To ignore BMI as an indicator of a child being overweight?

[HappyHolidays22]

My DD is 4, 5 in 2 months time. She’s tall for her age and looks older than she is because of this. (Just for context, her dad is 6 ft 5 and I am the shortest female in the family at 5 ft 6… so she doesn’t come from small stock!)

Today we had a letter from some NHS service to say that they have done some measurements in school (with our permission) and that she is overweight. Her height is just over 118cm and weight slightly over 26kg. According to the BMI calculator this puts her over then 90th percentile and therefore overweight…

but my problem is that she looks totally in proportion for her height! Never in a million years would I have thought to say she was overweight…

we eat healthily and encourage DD to eat a range of foods (with varying levels of success as I think is normal for a 4 year old).

my question is - AIBU to ignore this BMI calculator/info from the NHS if I believe my daughter is fine? Or should I be doing something to trim her weight down? (Of course, I’d never ever tell DD this as don’t want her to ever have a complex!)

Snacks, daily puddings and weekly processed fried food isn't a healthy diet though. It may have become socially acceptable in the West but it isn't healthy.

This is surprising, as children who are flagged as being overweight in reception are statistically likely to be obese by the year 6 check, which is why the reception check is used to flag those at risk.

The 95th BMI centile is obese. Your child is obese. And you think it's fine. 🤦‍♀️

They don’t look emaciated to me, just perfectly healthy and lovely looking children, which is probably why they were chosen for the advert.

Op, you sound like a lovely, caring mum. As others have said, a few small tweaks such as reducing the amount of snacks and portion sizes and increasing the amount of vegetables should make a real difference and you will notice her slimming down as she grows taller without putting on weight. It’s really a good thing that you have received this letter as it can prompt you to making the necessary changes while she is still very young. In time, you will be pleased to have received this letter. It is not a judgment on your parenting skills, more a nudge to help you in a potentially difficult area,

Lots of parents in denial about their obese children, always the same on here.

I say they same thing every time

don’t ask strangers in the internet ask your dr.

a health concern has been raised about your child. Do not ignore it.

Do you due diligence!

Its true it doesn’t work for everyone and expect ok al talk or muscular people are in that but no one here can say that’s true.

One good at home measure you can take is do they get out of breath going up the stairs?

I ignore it totally . All my dc have been born an average weight (around 7lb) then rapidly put on LOADS . Ebf for 6 months. Really really fat babies from about 3 months then get bigger and end up over 99th centile all at age 2 were wearing age 4 clothes and just huge then by reception grew up really tall and weight was fine again ! It’s what happens to everyone in our family so we explain to the HV and GP and now they know us they know it’s just how our dc are

Well OP, you’re very lucky there are so many qualified children’s dieticians and nutritionists on this thread. 🙄

For what it is worth there is plenty of criticism around BMI - what, and who it was designed to measure and do, versus its application now.

Despite what’s been said please don’t fall for demonising carbs in the same way so many other posters have here. They play a vital role in nutrition - as does fruit. If you’re going to act a) don’t let it be because of the oddballs on an internet forum, and b) let it be after you’ve been allowed to do some research into what’s the best approach to get the right outcome. Chances are you could change literally one small thing that you currently do and that will make the desired difference.

Also I’m case anyone didn’t know you can opt out of the reception and year 6 measuring programme

That’s simply not true, this poster followed up with a health professional who has seen the child and is more qualified to judge than you through your screen!

That’s simply not true, this poster followed up with a health professional who has seen the child and is more qualified to judge than you through your screen!

The health care processional who said centile charts show the normal range. Yeah she really sounds like she knows what she's doing...

This shows the obese range for children:
https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/bmi/result.html?&method=english&gender=f&agey=4&agem=10&hinches=46.5&twp=57.5

Before you do anything check the measurements, we got the wrong kids results 🙄
children should never be put on weight loss diets without medical advice, see your doctor or preferably a dietitian before you do anything other than encourage a bit more active time if she’s not getting the minimum recommended

Why does this warrant a trip to the GP?! No wonder GP appointments are like be a teeth if they're needed to tell people to eat a bit less.

OP doesn't sound incapable of using the internet for some advice if it's needed

No that’s the slightly plumper younger boy. The older boy looks underweight. No doubt he bulked up a bit when he got older .

That's a hard question to answer without knowing your daughter. Idcsay you're probably right to not be overly bothered however I work in a healthcarecsetting and you'd be surprised how many people don't think they're fat when you can clearly see they're overweight. Parents seem worse, really deluded. I'm certainly not saying that's the case with you.
It's just a computer generated guideline. BMI has never been a good indicator. Assuming you don't have MRI equipment at home I'd say a brain and a set of eyes is goodcenough to gauge if she's overweight.

My 6 year old is around the same height and 19kg. I can imagine with another 7kg she would look overweight. I know these things are hard to see yourself sometimes. I regularly check my daughter’s weight against the NHS BMI calculator just to make sure shes a healthy weight. She doesn’t know I do this!

Your daughter definitely does not need to see a GP, but sounds like you absolutely need to support her more via different food choices and amounts, as well as encouraging and maintaining an active lifestyle. You can't slack on her physical activity levels just because you have a baby.

My daughters at that age and height (tall and broad family) were 8kg and 9kg less than your daughter; the slightly heavier daughter was definitely on the cusp of being too chubby. This was totally on me, as at the time I had reduced mobility due to major surgery. But, it's an easy age to address dietary and lifestyle changes without making too much of an issue.

When we received the letter today, DH and I were very happy to just bin and ignore! But it’s been niggling at me since then, hence the post tonight.

I still don’t think you would look at my daughter and think she is overweight… but you would probably think that she is older than 4…. And I do find myself saying ‘she is big for her age’… which is probably very telling even though I’ve not given it any thought until now.

so… tomorrow we start with no supper, no desserts and walking home from school. Shouldn’t be too much a shock to her system as we already cut the supper anyway over the last half a week just because I had no bread in for toast… so perhaps that was meant to be. we’ve stopped walking home from school with the bad weather recently but it’s picking up now so that’s good too.

Small, easy changes to start right away and then I’ll start to make some slow and steady adjustments to meal content too.

Thanks for the supportive comments and advice.

It’s more than surprising as there is no such thing as 100th centile let alone Inverness the 100th centile. You can check this yourself yourself by plugging truly outrageous figures IMT the calculator and it will never go above 99th!

In hindsight I shouldn’t have slacked on her physical activity just because we have a baby…
but I absolutely have! It goes without saying that it’s hard when you’re getting no sleep and the weather is bad at the weekends.. the last thing I feel like doing with the family is going out and doing anything physical… BUT will deffo give this some thought and try to plan things to encourage more movement!

OP just be mindful of what she is eating from now on . I was tall as a kid and probably ‘bigger’ than my peers but I was active I come from 6 ft parents. If she’s active and has an appetite so be it . You sound like a sensible mum . Don’t let these lot make you feel like a shit mum .

Thank you :)

Don't beat yourself up, you've made a plan now just got to stick to it. I would also add, don't make any food a 'treat'. Treats should be activities or magazines or something. Making a chocolate bar a treat just makes them more appealing.

Good luck op!

Honestly, stopping supper and dessert with some additional activity should be enough for now while you are also coping with a new baby.

Do that for a few months and then pick another improvement to make such as ditching cereal for a better breakfast.

I would also try and think of a good reason to weigh and measure her again in a few months that wont make her think you are watching her weight. For example, we need to see if the same armbands will work this year or do you need new ones.

Every single person I know who has posted on Facebook or similar or complained in the playground that it's outrageous that the letter said their child is overweight ... Has had a child who is visibly overweight.

It's not just about the food they eat,.it's also how active they are.

Most of the overweight children get driven to school and don't do much sport outside