Overweight child?

[TheAngelsHaveTheDeLorean]

I've just received a letter saying that my 5 year old DS is apparently overweight. I've weighed him myself and his weight is the same as it has been for months (he likes to play with the scales) and is several pounds less than they state on the letter which would put him in healthy range, albeit top end.

I got the snarky leaflet with the letter saying I should swap fizzy drinks (he's never had one) for squash (he drinks water) and use thick cut oven chips (if we have 'chips' we make thick wedges from potatoes). I cook everything from scratch, including making my own sauces for things like pasta and give him appropriate portion sizes. If he's hungry between meals we direct him to the fruit bowl. He attends three sport activities a week, walks the dog daily with us and we rarely take the car to get places.

I am totally at a loss as to what I am doing wrong! I'm not one of these people who are in denial wondering why their children are overweight when they're filling them full of fizzy drinks and crisps. We have a really healthy lifestyle and I'm struggling to understand how they have deemed him as overweight?

I've booked an appointment to see the doctor to have him reassessed and to discuss where to go from here. I was a chubby child until I hit puberty and then I stretched and became lean like my peers. I didn't change my diet or activity it just happened naturally. I'm wondering if the same thing may be going on with him but I don't have the knowledge in this area so really need some advice. I know he's not unhealthy now but I don't want it to get to that point.

Sorry for long post and thanks in advance.

I don't know the ins and outs of this but I highly suspect it's based on BMI which is utter tosh anyway. If you're making an effort to be healthy then bin the letter and don't give it a second thought. What would be more damaging would be to freak him out and be anal about food which could give him a lifelong issue with eating.

Have you told him about the letter and what it says? I'm just wondering if going to the doctor about it is going to stress him out? If you're doing it because you're genuinely concerned then that's fine but if you're doing it because a letter has come in from the school and you're worried you're being a bad parent then that's something else entirely...

Also not an expert, and a very new parent do can't offer advice from that perspective, but I do have some personal experience and I agree with weeblueberry.

Like you, I was a chubby child - not huge, just a bit bigger than average. So was my older brother. Our diet was mostly good, all home cooked and no fizzy drinks etc, and we were active both through formal activities and living in the country, playing out on bikes etc. Being 30 years ago, nothing was said about us being that little bit bigger. Like you, my older brother naturally grew out of it aged about 8-ish. Then our circumstances changed and someone decided to 'intervene' with my diet - cue seeing a dietician, restricting what I eat and generally making me feel different - and not in a good way - and guilty about food. And guess what? I went from a normal healthy relationship with food to secret eating aged 8, went from slightly chubby to fat and food and weight issues which lasted well into my 20s. I'll never know for sure that it wouldn't have happened anyway, but I'm as sure as I can be that left to my own devices is have 'leaned-up'. (Interestingly, pictures of both our parents show them both a slightly chubby kids but normal teenagers. Can't imagine either of my grandmothers putting them on diets!)

Sorry, long-winded. Point being: if you're sure you're being honest with yourself about his diet and weight (does he fit in clothes for his age?) and you are convinced there's not a problem, then perhaps keep a vague eye on things but basically chuck that letter away. See the dr by all means but don't take your DS. Most of all, don't let him see you becoming uptight about what he eats. Good luck.

Thank you so much for your replies! I think I got so annoyed about it because the leaflet they send you with the letter is so unhelpful. It makes suggestions that you feed your child on a diet of ice-cream and gummy bears and the extent of your child's physical activity is lifting the television remote. I'm by no means suggesting I'm a perfect parent with regards to nutrition - he's allowed cakes, crisps, etc, but he knows they are for once in a while and not a daily event.

I am genuinely baffled as to how he has been classified as overweight as we have been doing all the 'right' things with regards to what he eats, how much of it and his activity levels. He's just completed a mile long fun run with his dad and had no problem with it so he's not unfit! I haven't told him about the letter and I don't intend to. When I take him to the doctor on Thursday I'm going to discuss how dd is getting along with a new prescription too so will have a quick chat about it with them and see if they have any concerns. There is no possible way that I will be putting him on a diet as I know that he is getting the right amount of healthy food from us at the moment. If they do think his weight is an issue then I will be asking that it is investigated further because I cannot see how it could be put down to a poor diet and inactivity.

Oh and he's still mainly in 4-5 age range clothes. He wears some 5-6 but I need to tighten them using the elasticated parts on the waistband and he only wears them for the leg length as some 4-5 are getting too short - Again, why I'm so baffled he's been classified as overweight!

What's his height & weight? Letter should tell you what they measured. Can you confirm?

Letter has him as 108.5 cm and 21.2 kg. When I checked him this morning it was 20.4 kg.

sounds like you've probably got a fit 5yo with more muscle than average which obviously makes the BMI inaccurate.

Never mind his weight - does he seem to you to be plump or not? If he honestly doesn't then ignore that letter. Highlove's story is salutary.

Thanks everyone. Definitely not concerned with his physique. I wouldn't say he was flabby or looked overweight. He's quite thick in the torso but can see ribs front and back at times. I'm going to speak to GP still but definitely use my own judgement and not pay too much attention to a generic scale that doesn't take individual factors in to account.