HV rant - my toddler is 'overweight'

[sleepcrisis]

Well clearly he's not, he looks totally normal to me and any sane person. My HV on the other hand is massive.

DS was born on 25th centile for both weight and height. His height has remained steady on the 25th but as soon as he started putting on weight it crept up to bang in the middle of 50-75 centiles at 6 months and has stayed there ever since.

HV at his 2 year check this week told me that such a discrepancy must be monitored and that I should cut down his sugar intake.

The boy has a massive head (99 centile) and always has. Surely that weighs a fair bit?

I have found myself doubting his diet! He does eat a huge amount of fruit, fresh and dried. HV commented on sugar content of fruit. HE also has a Ellas kitchen cereal bar every day or so. She was scathing. Other than that he loads of veg and a balanced diet with portion sizes roughly 1/4-1/3 and adult size ( I have in the past wondered if he eats enough but never forced him to eat more)

When I have a cake or an ice cream (probably every other day) he shares it with me but rarely has his own. Although he likes to think it is his own - I just make sure I eat 3/4 of it! SHould I cut this out? He clearly does have a sweet tooth but he very rarely has biscuits (toddler group only), never juice, never sweets. The HV was banging on about sugar and sweeties and biscuits etc - he never has them!

Am I in denial about DS's diet and should I be more concerned than I am?

Oh and the other thing she critisized was that he eats little and often - for example he has a barely there breakfast but then 2 morning snacks at 930 and 11. (a banana and then later a box raisins or more fruit). She told me to cut out all snacks and just give him 3 meals a day.

Disclaimer: I was on here about a month ago listing his food intake and questioning whether he eats enough. Clearly I was wrong about that.

[Sidge]

Centiles are not "a load of tosh", they are a tool for interpreting growth.

A discrepancy of 2 centiles between height and weight would give cause for monitoring, as long as they are accurate measurements (height can be difficult to measure accurately in pre-schoolers).

A large head circumference isn't usually an indicator for weight; it tends to be related to height.

Many children will grow upwards and outwards in spurts, so a single recording of height/weight isn't necessarily useful but plotting growth over time can be useful. If there is a consistent increase in weight without a corresponding increase in height then intervention may be necessary.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Think your HV needs to learn the phrase "watch the baby not the scales".

Your DS is keeping his centile? He's not moving up the weight centile? He is fit and energetic? Has he always been weighed on the same scale and are the scales calibrated?

Both of my DC have been low down on the height centile when young but once they hit 5 they have really caught up. They wouldn't have moved up the height centiles if I'd limited their calories

Think you also need to look at the both of you. My DH is very very stocky. When he was last checked at the doctors by said the charts said he was obese but he really wasn't and if he fitted into the normal rea on the chart, he would be seriously underweight. The charts just don't suit everyone.

[VisualiseAHorse]

Is he still on the 'charts'? If so, he's not overweight....toddlers that are on the bottom line aren't underweight.

[gamerchick]

These stresses are why I banned outright all weighing and measuring in the schools along with no weighing after 6 weeks after birth.

I would kill for my youngling to eat as well as yours. Tell your HV to go boil her head.

[RobotBananas]

His diet looks pretty good really, nice and varied and he eats loads of fruit and veg. I'd just ditch the raisins and fruit juice though, he doesn't need them, they're pure sugar and will really harm teeth.

Personally I don't think snacking is that normal - DS never did, but then I don't so it never occured to me. When he was little he'd have a cup of milk between meals, and if he was really hungry, fruit right before a meal (best time to give it apparently).

I dont know what the plum yoghurts are like, are they high in sugar? Sainsburys yoghurts are sugar free and might be better?

As an aside.. I don't think ive seen the health visitor since DS was 18mo :)

[sleepcrisis]

sidge - there isn't any increase in weight centile over the last 18 months. So he was 25th at birth, soon crept up to 50th by 3 months and then by 6 months was somewhere between 50 and 75. He has stayed there since then. So that in itself is ok, I think? She was worried about the difference between weight and height.

My comments about his head were totally in jest, I am just trying to make myself feel better. There was a lot of concern over the size of his head when he was a baby but he's totally fine in this respect, just takes after his dad.

He was very very wriggly under the height measurer, but I'm fairly sure it must have been accurate as he's been 25th centile since birth so likely hasn't changed.

I'll keep getting him weighed and see what happens.

[noelstudios]

I think they are supposed to have full fat milk until 5 because of the higher calcium and fat content.

[maja00]

Visualise - that's not really true. A toddler with height and weight at the top of the chart isn't overweight, but a toddler with height at the bottom and weight at the top is. Same as a tall toddler with weight at the bottom of the chart is underweight, but one with height and weight at the bottom isn't - they are just small.

OP - just keep an eye on things, cutting down on sugar can't hurt, and weigh again in 6 months.

[sleepcrisis]

Cross posts with the last few, sorry

Plum yogurts are sugar free, sweetened with fruit juice, thats why I mentioned fruit juice - he absolutely never drinks it, we don't have it in the house anyway. And don't get me started on squash, I can be a right boring old fart when it comes to drinks.

As for the snacking, well tbh I have been giving so many snacks under the advice of other lovely mnetters to try and curb meltdowns ;) He is far better behaved when he eats regularly, just like his dad.

JiltedJohnsJulie just cross posted above, yes weight been consistent since 6 months and height since he was born.

As a baby/small child I was really actually quite chubby and my brother was utterly enormous. He is now the skinniest man I know and people hate him for approaching 40 with zero fat on him and no sign of any to come while all his mates struggle with beer bellies and appointments with the gym.

I really need to think more rationally when panicking about DS. He's probably just taking after me.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

I'll keep getting him weighed and see what happens. why? It seems stable and the weighing and measuring is just causing you distress. If the HV was really worried she should have referred you.

Noel. The advice had changed to 2 now worth no minimum recommended amount of milk for 2yo. I've kept mine on full fat though, partly because I think they need the nutrients and partly because we drink it so its easy.

[maja00]

Robot - yoghurts that say "no added sugar" aren't necessarily sugar free. They most likely contain deionised fruit juice/puree, which is fruit that has been concentrated down to pure sugar.

[IWipeArses]

So fat people are stupid?

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Think your brother must be like my sister. She was HUGE as a baby. Nearly 40 now, 5'9" and size 10.

[sleepcrisis]

Thanks JJJ. I do feel like I am wasting a lot of energy getting so upset over this, but on the other hand I feel so bloody guilty all the time, am I doing this right, that right etc etc. There is too much to worry about!

Re milk, I will keep with full fat for his bedtime and cut right down in the day and use semi, and on his cereal etc

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Iwipe who said that?

[sleepcrisis]

Trying very hard to ignore the comments about fat people, but frankly it is really, really hard to take dietary advice from someone who is clearly obese.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

sleep you are very brave. When I made a similar comment about not wanting to take dietary advice from Jo Frost I got slated...

[sleepcrisis]

Hmm. Time for bed maybe. For the record, said HV was great in all other aspects, and she can obviously read charts. It was just implication I didn't know what a healthy diet was, or that I didn't understand the consequences of sugar, that really got me.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Does he really only have 20mls of milk when he wakes in the afternoon?

[HorryIsUpduffed]

If he is grumpy when he is hungry then sugary (even good sugar) snacks won't help and protein/fat rich foods will be more important.

Shame he isn't keen on cheese though as that's ideal.

Do you think he would like beans on toast for breakfast at 9am?

[sleepcrisis]

Yeah I know - he asks for it every, single day without fail. I give him 1/3 of a tommee tippee cup and he drinks about half, if that even.

[sleepcrisis]

I think his eyes are bigger than his belly :)

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Night.

[sleepcrisis]

Horry Tbh have never ever tried him on baked beans. Will go buy some and give that a go. He likes bean soups so don't see why not. I keep going with the dippy eggs but he just doesn't like eggs :(

[maja00]

Avocado and peanut butter (the type without sugar) are good snacks too.