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Original poster

Is this girl overweight?

42 replies

LilyLovesSid · 19/02/2010 21:18

Here

From the photo I would say she looks fine, but apparently not according to her BMI.

Is there a better way than BMI to assess someone's healthy weight? Especially for children - is there any way to assess them as they still grow?

OP posts:
Jacksmama · 19/02/2010 21:20

WTF?? No, she's not fat. Her BMI is probably high because she has lots of this stuff called "muscle"!!

BMI is a general way to assess health but is woefully inadequate for very muscular people and really does not apply to everyone.

shockers · 19/02/2010 21:22

Doesn't look it to me... at all.

I would say a better way is, if a child is visibly overweight and lacks energy THEN they should be assessed further.

cornsilk · 19/02/2010 21:23

No.

thisisyesterday · 19/02/2010 21:23

thiss is precisely why i opted out of having health checks at school.
twats.

i have a friend who was told her daughter was overweight based on her weight/height. she IS heavy if you pick her up, but she is the skinniest little thing you ever saw

FabIsGoingToBeFabIn2010 · 19/02/2010 21:24

I don't think she is fat but it did maki
e me wonder about my 8.11 year old who is only 4 stone and a bit.

heQet · 19/02/2010 21:25

She really doesn't look overweight in the photo, so unless that jumper is hiding a huge belly, then I'd have to say she's fine

shonaspurtle · 19/02/2010 21:26

No, she's not fat.

But then the letter just said her BMI could "suggest" that she is overweight. ie she might be. She's not.

"She shouldn't be worrying about her weight" says her mum. You're right, she shouldn't. Having her picture in the local paper with a headline saying "school says my daughter is fat" is possibly not the best way to ensure this.

It's just an indicator. It's a blunt tool, yes. Probably there are better tools. In this case it's found a borderline result in a healthy, active child so can obviously be disregarded. But I think if I got one of these letters home my last thought would be to go to the bloody papers.

clayre · 19/02/2010 21:27

i dont think shes fat but i weighed my taller than average 7 year old she was 3st 6lb, made me wonder if what the health people are thinking tbh.

Portofino · 19/02/2010 21:28

The girl looks just like my dd. Solid, not skinny but certainly not fat.

Her school medical report from the other week says she is 24.2kg. (4 stone on my scales) and is 118 cm (about 3'10?)- and has a BMI of 17.38 (was a bit surprised they do this for the littlies)

I know nothing about BMI (apart from mine is crap) but the medics have no concerns about dd.

fluffles · 19/02/2010 21:30

i saw this earlier and i think the problem is a one-off snapshot of the childs weight.

overweight children are a problem but i think that children can vary so much in terms of their size - getting chunkier then growing upwards and getting skinny - that there shouldn't be any letters issued or flags raised until a child has had a high bmi three times over a couple of years... that way you can see a trend, not just natural growing variation.

Portofino · 19/02/2010 21:32

What is a normal BMI for a 5 year old?

fluffles · 19/02/2010 21:32

also, my weight can vary by up to four pounds depending on hydration and when i last ate and pood.. and just through the ay (i'm lightest first thing in the morning) not to mention that she probably wasn't naked... so again, weighing three times over a couple of years would be more helpful than once then jumping ot conclusions.

Original poster
LilyLovesSid · 19/02/2010 21:33

I agree shonaspurtle, the article does make it out to seem the council wrote a letter saying 'Your child is a great big fatty and you are a shite parent', when obviously it didn't! But sometimes the suggestion of a weight issue is enough to make people become worried without cause.

I really am genuinely interested to know if there is a sharper tool to measure healthy weight, especially in kids. BMI just seems to have a fair few flaws.

OP posts:
Original poster
LilyLovesSid · 19/02/2010 21:35

I like Fluffles idea of BMI being measured over a set period rather than a one off. Seems much more sensible, especially when your child may be having a growth spurt or something.

OP posts:
ravenAK · 19/02/2010 21:43

I agree with fluffles - you'd need to watch for a trend of high BMI.

My son (now 5) was on the 99th centile for both weight & height at birth, & goes through phases of looking 'chunky' just before a growth spurt.

He's definitely not fat - eats healthily, very active, doesn't appear overweight clothed or naked - but it's noticeable that he will have a stocky appearance (& increased appetite) for a month or two before suddenly elongating as if overnight!

Portofino · 19/02/2010 21:49

Found this calculator and was shocked!

and dd

Dress is quite flouncy....

Portofino · 19/02/2010 21:50

Be honest!

Fruitbatlings · 19/02/2010 21:56

Ds's school had this health check. He's quite slim, extremely far from fat. In fact, DH is quite jealous of his body shape (he's 4!) yet if he was only 3lbs heavier he would be classed as overweight. Barmy

Original poster
LilyLovesSid · 19/02/2010 21:58

Portofino - your DD doesn't look overweight to me at all, and I'm being totally honest!

OP posts:
nooka · 20/02/2010 02:53

You really can't tell much from a photo of a fully dressed child (or adult) unless they are very fat. There is another thread on an article about the same family in the DM, and it looks as if the little girl has a little bit of a double chin in that one. Given that the letter was not to "Lucy" but to her parents, I don't see why the mother is complaining that it will make her daughter worried about her weight. All she needs to do is take a closer look at her dd's diet and lifestyle - if she is doing a lot of sport and is very fit and muscular then she can just ignore the note (in fact she can and probably is doing that in any case). To be honest I doubt that a five year old with a normal fit lifestyle has enough muscle to affect their BMI that much, but who knows what "sports mad" actually means - neither article say that this little girl is playing any sports, belongs to sports clubs etc (although obviously she could well be very active). The BMI is a crude indicator, being used as a screening tool only (and they will be using a version designed for children). Body fat measures are more accurate, but require much more expensive kit.

DuelingFanjo · 20/02/2010 09:53

She's on TV now, with her very lovely mum.

If tv add 10 pounds then she is positively skinny!

GreenMonkies · 20/02/2010 09:59

Body Fat Percentage is a far better indication of "weight" than BMI. I ignore BMI, as it is just based on your height/weight, and whilst I am carrying some flab at the moment I am also quite muscly, which of course makes me weigh heavy. I am actually just under 11 stone, but a curvy size 12, which doesn't compute at all, but is the truth because I have gymnasts/ballet dancers thighs and horse-riders/keepers arms and shoulders.

Sadly Body Fat Percentage is harder to asess and uses more expensive equipment.

sarah293 · 20/02/2010 10:03

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

KentuckyFriedPenguin · 20/02/2010 10:19

This is a complete over reaction by her mother. The letter suggests that based on BMI alone she is overweight d te advice offered afterwards is what could happen in much much later life if her BMI remains high.

She is only 1% out of the "official" guidelines but, as parents we all now what a load of shite the red books are - is this just an extension of that?

CHildren grow oddly anyway- they all go outwards before they go upwards (or is that just my three?)

heQet · 20/02/2010 10:53

I think parading her round, tv, newspapers..look the government says my daughter is fat, but she's not really... is the wrong thing to do.

My fear would be that the child would develop an eating disorder on the back of all this.