to think that this 'epidemic' of overweight children is bullshit

[EssenceOfJack]

For example, article here about a child who is 'overweight'
According to this children's BMI calculator my DD1 is on the 93rd percentile and is overweight when if you look on my profile you can clearly see that she is nothing of the sort.

Are they just measuring these small children when BMI means feck all (the calculator reckons it can tell you results for children from 2 to 20) and declaring them overweight based on arbitrary measurements and then the NHS using these figures to tell us all our children are fat?

I ask in all seriousness as at DD1's primary school I can genuinely say I haven't noticed one overweight child, and we live in a mildly deprived area so are supposed to be rife with 'fat kids'. yes, some have baby fat still, but they aren't fat

So AIBU?

This is a link to a map of where child obesity is common.

extras.timesonline.co.uk/pdfs/fat.pdf

BMI doesn't work as one size doesn't fit all.

What about disabled children or those with illnesses.

Do they remove hearing aids, glasses, prosthetic limbs before weighing, what about chidren who've had metal pins and plates inserted etc!

I know it's already been said, but I really think we have lost sight of what is a healthy and normal weight for children. I read an article the other day that said puppy fat is for life!! which I think is true. As soon as a child starts walking they should start to slim out. By school age they should be quite lean. My child is within the normal BMI on the calculator and other parents comment that she is petite etc- she isn't she is a healthy weight. Just because a child looks ok and doesn't have rolls of fat doesn't make them a normal weight- a five year old should really look quite skinny- they have the rest of their life to get fatter- if you are overweight as a parent the chances are your child will become overweight too as they grow older. Those of you who have commented on here that your child is overweight according to the calculator, but say you think they are not, are seriously kidding yourself!

It is now routine for all Reception and Year 6 children to be weighed and measured, but you can refuse permission. I did, because it's none of the government's business how much my children weigh - I only have to look at them to see that they are a healthy weight.

I'm an infant teacher and have usually got two-three children who I consider overweight, and since I see them in their underwear every time we do PE I can be fairly accurate! I also see their packed lunches, and meet their parents, and sometimes you can see a link between the size of the parents, the size of the child, and what they are eating at school for lunch - but often you can't. We are all different, after all.

This map is much more useful - as you move over the different areas it tells you all the main health stats for those areas. It very clearly shows that obesity is a huge problem in London, but is having little impact in many other areas.

www.apho.org.uk/iads2009user/flash/district/atlas.asp?&AtlasID=4&indicator=&InteractiveMapID=2&Drill Down2Click=False&GeographyTypeID=6&DrillUpAtlasID=&DrillDownAtlasID=&date=&config=&data=/dataxml/Loc al_Authorities20091027A.xml%3f%26InteractiveMapID=2%26AtlasID=4%26GeographyTypeID=6%26IndicatorID=%2 6DrillUpAtlasID=%26DrillDownAtlasID=%26DrillDown=%26ParentGeographyTypeID=%26GeographyID=%26MetaPath =true%26StreamByTheme=false%26IsAtlas=true%26dummy=

I'm sure perceptions of what counts as 'fat' has changed. When I was at primary school in the early 70's, aged about 6, we all counted our ribs during one lesson (I think we were finding out that boys and girls have a different number of ribs? Do they?). We counted each other's ribs by taking our vests off and looking - not feeling - all our ribs were clearly visible. Except for one boy who was a good deal fatter than the rest of us, he had to count his by touch.

I'm really curious how kids get that overweight. My 2 DS (7 and 4) are skinny which I consider to be normal but I feel they eat plenty. They get 3 meals and if they say they are hungry then I'll give them something. I never offer sweets, jucie etc - only usually offer fruit but they do usually get some kind of treat every day. They go to McDonalds (though after DH read how much sugar is in their milkshakes today will try to knock that on the head). We probably don't do that much walking but they love to run about. They watch a fair amount of TV and computer games, so again - what is happening to all these kids to make them so overweight???

The BMI calculator is just a crude device and should be a guide only. As muscle in denser than fat, anyone who is lean but has more than the usual muscle will technically be classed as overweight, eg the England (and other teams) rugby players are all technically calssed as overweight, but all are very fit individuals.

don't personally like the BMI but they have a purpose in being a rough measurement, however should not be taken as gospel.
but children these days are larger than when we were younger.
my ds (11yrs) is weighed regularly at the docs when having asthma checks these show that he is "normal weight". however i can see he is not far off tipping over to the overweight looking at his body. he was underweight when he started school, but i got lax after having dd when eating out would allow him to eat his meals then finish hers (lucky we don't eat out very often).
having realised that he was getting a bit of a tummy i stopped this and enrolled him in a couple of sporty clubs and encouraged him to cycle to school. this has meant he has maintained his weight and stopped gaining as rapidly as he began too.
even though he is a healthy weight according to NHS i am aware i need to encourage him to be active/ eat well as i can see it would be all to easy for him to tip into overweight side of things.
he is most definately a LOT larger than i was at his age, however i have always (and still am) classed as underweight

looking at his class friends there are several larger than him and most larger than my friends and i were at their ages

I do think though that people are getting bigger in a positive way as well - people are growing taller, and healthier as a result of improved nutrition. Read the William stories, or any tales of children from the past, and you'll see that lots of them had handfuls of sweets etc.

I do think the sedentary lifestyle has a negative effect, especially screens, but I'm a bit about the total fear of sugar that parents these days have.

Looking at some of the kids I teach, especially the teenagers, they are built on a bigger scale than when I was that age, but they are slim, fit and healthy. Just broader shoulders, taller etc. The human race is getting bigger, and though we should be aiming for health, we shouldn't be surprised if as nutrition improves, people get bigger (and I don't mean fatter, I mean all over bigger).

Its impossible to tell from that photo whether that kid is overweight or not because she is wearing fairly loose fitting clothes.
She looks tall and quite 'rounded' round her chin -but that could just be baby fat I suppose.
We have had previous threads like this (I emphasise I am not talking about this one !!) where posters have been saying their DC aren't fat and when you look at their profile pictures you think

I think she is overweight! She has a double chin , and has been dressed in an oversized top - look at the length of those arms !!
3 stone 9 is a hell of a lot to weigh at that age.My daughter who is only 2 months younger weighs 1.5 stone less !

What happened to those percentile charts? If you're child was born on the 95th percentile and have stayed on it (roughly) Then they're always going to be overweight if you use this system.
I've been going along thinking that as long as they are around the same percentile then they're ok.

Yes the child in the DM article weighs about the same as my DD - who is 8.5 btw.

In answer to the poster who wondered how (some) DC get fat:

Pushed in buggies until they are 5

Many are driven ludicrously small distances instead of walking (and it's not always so parents can get to work - round here people are always offering me lifts home from Beavers etc when it's a 10-min walk )

They just don't get the habit of walking

Eating very big portions - I am guilty of this actually; a child of 5 needs a portion (of protein eg) they can fit in their hand - not much is it!

Eating choc bars etc as a regular daily thing

computer games indoors instead of playing out at the rec from the age of about 5 (as I did)

Clary you have to factor height into the equation too.

Percentiles tell you how they compare to other children, if your child is on the 95th percentile for weight, as long as their height is also on a high percentile then they shouldn't be overweight. Am I right in this reasoning?? Experts??? BMI measures a height to weight ratio??

Onebadbaby that is what I thought, but I tried one of them bmi calculator thingies and my ds is on 90 something for height and weight and it came out as overweight!

Yummymummy and princessparty - you are certifiably insane and a bit twisted...but then, I read your self styled names and thought "it figures"

Clary, thanks for replying but that's why I don't understand. My youngest (4 and a half)was using buggies until recently. We don't walk that much and drive often, even short distances. They watch TV (more than I'd probably like), play computer games and usually have some kind of treat every day. That's why I don't understand what it takes to get an overweight kid. I don't think my kids diet is that bad compared to some but there's definitely room for improvement. Maybe genetically they are lucky. DH and I were skinny kids and always keen on sports - still are in our 40's and trying to pass this on to the kids. In fact were playing tennis with them today.

How so , please elaborate ?

scanty, of course not every 4yo who uses a buggy will be fat - when 4 or 40.

But I guess it's a general trend which leads to another trend.

In other words the general acceptance that it's OK to push a 4yo around, drive them short distances, feed them a lot of high fat snacks, etc etc etc, means that some of those kids will be fat.

Some won't. It's not just to do with luck or metabolism IMO; maybe yr DC do actually do a lot of sport desite not walking much; maybe they don't eat mahoosive portions, even if they do eat a lot of snacks - etc.

Your DC may not be fat on this lifestyle; but another, greedierm, less sport child might well be. Does that make any sense?

sorry for typos, clearly time for bed

Because you suggested OPs child may be overweight...'rounded around the chin' and 'baby fat'....eh? Are you looking at the same photos as me. Also bristling a little on behalf of the OP, even if you believed that (wrongly imo) sometimes it is better to keep your counsel.

They were describing the Daily Mail child not the OP's child.

Were they - oops!