant. I just get quite frustrated when people say, "Oh, he's wearing clothes that are sizes up, he must be overweight". Often with a little passive aggressive dig about children being over fed so that makes them tall but also fat. It's quite often said on here and irritates me every time.

Are you reading the chart correctly? I don't think 5'10 for height at 14 is 99 centile from what I can see

He's overweight (93rd centile BMI). Losing 9 lbs would put him at the top of normal (90th centile) Losing 1 stone 9 lbs would be better though - 65th centile.

If he's got a double chin and wobbly belly (at 14!!!!) he needs to slim down. Never mind what the numbers say.

Check body fat percentage and worry about that. BMI is not suitable for use in individual situations.

The NHS calculator for kids/teens doesn’t tell you height vs weight centiles. Just one overall score. Use that and you can see if a few pounds are needed to be dropped.
Sounds like he is a bit overweight, but if he’s going to have a growth spurt then just keep an eye on it and keep him active.
My son is about the same height, a year older and 2 stone lighter. He is a slim build (so you expect him to be lighter) but has an incredible amount of muscle so much heavier than he looks.

At that age it can be tricky to judge. A lot of the boys who are a "bit podgy" age 13 are the ones who haven't yet really grown, and when they do they will be really lean again and/or start putting on muscle. At 5'11" you will have a better guess than we can, whether your son is likely to have nearly finished growing or could still add several inches. (mine was a similar height at 12 and we thought he could go a lot further but actually is only 6' ish and watched many of his friends sail past him age 14-15).

A boy like you describe needs to be encouraged to be active, eat enough protein and start to build muscle. Matching 99% height and weight is slightly problematic, so it's good to be aware. At lower centiles, height and weight matching is a good way to see that they're about right. However, if you think about it, the top weight centiles are going to be dominated by children who really are obese, which skews the distribution so you would actually expect your healthy weight tall kids to be on a somewhat lower weight centile than their height.

BMI for children is helpful but the varying ages of puberty really makes it difficult to judge, from infancy through early childhood BMI reduces (I remember some clothes my children could wear for years just trousers gradually turned into shorts etc); then it slowly increases from late childhood through the teens into the early 20s. But the path for an individual child will vary.

Good luck supporting your son and keeping him healthy. (Finally, if he is active and not eating much but still potentially a bit overweight, then have a low threshold for getting a medical check.)

Forget the numbers, kids should be slim with visible ribs. If anything probably what some people would describe as skinny now is really very normal. Double chin, love handles, tummy overhang or wobbles are definitely signs he's overweight.

FWIW my DS went through a chubby stage at 12/13 partly fuelled by frequent visits to the local shop after school and also reducing activity and growing!. Stealth dieting (I provided all meals & snacks so he didn't need to know we were eating low fat and swopped snacks for healthier versions), curbing weekday spending & upping the activity levels helped along with a growth spurt. He's now a fit and healthy (& very ripped!) 6ft 18 year old.

I never had visible ribs as a teenager even though my weight was in the healthy range and neither did my friends.

This
OP please help him lose it now while he is young and has a faster metabolism. Don't let a porky child become a fat adult. It will set him up for so many problems.
You can't police what he eats when not with you, but at home 100% healthy food, and exercise. No sedentary activities (gaming, screens etc).

It does sound like he’s overweight but it can be sorted.

Just concentrate on giving him healthy meals and keeping him active. Don’t talk about weight, just about feeling/being healthy.

Lots of lads a big older than him start to be interested in looking good so start lifting weights and running. Would he be interested in that? If not yet, it seems to happen at 14/15 ime.

Double chin and belly suggest overweight to me.

If he's got a double chin and wobbly belly (at 14!!!!) he needs to slim down. Never mind what the numbers say.

I agree with this and all the other PPs that say ignore the numbers/metrics/scales, children shouldn't have 'wobbly'/fat bits.
And I believe accepting this on a child contributes to the adult obesity crisis

Sounds overweight, but not obese. It's a good idea to help him manage his weight now rather than later considering the detrimental effects of excess weight on metabolic and cardiovascular health as well as the social pressures it comes with, especially for children. Abdominal fat is particularly bad due to the impact on organ health.

A very high proportion of overweight and obese children carry that weight into adulthood and helping him change his habits and physique now will help him as he grows up.

How long has he been overweight? Might be worth having him see a nutritionist to understand why he is carrying excess weight for his age.