Ds 6 overweight?! Height/weight

[toddle]

My son got weighed and measured recently and from this a quick google for a BMI thing it came up his overweight. However I'm confused if anyone could give me some insight please

It said his bmi is 17.5 which I thought was in the healthy range unless it differs for children. It then said about his weight for age but surely his weight for age is going to be high if his height for age is also high?

I've had a look at a height/weight growth chart and as far as I can tell he is on 91st for height and 98th for weight.

I don't think he looks overweight but then I've seen our ideas on normal weight have become skewed so guess I could be wrong.

Someone who's taller absolutely is expected to be heavier

BMI is a calculation based on a combination of height and weight.

If you try the BMI calculator again with the same age and weight but a shorter height you'll see the BMI centile will increase, possibly into the overweight band.

But your ds is within the healthy band which is what's important.

He's fine OP-ignore the pp who implied that being at the top end of healthy is concerning. Someones got to be there!

OP's lad is heavier than my almost 11yo who is a lot taller (maybe 16 cm or 6" taller ). DS is no stick insect.

From what OP most recently posted he's actually just inside the healthy zone. So just something to keep an eye on for now.

Someones got to be there!

Someone's got to be obese too. That doesn't mean it's all fine.

Gosh I don't think he looks overweight at all, he looks very average. I don't have any better advice though sorry, my son is 3 and tall and slender, although I'm wondering if my perception is skewed as I think your DS looks fine!

My DS still has 2-3 age trousers which fall down, but I don't even think clothes sizes are a good indicator any more due to vanity sizing.

WHO BMI for age (5-19 years). BMI should be much lower for children than for adults. www.who.int/growthref/cht_bmifa_boys_perc_5_19years.pdf?ua=1

Titchy someone doesn't have to be obese! While someone always have to be the heaviest at the moment it is usual for those that are heaviest to be obese, both adult and children and these slew the figures so that being the heaviest because you are the tallest isn't OK because the heaviest centile are morbidly obese. Clearly the OPs son isn't but some of the child in that top centiles will be

My DS has always been 91st for height and 98th for weight, but his shape has changed over the years. He was a sturdy wee thing, with cute toddler plumpness, which gradually disappeared over the years. He's 11 now and all angles, cheekbones and ribs, but still on the 98th for weight. My family tends to be heavy even when slim/thin, so it's just his build, I think.

Your DS looks sturdy but OK - you'd expect him to slim down a bit over the next four years, I guess. Or not. He's lovely

But he's not obese is he titchy-he's of a healthy weight.

BMI follows a curve through childhood, first it drops, reaches its lowest point around age 6, then very gradually increases through to early adulthood. I have a theory that taller children may typically reach the low point of BMI at a slightly older age than average, and thus measure "overweight" at age 4-6 without necessarily being at risk for that continuing. I have considered working out a proposal to analyse growth data to test this hypothesis!

Your son may be on the chubby side of normal, but as long as he's eating a healthy diet and staying active it's realistic that he may continue to slim down as he grows taller. At the top end of the chart you'd expect to see his weight centile track slightly lower than his height centile rather than the other way around, over time.

Thanks for all the post again (feel like I'm on repeat haha)

It's really interesting. Someone posted their 11year old weighs less then mine at 6. I can't imagine him being in a position in 5 years time having not gained any weight I would imagine he would look skeletal if he continues to get taller. Although I can't see all his ribs he doesn't have a 'podge' to get rid of.

@YeOldeTrout. The bmi calculator thing that they linked above puts your son being below the 1st centile based on what you said

Will keep an eye on him for the time being. He eats a varied diet and gets plenty of exercise. Should there come a time when he grows outwards more then up I'll start swapping a few things around. At least I'm now conscious of the fact he has little room to manoeuvre on the weight scale.

@Lookingforadvice123 yes I agree about the clothes size I always thought they were way out as he has been in clothes above his age for years. I can't imagine to begin to think how short age 6 would be on him.

There's still a part of me which doesn't quite understand why someone who is say 98th on height shouldn't be 98th on weight. All the above average height surely has to weigh something bumping them up that scale too.

A child on 98th for height and 50th for weight is going to be much thinner then a child on 2nd for height and 50th for weight

@DoAsYouWouldBeMumBy thankyou he really is lovely. I may be biased but he is an absolute pleasure and joy in my life.

There's still a part of me which doesn't quite understand why someone who is say 98th on height shouldn't be 98th on weight. All the above average height surely has to weigh something bumping them up that scale too. Toddle this would be true if there were not any over weight people - if everyone was a healthy weight then yes the very tallest people would also be the heaviest but sadly this isn't the case.
Yes my tall thin child weighs more than an average height thin child and both of them weigh more than a short thin child. But there are lots and lots of boys shorter than him who weigh more than him.

Look at it this way. He's tall. He's the height of an average 8 year old. If her were 8 then his height and weight would both be on the 50th centile.

What you have to remember is that those centiles are averages. 50th centile for weight does not mean 'ideal' weight.

I think it's terrible BMI when it comes to kids. I personally think it's a load of crap.
When I used to train hard I was 11stone and a size 6.I went to a well woman check and my BMI was in the obese category. Clearly I wasn't but hearing it wasn't nice. The same with my son. I would never consider him chunky in any way. Last year his friends mom started making comments about how much fatter my son was to hers who was abit older. I laughed it off at first but the more his weight was mentioned they more it angered me. Things like they can't play on the eeesww because my son weighs it down. Who fat shames a kid! Anyway in a routine paediatrician appt I brought it up and she was horrified and said I should rethink my friends as there is no way that my son was overweight. She considered him growing beautifully. She told me that the centiles are just averages and not something to live by. As myself and his dad are tall he is bound to be taller and carry more weight, but just because he is on the highest line doesn't mean there are any weight issues

Ah, 1%tile sounds pretty awful. That was wrong of me to write.

DS says he's 29.x kg, not 27.x kg which was number at top of my head (my mistake).
Puts him at about 4th percentile (which rates as healthy on the nhs calculator).

@YeOldeTrout I guess as someone else has said regardless of how healthy it is to be under that 1 percent or over the 99th there are going to be people there.

@lumpsofitroundtheback his just before his time then haha. Maybe shrink into his age or may end up over 6ft who knows.

Thankyou all

I'd keep an eye on it. If he's just about to shoot up in height, all will be fine.
If he has just shot up in height, and that his him at his slimmest, you may need to consider doing something about it.
Out of interest, at last weighing my 9 and a half year old weighs just 3lb more, but is 10cm taller. He is 30th centile. Buying clothes is a nightmare. Fortunately, we live somewhere hot. He wears shorts for 10 months of the year. His current shorts are M&S age 6-7. They are rather short shorts, but they fit his waist.

Oh, and my 7 yr old is considerably shorter (122cm). Your boy is tall. He also wears 6-7 shorts (and trousers)!

There's still a part of me which doesn't quite understand why someone who is say 98th on height shouldn't be 98th on weight. All the above average height surely has to weigh something bumping them up that scale too.

Because being on the 98th for weight at that age is in the ‘over weight’ category. It means that a child that weight is heavier than 98% of children of the same age and sex. Regardless of height. Most kids his height at his age weigh less. Centile’s aren’t a guide to proportion.

A child on 98th for height and 50th for weight is going to be much thinner then a child on 2nd for height and 50th for weight confused

Using that chart, a six year old boy on 2nd centile height is about 106cm, and 50th centile weight is about 20kg. If you put that into the NHS BMI calculator it comes out as a combined 91st centile, just into the overweight category. Your own son comes out on 88th centile by that calculator so only slightly under our imaginary child. In terms of health indicators there’s not much in it.

At that age they can look sturdy or solid rather than fat. Also ime, they can build up a layer of fat around the tummy just before a growth spurt. Like puppies with extra skin to grow into. Every time I thought DS1 was getting chubby he shot up.

If he's eating child not adult portions of healthy food, not filling up on sweet and fatty snacks every day and is getting plenty of exercise, he'll grow into his weight.

HotinWinter, your post makes me laugh. My son had the same pair of games shorts from reception to year 6!

I think my son would be flashing his bum if I sent him in the age 4 shorts he had in reception. Took me all the way to sports day to see they were beginning to look like hot pants compared to the other kids. I just used to put them In the washer back in the bag and hadn't given them a second thought.

Python we are still on the smallest pair of games shorts the uniform shop sells, in Y5. Although we didn't start here in reception, I suspect we will still be wearing them come the end of primary.
We'd be flashing his bum too if we bought any bigger ones - they would be round his ankles!