If you could clearly see a child's ribs

[SkyWalker95]

Bit of a strange question but if you saw a preschool age child running around the park/beach and you could very clearly see their rib cage and some other clearly defined bones, what would you do/say/think. Or would you not even think about it/care?

That's what kids are supposed to look like. What always was, and should still be considered normal but certainly isn't the average any more.

I'd think they were normal.
I read a quote a while ago saying something along the lines of we've all forgotten primary children are meant to look like whippets.

Ds is underweight so you can very clearly see ribs/spine etc.

However as everyone else has said it is perfectly normal to be able to see ribs. We have just lost sight of "normal". Even when ds was a healthy weight you have always been able to see his ribs just not as clearly as you can now.

I would think it entirely normal.

I'm going to go against the grain a bit. My DD is very petite and her ribs have always been visible. She was recently very ill and lost a lot of weight and her ribs and spine became far more prominent. I think ribs can be visible at a healthy weight but they will be more visible when a child is underweight. I suspect only a health professional would be able to accurately tell the difference and they would need other medical information to judge if it was a problem.

You can see 3 yo DS's ribs. He eats LOADS definately not malnourished.

There is a thin line though, both my boys are naturally skinny, you can see thier hip bones, spines, ribs, etc but when DS1 had appendicitis he lost some weight and even though you could see his bones before it was amazing the difference a couple pounds made and how awful he looked it was actually quite shocking and I am used to seeing thier bones all the time wasn't like he had gone from chubby to bones showing.
so it could be that that the OP saw a normal child but it could be that they were super super skinny and may be cause for concern.

Are there seriously people on here who think it is their place to do/say something about the weight of a random child they see in the beach or in the park?

What could you say? "Oh isn't he thin, are you feeding him enough?" That'll help, and what fun for parents whose child has a health condition.

And what could you do? Call ss? The police? Buy her an ice cream?

That they weren't fat.

I would think, 'I am so glad that my DS is not the only one whose ribs and spine show'.

Ok thanks guys, good to know that's the general consensus

My kids are both naturally thin and this mentality worries me. Both of my mine receive comments regularly from class mates about their weight. I worry about the negative body image building up in their minds. I'm forever telling them they are healthy and how children should look and I teach them never to pass judgement on anyone's weight! I wonder if you would have considered commenting to the parent if their child was obese?

They key part of your OP is 'running around'. Children who are starving do not.

SNF88 that's exactly what concerns me :/

Are you concerened how people perceive your child?

People are very pass remarkable.

My kids are very tall for their age - I get lots of quite negative comments on it. My friend's DD is tiny. She also gets lots of comments.

I tell my DC all the advantage of being tall and tell my friend's DD all the advantages of being small.

People are rude, often extraordinarily. Teach your kids how to deal with it early and it's a lesson which will stand them in good stead.

SKY DS was recently ill and, being v slim anyway (9th percentile) the weight lost really showed. Even his nappies became much too big. I was absolutely mortified, but found the easiest way of coping was being very open about it to people. I soon realised it bothered me, but no one else was bothered (including our GP!).

You can see DS ribs and spine and he's a healthy weight. However if he's ill (which is thankfully rare) and drops a pound or two through being off his food for a couple of days, he does look very thin. It can happen in what feels like the blink of an eye, to be honest. So I do think people would look twice at him if he was running around the park after being ill.

I have a 2 1/2 year old. I can see his ribs and spine. He has a wee pot belly and chubby wrists (which I adore) he ears non stop. Not big meals but he is a grazer.

Nothing, it's normal to be able to see their ribs.

I'd be more worried if I couldn't see a child's ribs. Means they're fat. This is why there's more childhood obesity because people don't know the norm any more.

SNF88

I grew up with the whole world and his dog thinking it was okay to pass comment on my 'thin' body and it sucks because somehow it's socially acceptable to do so, unlike commenting if someone is overweight, so I totally agree with you.

I wouldn'the think anything other than the child was normal.

SNF88 Yes. He is actually classed as slightly underweight, has been underweight since before he was born so never even had any baby chub, but is perfectly healthily fed. I've started to notice other children point out how he's rather skinny. Quite frankly it's had me concerned at what older children and their parents might think/say.

I was underweight until I was about 50, I hated it. People always thought it was ok to comment on it. I wouldn't mention it if people were fat, it's just plain rude.