Letter received from NHS about my "clinicially obese" child....

[CantThinkofFunnyName]

I'm rather flummoxed. I have today received a letter from NHS Change 4 Life setting out details of the measurement programme they have been conducting and how my 10 yr old DS is considered "very overweight/clinically obese". There follows a bunch of suggetions about exercise, eating healthily etc.

My first reaction was complete and utter disbelief at the weight they said he was and then I weighed DS and he is that weight. BUT there is not an inch of fat on him! Each week he plays football, rugby, tennis, karate and cycles 2 miles every day. He is a fitness fanatic. He eats heathily with the odd treat/snack, but does tend to be constantly hungry.

He is 4ft 11 inch and 7 st 10lbs which puts him on the 99th centile, qualifying him to be "clinically obese".

I really don't know anything much about this, but I do know my DS and simply cannot believe this. Athletic and muscly (even at 10) yes - but fat? It's almost laughable.

Anyone else had similar situations and what did you do?

Bump

It's to do with that BMI isn't it. I think George Clooney comes up as obese with that way of measuring.
So I think don't worry too much - especially as your DS sounds quite athletic.
I don't know what to suggest - someone here will have had that before and will hopefully be able to reassure you or give you some help.

That sounds insane. Try not to worry. Book an appointment with your gp and take the letter with you.

I would guess that if you are sure he is not overweight but is just well developed and thick-set, then not to worry too much

99th percentile is rather high though, so might be worth checking with GP that you are correct?

I had a 'talk' from the HV at DD1's 3 yr check, not the same thing I know but I was furious. She is the height of an average 5 yr old, is always mistaken for an older child, and she weighs as much as a 5 yr old.
I am obese and the HV started on at me about healthy eating plans etc. Just as I was on teh verge of losing my rag she sent me to see the doctor who told her not to be so silly, anmyone could see there isn't a spare ounce of fat on her.
What is his height like 'chart'wise?
Personally I think they are a load of bullshit tbh, you can't measure obesity by a line on a chart.
Plus the fact that he sounds as if he is mostly muscle and that weighs more than fat, so he will be heavier than his peers.

Can you just ignore it? I would in your situation.

Oh sorry it's the height and weight that need to match isn't it - so if both are on 99th percentile then no problem (is that what you mean?)

I would strongly recommend ringing the school nurse and discuss this further.

Dd was weighed last year in reception and came into the overweight category. I raised various concerns, including that at birth she was on the 98th centile, so in effect is now lighter, proportionally iykwim. I asked for her to be weighed at "baby clinic" about 2 years ago but she was too old/big.

I also mentioned that afaik they will not be weighing her "formally" again until year 6. Possibly in the next 6 years she could really pile on the weight. I felt that this was unacceptable being as they had highlighted a concern.

The nurse agreed we could weigh dd again next year and see how she is getting on. In our case she is quite "sturdy" and could become more seriously overweight, obviously your son's situation is very different.

Which centile is height, which centile is his weight?

Muscle is heavier than fat btw!

The england rugby team and all our rowers would come out obese with that system

Thanks everyone for quick feedback. I don't know which centile his height and weight are - they have just written saying that his BMI is 99th percentile. Seriously he is very muscly, which I know weighs more than fat - but if there is a problem I want to address it. But quite frankly, I just can't believe it. There is a photo of him on my profile - so if people look and think actually, he is a bit of a porker, please do let me know so I don't become precious about him. Oops, I also left out swimming once per week from his activities!!

He looks completely normal in your photos!!! To be honest he doesn't even look overweight let alone clinically obese.

I guess it's because there is a slight discrepancy. ie. his height is between 91st-98th and his weight between 98-99th. IMO opinion, there is absolutely nothing wrong with his height-weight ratio.
My 10 year old is 155 cm and weighs 45kg, so very similar.
I wouldn't give it a second thought.

he's well above average for height for his age, so sounds like he's in proportion. I wouldn't be too concerned.

In fact he looks just like my son as well....
absolutely perfect!

I don't think he looks obese at all - definitely on the more muscly side.

Just found a tool online that said his height is on the 75th percentile and weight on the 93rd percentile for his age. BMI (combined) puts him on the 99th.

Still none the wiser

My ds's height and weight were on 98th centile when he was last measured. Think I'll opt out of the weighing thing in Year 6 if they'll send me one of those notes.

It sounds RUBBISH

What's the point in percentiling BMI? How does that make any sense?

FGS he looks fine
DD1 is on my profile, she is clinically obese as well
have they said what they are going to do or is it justa 'helpful' letter in which case I would chuck it in the bin.

Hmmm, ok, this is making me feel better, but more than a little annoyed at the letter! I think of course that he's absolutely gorgeous, handsome, muscly, fit etc. My little star - but then again he is my PFB - and I was a single mum with him so I consider him mine all mine!!! He definitely has a habit of going out before he goes up - but that's normal isn't it? FWIW, he takes a size 8 shoe which, I take to mean he is going to be v v tall, which I would then take to mean he's likely to be a bit sturdier.... Why don't they take these things into consideration too?

The letter also says that as he is clinically obese they will be contacting me to discuss the results! Harumph.

My ds also goes out before he goes up. I grew like that as well till I was about 14/15.

The point about percentile measurements is that some children will fall on the 99th centile (I assume 1%?!).

My HV was on about this with my DS when he was less than a year old - I got annoyed with the way she was approaching it and my GP backed me up.

It's a range so there will be some people at either end of the spectrum and most in the middle.

Health professionals should know better!

JackBauer - HA HA - now I really feel better! Your DD1 obese??? Bloody hell. What's the world coming to?!

I'm getting more annoyed by the minute now - lord help them tomorrow when I phone to complain!

he certainly doesn't look obese although can't really tell if he's overweight. Measurements of body fat are more important than BMI. Your doctor probably has callipers to measure body fat or they sell them on amazon skin calipers

doesn't sound like there is any more you can do anyway.

Your ds looks completely normal to me - not overweight at all.

At my DDs' school this caused such a lot of upset last year, when perfectly normal children were labelled as obese, that this year the school withdrew from the programme.