Dd expected weight gain?

[Combustablecustard]

I never weigh DD7 (or her sister) but today she happened to ask to weigh herself. I'm a bit surprised by the outcome having checked it on the NHS BMI calculator.

I went back and compared it to her reception health check...since then (2 and a bit years) shes grown 15 cm (she's tall!). How much weight would you expect a 7 year old to gain?

I didnt want to put the answer in here yet as genuinely want to see what people think...

6-7kg would be expected looking at the charts...

Thanks- its been 3kg...shes underweight and quite far down on the scale.

She's very skinny but I had assumed because of her height it would balance out. When she was a tot she was tall and slender but in healthy weight bracket and her reception check had her in healthy weight.

Her eating is patchy. Shes very fussy with what she eats (has sensory issues with clothes and food) and will only eat what she likes but then will eat loads of it.

Dd sounds similar. Shes 15 now but has always been the same. She's diagnosed asd and has sensory issues around food. She has a few medical issues so sees a few consultants. When they noted her bmi dropping (She's 1st centile) quicker they refered her to a dietian. The things that have helped (not really gain but maintain) are 3 meals, 2 snacks a day. Ignoring the fussiness, using higher calorie foods, adding extra butter to a meal or having hot chocolate with marshmallows on, leaving her to eat so when we've finished we leave the table and she continues to eat.
Dietian also advised vitamin d, calcium, a to z vitamin to make sure she was getting enough nutrients. Could you see the gp? Ours did bloods to check for deficiency and found folic acid deficiency so she had a six month course. They also checked blood pressure, weight, height urine, faeces check was very thorough. They seemed to decide it was just the way she was built, plus being a fussy eater. At least it gave us all reassurance there was nothing wrong.

Thank you @umbrella thats really helpful. I do think we probably do need to take her to the doctor. If nothing else, as you say, just to rule out any issues

A girl on the 50th percentile at 5 would be 18kg and are 7 they should be 23kg.

Have you plotted the two weights and heights in their red book? Is the weight dropping down the percentiles or has the height moved up the percentiles and the weight isn't keeping up?

It is probably worth a chat with the GP and also introduce infrequent but regular weigh ins and height checks. I would be a minimum of once a year possibly every 4-6 months. We have a big ruler and on my daughters birthday every year we mark her height and make a note of her weight. We check her height and weight periodically too depending on how well she is eating and if she is outgrowing clothes as expected. We have the opposite problem where her height is on a much lower percentile compared to her weight.

Thanks @Superscientist have just dusted off the red book.

Her height has consistently been in the 98th percentile (we also have a height chart so can track that too). She's always been very tall even as a baby but back then her weight was equally high.

Her weight at 3.5 was 75th percentile, at 4.75 (at the reception health check) was on the 75th percentile and at 7 is on the 9th. So her height is growing consistently but her weight isn't keeping up?

I do think I probably need to go to the doctors (had planned going anyway to discuss the sensory issues) and I think youre right about checking weight every time we measure too.

That's quite a drop on weight percentiles. Ahead of the GP appointment it might be worth keeping a food diary for 3 or 4 days.
In the last two years has there been any periods of illness? I guess it's hard at the moment to know if their weight has previously dropped and has stabilised at the 9th or if it is a more recent thing and it is still actively dropping. The GP will probably want to get a fewer weights over the next few months to determine if the weight is actively dropping. Potentially do some tests to make sure everything is ok and rule out things like coeliacs and diabetes which can cause weight loss.

I really wouldn't get into a habit of how much a child weighs. It'll lead to issues down the line. Just look at them to judge if they're under/ over weight. BMI takes so little into account.

Thanks for the advice. Will do a food diary. Shes moving onto packed lunches at school too which i think will help.

No real illnesses- fortunately she doesn't get sick very often. Theres been 2 occasions i can think of in 2 years when she stopped eating for a day or two but that's about it. So I wouldn't have thought that would do it.

She is very very energetic and finds sitting still quite hard, she's always on the go so I think that burns a lot of it.

It's not easy to assess how healthy a child is by sight alone which is why a child has their height and weight done at every paediatrician appointment. We didn't notice my daughters height dropping from the 25th to 1st percentile she was still growing but at a slower rate.

The op here hadn't spotted their child's weight has dropped from 75th to 9th percentiles without having the weight. I do agree with not over weighing children and think not letting them know the weights is a good idea. If my daughter asks she's told she's the perfect weight even when we are concerned because she hasn't put any weight on in 4 months. Weighing a child once or twice a year won't create issues as long as the weights aren't associated with negative terminology. My mum judges our weights by eye and not by the scale and all three of us have had a life time of eating disorders as she decided our perfectly normal to slim build weights as overweight and put us on diets from the age of 8.