Worried my 2 year old is over 99th centile in weight…

[Keepingbusyeating]

I don’t know whether to worry or think, come on she’s only 2. She is 2 years and 3 months and weighs 18kg!!

She has a big appetite, always had a lot of milk as a baby and now eats really well and eats a lot. I have a huge appetite and always have. I’ve always been slim and never had to worry about my weight (not trying to brag just giving context) so maybe she gets it from me? Her Dad also has always been slim - we were both skinny children / teens but chunky toddlers but I’m not sure we were as chunky as her as it’s not recorded anywhere.

She’s at nursery 4 days a week and it’s all home made, healthy food there. I give her healthy food at home with the odd treat, although I don’t limit her portions, maybe I put too much on a plate, she will sometimes have a full dinner when she gets home from nursery but is that too much? They eat dinner at 4pm so I worry she’s hungry by the time she’s home? She won’t eat unless hungry (I think!) but sometimes maybe she is eating because it’s there.

I don’t want her to have any issues with food or be conscious of her weight / how much she eats etc. I want her to have a healthy relationship with food but also don’t want her to have problems with weight because I’ve over fed her as a toddler.

Am I overthinking it or should I be more portion controlled for her?

She’s 75th centile for height - she doesn’t look overweight she just looks like a chunky toddler.

I wouldn’t look at BMI charts for a toddler, just like I don’t for myself.. I’m sure she’s a healthy girl and you know best as her mum!❤️

Is she very active? My DS is 4.5 and eats plenty but is extremely active. He is just above 50th centile for height yet weighs less than your DD does now. Neither DH or I are particularly slim, not hugely overweight but definitely not slender so he doesn’t get it from us!

I found that avoiding routine in terms of volume of food helped. We had set times for meals but started with modest portions and then gave him more if he asked. His requests were incredibly inconsistent which indicated his level of hunger varied noticeably from day to day.

A friend of mine always offered her DS large portions and I think the child felt obliged to eat it all. As a result she’s huge. I’m convinced she over eats.

Avoid bad snacks and try to moderate portion size but in the understanding that there’s more food if your DD needs it. Hopefully she’ll start eating what she needs then rather than what you put in front of her. Don’t worry, she won’t keep quiet and go hungry if your new portions aren’t sufficient!

Pretty sure DD2 was 99th for height and weight at that age! She's now age 16, 5'9" and ten stone, healthy and slim, and has never been overweight. She's also always had a good appetite.

When my DS1 was 2 -3 he was pretty chunky (looking back at pics - don’t know if I saw at the time!). He’s now 14 and really fit; not in any way heavy. i think it’s too early to think about it now for you; so def wouldn’t worry once she is eating a varied healthy diet and getting normal activity in.

Sorry but she does sound a bit overweight. DS is 98th centile for height, going to be about 6ft4 and he was just under 16kg at that age. 2 full dinners on nursery days is probably not a great idea if she eats well at nursery. Could she do with getting more active too do you think?

She’s really active! She can be a bit of a wild child and runs around a lot. Obviously also has less active moments when she’s colouring / reading / doing puzzles etc.

I think I’ll start doing a lighter meal after nursery and doing a smaller portion and ask if she wants more after rather than offer lots at once as maybe she eats because it’s there.

At nursery she will often finish her food and there are comments on the app we use sometimes that she has had seconds of some dishes. So I know that there, she’s being offered the same as other children and finishes most of her food (not always though) but must ask for more sometimes.

She eats lots of veggies, I honestly think she’d choose a carrot over an ice cream so it’s not like she’s unhealthy it’s likely the volume that she eats.

Yes I’d be worried. My DC was about 5 when they weighed 18kg. It’s food / calories that causes excess weight and physical activity doesn’t make as much impact as food. Most toddlers are active anyway. It sounds as if she’s eating too much both at nursery (second portions) and at home afterwards. I’d be having a word at nursery about cutting down portion size and/or second helpings there, and would be cutting down food at home too. Just do this gradually so it’s less noticeable.

Maybe have a chat about feeling full in her presence too? Perhaps after you eat your meal, leave some food on your plate and then stress that you’ve eaten your meal and feel really fully, and couldn’t eat anything more so you are going to leave that. You could then go on to say that you don’t want it to go to waste and that you will put it in a container and save it for later.

Yes it might be that there are children who were on that centile at that age who are now within normal ranges (including you and DH), but there is a very strong link between excess weight in reception age children and children in their last year of primary school. There is also a strong association between excess weight in childhood and excess weight in adulthood. So there is no particular reason why there wouldn’t be such an association for younger children too.

Food habits develop very early do if she’s expected to finish her plate or just does that anyway (without any expectation) then that could persist later on life which won’t be good. Ask your health visitor or do some research on portion sizes for 2 year olds. I think you’d be surprised how small they are!

At age 2 DS1 was similar - 98th centile for weight and between 75th and 91st for height. It slowed down significantly from about age 3.5-4ish and he’s now round the 80th centile for both. At age 5.5 he looks quite tall now, not super skinny but pretty slim with spindly legs.

I think you should check in with nursery though as 18kg is quite significantly above the 99.9th centile for weight for a 27 month old. May sound ridiculous but what is her head circumference like?

Ok DH just said that the scales might not have been on a flat surface when he measured her weight as it was in our bathroom which is an uneven surface. I am going to weigh her in the morning and double check.

If she is 18kg I’ll mention it at her 2 year developmental check-up which I’ve been meaning to book, will have a word with nursery and try to focus more on her portions at home. Thanks everyone!

To update: she’s 16.3kg. Not 18kg so panic over but still will implement my plan as do think it’s more appropriate for her.

16.3kg is much less concerning, especially if she's tall. Still a couple of centiles above her height so it wouldn't hurt to stop giving a second dinner or give something smaller but nothing to panic about.

You can tell if she is eating for eating sake by putting down small portions and seeing if she asks for more. If she is having a main meal at 4pm then I used to offer DS some breadsticks and hummus or some cheese and crackers. I never offered another main meal.

DS was born at 99th centile at 10lbs at 39 weeks. At his two year check he'd dropped down to just above 75th. The HV told me that he would be overweight when he started school. I can confidently tell you that his age 4 school trousers are on the tightest waist setting I can get them on, he doesn't sit still and is 75th centile for height. He is about 18kg now at 4 and no idea where he sits on the line. I honestly don't bother, he is healthy and fits in the appropriate sized clothing.

Basically don't worry too much if she's active and getting the right foods. The HV made me feel really bad despite me sitting there as a size 10 and DD4 (at the time) being an absolutely normal BMI. Everyone has to sit on the line somewhere and yes there are overweight kids but don't overly worry too much yet

Is she due a growth spurt? My DS used to start to look a bit in the heavier side then he would grown a bit taller.

My daughter was borderline overweight at 2. She was an average weight but very short almost 50th percentile for weight and only 1st for height!
She was under a dietician and paediatrician due to food allergies and reflux. She wasn't the best eater and barely ate anything some weeks. Both weren't concerned as she looked in proportion and wasn't visibly overweight although looked fairly solid she was fitting into clothes base on her height not her weight so was in 9-12month clothes at 2! As her diet was already limited and they wouldn't want to restrict it any further. Also children often gain weight prior to growing taller and as she was very low on height were hopeful the weight would lead to her growing taller. Height and weight within 2 percentiles is classed as normal and more than 3 is when it's usually concerning.

She's 5 now and in the last year she's dropped to just below the 25th percentile for weight and moved up to the 4th percentile for height and she's clearly slimmer down. It doesn't take much change in weight and height percentiles to move more firmly into the healthy range

My daughter was the same at 2, on the 99th centile. The HV at her 2 year check did recommend that we reduced her portion sizes a bit as she had jumped up from 75th centile to 99th. We did this and her belly has gradually reduced! She is 3 now. We also reduced her milk a bit, but as she's got older she does seem to self regulate a bit more and eat a bit less. I don't think your daughter needs 2 dinners to be honest, I think your plan of giving her something lighter in the evening is a good one - enough so she won't get hungry in the night but not giving her too much 😀