My toddler is overweight and I don't know why

[WaitingForSunday17]

Well originally I know why I guess. She didn't drop down the milk when she started solids. However since July she's only been having one cup of milk a day and that's it. I expected her to slim down but she hasn't.

She's nearly 2 and is 92cm but weighs 2stone 8lbs which makes her 99th centile and very overweight.

Usually she has water and a weetabix for breakfast, sometimes one and a half weetabix. Lunch is one piece of wholemeal bread with peanut butter or cheese and she will have some fruit and dinner is a roast dinner but with lots of vegetables, or a bolognaise or a quiche or jacket potato. Sometimes pasta but she's hit and miss with eating that. She doesn't seem to eat anymore than any other toddler. Indeed some days she eats hardly anything. She is good with fruit and vegetables. Probably twice a week she will have a biscuit or a Kinderegg. If she wants a snack she usually has berries or a banana.

So why is she still so overweight? I don't want her to lose weight necessarily but to get taller and not put weight on. She is in she 3/4 because I cannot fit her in her own age and her arms and round her waist are particularly tubby.

Oh actually he is 6ft 5! I got mixed up. Extra two inches makes all the difference!

My DS was a right little chubster at 2 years old. By the time he was 3 he'd turned into a scrawny kid with every rib showing. His appetite never changed much though, so I don't understand why.

If she's that high up the height chart as well I wouldn't worry, BMI tends not to 'track' too well once you get outside of national averages. As long as she's active and eating a balanced diet it'll all balance out.

If she is 90-95 percentile, I don't think 99 for weight is that bad. She's probably nearly the right weight for her height. As long as she's active, I'm sure she'll be fine.

My 17 month old is on the 75th percentile and eats way more than her. I am constantly feeding him!

I really don't think you should be worrying about the BMI of a two year old whose height and weight are roughly in proportion. Please don't. And for god's sake don't pay the slightest heed to how many carbs are in her weetabix - Christ alive!

She needs protein. Weetabix / bread / pasta / etc are all, essentially, sugars in carb form. I had this exact issue with my now-4yr old and a combination of dropping milk completely, making sure she had eggs/nut butter/other protein for breakfast, and increasing her activity significantly all helped - slowly, over time.
Portion size - a fab nutritionist told me that portion size is the size of the child's closed fist; and a plate should have 1 toddler fist of protein, 1 of starch, and 2 of veg. that helps as a visual guide - now I serve heaps of veg alongside a dollop of pasta rather than the other way around
Also - max one piece of fruit a day
The second child just eats what she needs and pushes the rest away...

Ok, so you really need to stop giving her skimmed milk. No one should have skimmed milk (I know the NHS promotes it but they do all kinds of outdated things so can hardly be taken as an authority). It has more sugar and less nutrients than normal milk.

Your portion sizes sound fine to me. My youngest happily eats two wheatabix (he has four meals that size plus snacks each day). My eldest was the same (but he would have three meals that size a day plus snacks). They are both on the skinny side but, like your DD they are both tall for their age and the eldest especially very heavy. They both have an unusually large muscle mass (muscle weighs much more than fat). Are you sure that she is actually heavy because she is fat as opposed to being muscular? At any rate I don't think that the portions are the problem. They are not unusual and wouldn't be the cause of her weight gain in isolation.

For a lot of children it seems to be genetic. Are either you or DP fat/prone to easy weight gain? How easily do the two of you loose weight? How easily do you gain weight? Has she always been tubby or is this recent?

Another possibility is that she is just due for a growth spurt. Both of my children tend to get a little chubby then suddenly shoot up and become worryingly skinny. I've seen this in a lot of children-have you noticed in the past that she wavers between looking skinny and looking tubby?

And then exercise- you mentioned that she isn't out much but what is she like at home? Does she run around/jump around/lift things/push things etc or is she quite sedate? If she isn't naturally bouncy you may have to actively encourage her to exert herself-whether she does this inside or outside makes no difference.

My DD is a bit taller and 2 stone, she's 2.5 though but he hasn't really put any weight on for about a year, just got taller. She was quite chunky this time last year but now she's skinny. I think your daughter has time to slim down yet.

1 weetabix isn't a lot! I would just limit the higher fat / calorie stuff and lots and lots of exercise.

I really wouldn't worry. What is worrying is when your toddler won't eat anything.
All food in moderation. Ds1 went through a phase of eating 3 weetabix for breakfast and still having a snack mid morning before his nap. Would then eat a decent lunch of omelette and then a large portion of fish pie for dinner. Plus fruit snack mid afternoon. Now at 3.8yo he hardly eats anything.
Toddlers are doing a lot of growing and need a lot of calories.

I don’t think you should be overly worried, as long as she gets plenty of exercise and keeps eating a balanced diet (it sounds like she is) I’m sure she will be fine.

DD1 was very chubby between ages 2-3, but then grew out of it and now at 7 she’s tall and slim. DD2 (who’s just turned 2) eats a banana, yoghurt, satsuma, some toast and sometimes cereal for breakfast, so I don’t think yours is eating too much!

My DS1 was an extremely chubby baby (even/especially when exclusively breastfed) and was still extremely solid at 2.

I worried because I thought he should have lost some of his heft when he became mobile.

He did, but it took quite a bit longer than I thought. He was 4 by the time he became slim and now that he's 8 he's an absolute beanpole. Still ravenous though and the tallest in his class.

So it can take longer than you think for the to slim down. Also some kids are naturally "heavy" especially if they have tall genes.

Sorry to shout but, PLEASE DO NOT LISTEN TO THE NUTCASES WHO GO ON ABOUT "CARBS" AND YOUNG CHILDRENS' DIETS? They are nutcases and are giving very dangerous and extremely bad advice. This is a 2 year old whose nutritional needs are very different from a sedentary overweight adult!!!

Your daughter's diet sounds fine, and if she is matching her height and weight percentiles, I would not worry very much. She sounds like she will, like her brother and father, just be quite tall. Just keep a eye on things and get her regularly checked to make sure that she continues growing height wise as well as weightwise. I would switch to full-fat milk, but her diet sounds fine. Make sure she keeps active (aren't all toddlers active?) and keep her GP in the loop.

My 19 month old DD is under a dietitian for intolerance. She has moved from birth of 75% for weight to 91% but as she is on the 98% for height and her Dad is tall so the dietitian is happy with her weight.

I agree with PP that she sounds tall and therefore her weight is about right for her height.

DS2 is 18 months - he's 86cm and 2 stone exactly. He'd doubled his weight by six weeks old (EBF) and was 20lbs at 6 months. He was just an incredibly chubby baby (also has massive hands and feet!) and it'll take a while for the chub to melt. Basically, don't worry OP, she sounds fine.