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Children's health

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Original poster

underweight 9 year old

13 replies

mimsum · 26/01/2009 14:36

I've been increasingly concerned at how little my 9yr old ds is eating. Yesterday we went to a swimming party and my sister was shocked at how thin ds has become. I weighed him and measured him this morning and have just calculated his BMI which is 12.7 which puts him under the 1st centile on the BMI charts. His appetite is tiny and he eats incredibly slowly and I@m now feeling guilty that he's so ludicrously skinny

OP posts:
LIZS · 26/01/2009 15:47

Are you using adult bmi charts though. Both mine are very low on bmi but perfectly healthy

Original poster
mimsum · 26/01/2009 16:02

no - this is specifically for children so he's under the first centile for children exactly the same age as him (i.e. 9yrs 2 months) - my other two are slim but healthy, ds2 just looks so fragile a puff of wind could blow him over and he's not got very much energy either

OP posts:
purpleduck · 26/01/2009 16:22

Don't feel guilty!!!

If you talk to your GP, you can send your ds to see a consultant.
The interfereing school nurse kept sending letters home about my ds. I generally ignored as he eats well (although not a huge variety). But, she cought me on a day that I was a bit worried, and ds ended up seeing a consultant. They did hand x-ray thing to see if his size was ok for his frame. It was all fine. Although I knew instinctively that he was ok, it still put my mind at rest.

Does he have allergies?

purpleduck · 26/01/2009 16:23

caught

bigdonna · 26/01/2009 18:53

what does he weigh my 9dd is very thin and tall she weighs nearly 5 stone.

Original poster
mimsum · 26/01/2009 18:57

he's 151cm tall and weighs 29 kilos with his clothes/shoes on

OP posts:
LIZS · 26/01/2009 19:01

ds is 10 and weighs 24.5 kg , so must be skinnier lol!!! were you a skinny child ? dh and I both were, would n't know it now though!

Original poster
mimsum · 26/01/2009 19:03

well, it depends on how tall she is doesn't it? no I wasn't skinny as a child, just slim as was dh

OP posts:
themildmanneredjanitor · 26/01/2009 19:07

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

bigdonna · 26/01/2009 19:08

hi my dd is about that if i worked it out right but she is two centimetres smaller.maybe hes enemic( sorry cant spell)i dont class my dd as skinny just slim.is anything bothering him which could put him off his food

RubyRioja · 26/01/2009 19:08

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LIZS · 26/01/2009 19:35

sorry he's 140cm ish

Tiggiwinkle · 26/01/2009 22:47

I think the fact he has a poor appetite and not much energy, together with the low weight, merit investigation by the doctor.

Two of my DSs have coeliac disease, which presented with those symptoms. A simple blood test is the first step to check it out.

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