Overweight 3 year old

[123Magic]

Just done the NHS child BMI calculator and it says my 3 year old is very overweight. He weighs 19.5 kg (just over 98 percentile) and is 102 cm tall (91st percentile). His weight is something I've been monitoring for about a year and a half as he has a huge appetite and will eat and eat unless we stop him. We are very careful indeed about his diet but I suppose it must be portion sizes making him overweight. A typical day might be as follows:

Apple when he wakes at 6.

Breakfast: 2.5 weetabix with semi-skimmed milk, another apple and glass of water

Snack at 10.30: Apple or pear and 1 rice thin (18 calories) with scraping of peanut butter

Lunch: Chicken stew, new potatoes, together with unlimited vegetables (mixed peas/carrots/sweetcorn) - he eats a bowlful of veggies. Pudding is either an adult sized pot of full-fat yoghurt or a piece of fruit.

Snack at 2.30 - same as morning snack

Tea - Salmon and brown rice and unlimited green beans. Pudding same as lunch - if he's had yoghurt at lunch he has to have fruit.

I try and give him a normal sized portion and then small seconds when he asks. As well, throughout the day he might have about 4-6 raisins for various bribes. If he complains of being hungry, I offer him mixed veggies so he sometimes has additional veggies eg. broccoli/peas/carrots etc. He only drinks water at home but I allow juice at friends' houses/parties.

We stick strictly to the routine most days and don't have unhealthy food in the house. He does however have treats at friends' houses or parties and I'm not strict then as I don't want to make a massive fuss about cake/chocolate etc and make him obsessed with them. So treats probably evens out to equivalent to a couple of cupcakes a week. Also we sometimes go to a cafe for tea and the portion sizes are larger there so he might have a large ham sandwich once or twice a week. He walks one way to nursery (20 mins) every day and then on top of that I try to make sure he has some physical activity every day, eg. trip to the park. But might need to do more on that. He also swims once a week..

I've read quite a bit about children with seemingly insatiable appetite and I'm very conscious about not making him feel too deprived as that can lead to bingeing when he's older and I'm not in control of his diet but equally I feel awful at the thought that he's so overweight. He doesn't look 'fat' if you look at him but he is clearly bigger than his friends - taller but also more well covered.

I don't know what I'm asking really - I just feel rubbish that he's so big but I really don't want it to become an obsession for me or him as I don't think anxiety around food will help in the long run! Anyone got any experiences of a child like this?

Seems like he's getting a lot of sugar from all the fruit. In the typical day he had 2-3 apples before lunch. Fruit is great but like everything, should be eaten in moderation. If he's having 2 pretty big meals a day I'd try to cut down on snack and offer a more protein rich breakfast to keep him fuller for longer.

I don't think that is true re: how the centiles work. At the top they are skewed by overweight children. So a baby born on the 98th percentile would be expected to very gradually drop down.

I only have the girls chart but I am apparently 98th percentile for height at 20. If I was also 98th for weight I would be overweight. I am actually half way betweem 91st and 75th and am a normal, slim bmi.

That said I don't think you need to panic yet op just keep feeding him healthily, plenty of protein to fill him up and reassess in 12 months. Don't worry about saying no to food and feed him meals he will either take (casseroles etc) or leave without pudding.

Not true, a 103cm just turned 3 year old weighin 18 kg would be on the 98th, a just turned 4 year old the same height and weight would be on the 75th, pme would not be fatter than the other just because they were younger.

but that doesnt mean they shouldn't gradually drop down which is the point I'm making. There is a school of thought that the bmi calculator overestimates bmi percentile for very tall children, however.

I don't know if someone has already said this, but in my experience (I have a 5&6 year old) once they get to 3-4 they tend to often loose weight and slim out

Both of mine were chubby at 3 now I struggle to get trousers to fit at the waist

and they would only be 25th for height .

There is only a small difference with weight and height percentile.
Did you decide he was overweight or did you hv tell you. I would check with a professional before deciding he is overweight.
I have the opposite problem with my son and was told by a dietician that there needs to be a difference of two percentiles before they are concerned that he is underweight. I don't know but is that the same the other way.
A friends son is like yours. Tall stocky like a mini rugby player. He has had adult sized meals since a toddler and he is not overweight just broad and stocky.

Thanks for your posts. I didn't see what italksense wrote before it was deleted, hope it wasn't horrible! We are on hol at mo and Internet crap so can't write much. Basically we are going keep doing what we are doing with an eye to upping protein and watching portion sizes. We are def going to do more exercise and keep our fingers crossed. Consensus seems to be from professionals that they don't think he is fat per se but big build- he is broad and has an absolutely massive head (must weigh quite a lot). He does like egg in morning but doesn't seem to have had massive effect on reducing his appetite. Thanks again

Meant to say also we are going to cut back fruit a bit and have already successfully cut back on the early morning apple!

Just under 50th but point being they wouldnt be fat, and you woukdnt look at a 3 year old and 4 year old the same height and weight and think one of them was fat because yhey were on different centiles. You wouldnt even know.

And like mumof says they tend to slim out after toddlerhood, ds1 was on the 98 until 4 and then didnt put any weight on for well over a year, ds2did similar and it looks likw ds3 is heading the same way

You say he has raisins for bribes. Maybe stop that so he doesn't see food as a reward. Also, stop the constant snacking, it's mid morning / mid afternoon and 3 x meals only!

My children eat a lot for breakfast! Eggs, porridge etc, I give them reasonably healthy stuff but also cakes, everything in moderation. I would give more protein, eggs, fish & meat than you. They are very fit!

What about a trampoline? I noticed my 2.5 years calf muscles earlier. Definitely from 30 mins trampolining a day!

agreed... I only ever said los should gradually drop down from 98th percentile

Shouldn't worry too much about the deleted post, it was unintelligible.

I would speak to your health visitor - he is still within the centiles! It is dangerous to restrict food at this age so it ismbest to get advice, they might refer you to a dietician.

My DS is 3.1 (9th centile for ht and wt) and eats vast quantities, similar to the above. Toddlers need proportionally more calories than older children or adults. DS has puddings after lunch and dinner if he wants them (fruit, yogs, 2-3 real puddings a week) amd snacks between meals e.g. One biscuit plus fruit if wants it. I do not think i am overfeeding him.

Remember the whole point of a normal range is that some kids are at the bottom and some right at the top whilst being healthy.