7yo girl - normal to start laying down fat?

[MrsWobbleTheWaitress]

My children are all in charge of their own eating. They all go through phases when they eat loads; and then phases where they seem to eat hardly anything. And their diets seem to work out to be very healthy and balanced. They are all very active - spend a lot of time running around, being outside etc.

Up until now, they've all been very slim, almost to the point of skinny at times! But I've never worried - they're all healthy and happy

However, DD1 has just turned 7 and is beginning to get just a tiny bit chubbier in places. Please, please don't think that I'm going to set up some sort of complex in her! I am not worried in the slightest about her!

I am just wondering if it's normal for 7yo girls to do this? Is it laying down fat ready for puberty to start in a couple of years? Or ought I actually to be worrying that she's eating too much (doesn't appear to be), or not being active enough?

What I mean is, if it's not normal, then should I be doing something to make sure she doesn't get to a point when I really, really ought to be doing something?

I dont think at this age its normal. Maybe if you said she was 12 and developing and maybe not so active then perhaps can be expected. But i dont think at 7 she should be.
My 9 yr old DS i am glad to say is filling out a bit. He was slim to skinny. . you know the skinny legs little boys can have? He guzzles down a lot of full cream milk and eats quite well. So i am glad he has put on a bit of weight. My olders DS was so so skinny . .but genetically they do take after their dads.
I think its nice if girls are a bit skinny as i wish i had been. I was a slim child but ended up a chubby teenager who would have given anything to be slim.
If your 7 yr starts putting on loads of weight then i guess you just have to watch her diet more closely and try to cut out the sweets, cakes, fried and fast foods etc..I am sure you know the right stuff !!

Normal is different for everybody. My dd gets the tiniest roll of fat around her belly then shoots up a couple of centimetres. Maybe it's that?

Same as Kreecher, I always know when DS (age 8) is about to shoot up as he develops a belly beforehand

Dd grew longer legs at this age and slimmed down. She is very active though as she swims for a squad.

Could well be that, Kreecher. I'm not sure what on earth I could do about it, in the even that it's something to worry about, because she already eats so well and runs about so much! Unless I give her a complete body complex by getting her to restrict her diet!

I usually really trust their bodies to let them know what and when they need to eat/exercise etc. If two of you have noticed your DCs putting on weight and then shooting up, maybe that's what she's doing!

She's not got a belly, just a very tiny bit chubbier around her nipples and you would no longer describe her as skinny - she's still slim though

Apparently 1 in 6 girls at the age of 8 have puberty hormones starting to circulate in their bodies. My DD developed one nipple bud at the age of 8yrs !!!! She was in a bra by year 5 !! . . . so was i !

What age are they in year 5?

DD started to get fatter at the age of 10 approx. She was like a stick before this. She is definitely developing hips and breasts though so I am fairly sure it's puberty-related. 7 seems quite young but then my neice started her periods at 9!

Just found a load of websites saying it's not abnormal for the beginnings of puberty to start at 7!

I started my period at 11, so youngish.

I don't want my baby to grow up!

maltesers - do you think they could be breastbuds rather than fat then?

Neither of my two dd's did/have. Dd1 at 11 is, but then you'd expect it as she's starting to develop. DD2 aged 8 is as thin as she ever was.

my friends dd started to fill out all over at about 8. my dd has just turned 8 and i can see she looks thicker set over the last few months, but by no means fat in any way. Just keep an eye on intake and activity i guess. Everyone is different. I know 2 sisters one is a barrell shape and short, one is tall and slim. Genetics in their case.

Don't worry- my 10 year old (year 5) starting building up fat at 7.5- she's started to develop in the past year so all makes sense. It is true puberty can start quite early nowadays.

If she worries about it there is this great book www.amazon.co.uk/Whats-Happening-Girls-Susan-Meredith/dp/0794512674, it helped her so much. We sat down to read bits together and it lives on her bedside table now.

Please please don't worry about a bit of fat around her middle. My eldest DD has always been skinny and is now 13 and being treated for anorexia. It is heartbreaking. My dd2 is 8 and a different build altogether. She sounds like your dd, not skinny, not overweight but with a slight 'pudge'. I love it, she eats healthily and is active and I embrace that she is well.

Sorry, slightly different perspective but I'm seeing it from the other side!

Thank you all. 'filling out' is a far better description, piratecat. I'm not worried that I ought to be worried any more