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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

269 replies

EssenceOfJack · 19/02/2010 10:15

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?

OP posts:
hmc · 20/02/2010 00:27

Which Daily Mail child ? (scratches head - none the wiser)

MillyR · 20/02/2010 00:28

I do think it is bad if any of us start looking at pictures of 5 years old and debating their fatness/thinness.

MillyR · 20/02/2010 00:29

HMC, the link to the pictures of the child are in the first post.

hmc · 20/02/2010 00:34

Thanks Milly. I feel vindicated for having a go now. That child has no weight issues either. It's insane to think otherwise. QED (boy, am I bolshy and straight talking tonight)

NoahAndTheWhale · 20/02/2010 00:47

My DS is thin - needs adjustable waist trousers or they fall down and can definitely count his ribs. DD is more covered although not sure if you can count her ribs or not. I am now starting to wonder if DD is fat - she looks fat compared to DS but is he actually "normal"?

There is a 22 month gap between them (DS is the elder and is 6) but there has veen about 4lb difference in weight for quite a while. Suppose it might be interesting to find out what DD is considered to be when she is measured in reception. Can't remember what DS was - not over or underweight I don't think.

hmc · 20/02/2010 00:53

I doubt she is Noah. Just a bit of common sense is needed. I think the rib issue is misleading - some of that is just anatomy and how protruberant the rib cage is. It is possible to be slightly overweight and have protruding ribs, and to be normal weight and not have noticable ribs.

Basically is there much excess flesh to 'pinch', are there rolls etc...or jowls.

NoahAndTheWhale · 20/02/2010 00:58

You're right - DD probably isn't overweight. Just I think she has more tendency to be overweight than DS shows at the moment anyway.

MillyR · 20/02/2010 01:00

Noah - your post illustrates my concern! We start thinking normal kids are fat. DD is not as skinny as DS or any of the other girls at ballet. But I checked her BMI as a result of reading this thread, and she is well within the normal weight range. I think we need to remember there is a range of normal weights, not one ideal weight.

princessparty · 20/02/2010 01:04

But 3st 9 is a huge amount for a 5.3 yo to weigh.The child does have a double chin and dressed in loose clothes.Wouldn't put it past the DM to stretch the pic a bit as well.

lilolilmanchester · 20/02/2010 01:05

i don;t think your DD, or the child in the article looks overweight. But I do see an increasing number of children who really do look overweight. I have no idea what their BMI is and it doesn't really matter - they are LARGE. Those I know personally have one thing in common: parents who are in denial. If any caculator told me my child was overweight, I'd go to my GP and discuss it. Unlike one Mum I know who used to refuse to accept there might be a weight problem, whilst handing her DC another bag of crisps and chocolate bar for the (10 minute) school run....

princessparty · 20/02/2010 01:07

sorry only 5.1 at the time of weighing.

princessparty · 20/02/2010 01:15

Actually I think the first picture has been 'photoshopped' look at the left side of her torso compared to the right.Either that ,or she's a very lopsided girl !

theladyevenstar · 20/02/2010 01:19

I did both DS's BMI for when they were the same age. Both are classed as obese at the age of 2 which DS2 is now. DS1 is now 11 and skinny lol.

DS1 and DS2 both 2yrs

theladyevenstar · 20/02/2010 01:21

ooppss meant to add that at 2 DS1 was 3st 7 and DS2 is 3st 6 at 2.

nooka · 20/02/2010 02:17

I really do think that many parents have lost sight of what a child with a healthy weight looks like. Research has shown this too, many parents with overweight children just don't see it.

The child in the DM picture does look over weight. And the BMI suggests this is the case. Not hugely so, but enough to be unhealthy. The parent in question would do much better upping her dd's exercise/reducing her food intake than moaning to the press. It probably wouldn't take very much to put her on a healthier course for life, and it is slightly odd that parents get so cross about this really. It is in the child's interest not to be overweight for a whole variety of reasons, and much much easier to address when they are little. The reason why the government has got involved is that being over weight contributes to a whole range of illnesses, which as we have the NHS we all will have to pay for, so it is a reasonable issue for public policy.

TheLadyEvenStar I agree your elder ds doesn't look overweight, but as he is wearing baggy clothes it is very difficult to tell. Your younger boy does look overweight I am afraid, he has a distinct double chin in that pic, and looks quite wide. He also looks lovely, and that's a fab grin on him, but I would be at least a little concerned. I do agree that some kids grow out of chubbiness - a lot depends on their genes and lifestyles.

I took my children to a check up when we lived in the States (you have to have an annual check with a peadiatrician for school/summer activities etc) and she was in raptures that they weren't overweight. ds is really quite skinny (all bones and long muscle, like a long distance runner) but dd I've always thought was pretty normal. I think that there is something very wrong when the normal child is seen as an exception. Of course that was the States, where obesity is a particular problem (and you really can see it) but we are not far behind in the UK.

sarah293 · 20/02/2010 08:53

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sarah293 · 20/02/2010 08:58

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LilyBolero · 20/02/2010 09:01

I posted this earlier but it has been (mostly) ignored. Height is not the only factor to take into account - build has to be as well. A child who is a very slight build should also weigh less. A child who is a broader build (and I'm not talking fat here, I'm talking about shoulders/pelvis/hips etc so BONES) will have a naturally higher healthy weight. I can see it with my kids - ds1 has a tiny tiny build, and weighs virtually nothing. He is tiny across the shoulders and round the pelvis. Dd is a more solidly built child - she is slim and active, but heavier, and that is right for her. Ds2 is overall small, so very light, but doesn't look 'thin' like ds1 does even though he weighs less age for age.

I think there is a fair amount of 'smuggery' going on on this thread, and it is wrong to be looking at pics of 5 year olds and saying 'they look fat'.

Original poster
EssenceOfJack · 20/02/2010 09:09

That's weird though, why is 5.5th percentile okay but the 93rd, which is just as near to the 'average' overweight/at risk?

It's just arbitrary numbers isn't it!

OP posts:
sarah293 · 20/02/2010 09:13

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ageing5yearseachyear · 20/02/2010 09:24

well there are overweight kids.

my dd2 was weighed/measured i think in year 6 and we had a letter saying that she was over her optimal weight. however at the age of 11 she was 5 feet 3 and have a womens body. if she follows the same pattern as every other women in my family, she will not grow any more in any direction and as an adult, her BMI was 20.

i threw the letter in the bin and didnt tell her- life is complex enough. she does look a little chubby but no doubt she will follow her sister and slim down at 14. i have had no junk food in the shopping for 2 years- snacks available are pop corn and crumpets/muffins.

i do think that kids overall are carrying more weight- but no doubt that is due to lack of exercise more than anything else

posieparker · 20/02/2010 09:43

Any parent that allows their child to get fat, fattest kid in the class type fat, should have similar punishments as those that starve their children....cruel and selfish.

thedollshouse · 20/02/2010 10:00

When I was at school there were lots of overweight children around. I hardly see any overweight children these days. Could be to do with the demographics of the area we live in. Nearly all children around here have swimming lessons and most do sporting classes after school.

mattellie · 20/02/2010 10:58

Another vote for lack of exercise here. DS wasn't able to do any sport for a couple of years - now he does some every day and also walks to school and back most days (about 20 minutes each way). He weighs about 2 stone less than he did when he wasn't able to exercise.

Nothing in our diets or lifestyle has changed in that time so the only difference is the amount of sport he is able to do.

It's a fairly small sample, obviously, but an interesting one nonetheless.

bronze · 20/02/2010 11:26

Have to say if you get slightly overweight using the bmi calculator in the op then personally I would be a little worried
I just did ds1 as my most portly child (stocky dhs side of the family) and he came in fine though I was a little worried. He is also high on the centiles and always has been born 9lb 14. I'm wondering if the calculators need to be adjusted for puberty.

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