2.5 year old is classed as obese!

[Glowz]

So I've just given birth and done my BMI so I can track it. The NHS website also had one for children so I did it for my son. To look at, you wouldn't think he's overweight. He has a healthy balanced diet, lots of fruit, salad and veg with occasional treats. Doesn't have sweets or fizzy/cordial drinks. Just water and milk. I believe he is a healthy child and most importantly, he is happy.

He is 2 and a half, measures 96cm and weighs 17kg. A lot of people think he's older than he is due to his height. No one, not even the health visitor or midwife who came after my second birth made any comments on his weight or anything. He is due his two year check soon.

Im really paranoid, upset and worked up now that when the health visitor comes for his 2 year check, she will comment on his weight. I knew he was heavy but (and I mean this honestly I'm not being mum biased here) I would never ever have thought he was obese.

Has anyone else.had big toddlers who are way over what they should be for height and weight for their age?

No, I'm a woman so that would be unusual. I can, however, run a sub 2hr half marathon, do 10 pull ups and do the splits and a back handspring in my 30s. That's not the point. Studies show being overweight has a negative impact on health and life expectancy, even if you're fit and overweight.

I don't entirely agree with this.

Yes, of course appropriate portions and ratios of diffferent meal components are essential, but the calorific requirements in young children can be astonishingly high.

My daughter has been seen regularity by a paediatric dietitian for years at hospital and her exact nutritional requirements were calculated every three months. In terms of both calories and specific quantities of each nutrient/ food type. As a young child aged 2 -3 her daily calorific requirement was calculated to be significantly higher than both mine and that of my then 18 year old son who is over 6ft ( these were also calculated by Medical professionals for specific health reasons)..

We were told it was important to be giving a 2 year old three proper meals and three significantly sized snack meals as a minimum each day which was very surprising.

Overall i think BMI is a terribly blunt instrument. Where there are some individuals who do not seen to have realistic perceptions öf average body weight, it can be a useful vague indicator to give a baseline to work from and be helpful. It does not take into account things like body frame and general build which can massively influence what is a healthy weight for an individual.
My own daughter is now 6.5. She tiny. She measures 105cm and is 16.4kg. Everything about her is small, even her feet are tiny, her proportions aren't dissimilar to your child @Glowz so I'd imagine he isn't overweight.
My son conversley, was always heavy, he had enormous, feet which indicated he had a big frame but never had any chub at all. If clothes appropriate for height fit easily around the waist and tummy youre probably OK. Just gently ask the HV when you see them, a lot are quite chuffed to be asked something.
At your sons age he'll soon transition to having to walk a lot, ( no buggy) children suddenly start to shrink at that point.

Please though don't start to worry you are over feeding your child unless you are told this specifically. Children need a lot of food it seems.

The specialists in hospital who monitor children with growth issues, or potential ones always compare the height centile to the weight centile. Never BMI IME. as long as they are roughly the same it's considered normal, if theres a significant discrepancy there's deemed to be a possible problem with whichever one is off.

Worth mentioning is that in special growth clinics whilst toddlers can be measured standing like an adult, they Always measure them the same way as a baby as the result is more accurate ( less developed core strength and head weight means they can't stand up tall like we can). At home this means putting your child's feet at right angles to the wall,l with their feet against the wall, ensuring they are completely straight and flat lying in the floor, and marking the floor where the top of their head comes to. Measure Between this line and the wall where their feet touched, they are typically s couple of centimetres taller than when measured standing which will of course affect the BMI result.

Hi sorry I know this is an old post! But I can relate to it so much, I just had a development check yesterday with my little boy his 2.5 and also 96cm 17kg been told they are concerned about his bmi. Been advised to cut out whole cows milk offer semi skimmed and cut down on yogurts which are high in sugar. We were completely gobsmacked as he doesn’t seem overweight at all! His dad is 6ft4 and I’m 5ft8 so he is going to be tall, he likes to walk a lot very active loves his food but I will be more mindful now with sugary snack bars etc.

just wanted to ask how you are getting on now? And what happened? I’ve got to go back in 6 months time. Thank you