OMG It's official DS is overweight, what can I do ?

[rookiemater]

DS 2.11 has always been well padded, right from the minute he came into the world at 9.7.5lb.

I stopped BF fairly quickly because DS had tongue tie and other issues.

He is a bit of a fussy eater, again probably our fault.

We noticed that his tummy was getting a bit big so I decided to compare him on the charts. It turns out that for his age he is on the 92 percentile for BMI, which they classify as overweight bordering on obese.

I'm not sure what to do. He is very active and he goes to activities with the CM such as kindergym and toddlers and swimming and soft play with me, plus he walks short distances.

His diet isn't great but it is more of a restricted nature as he has a few things that he will eat - weetabix, oatabix, bananas,apples, bread ( all types), jam, sliced ham and chicken ( sometimes), carrots, hoummus, pizza,cheese, chicken nuggets and oven chips. He loves sweets, cakes and crisps but only gets them in very limited quantities. Oh we are also toilet training and he has a bit of an issue around poos so I don't want to cut down on fruit juice ( 2 small glasses a day) as I feel this would impact on his pooing.

I noticed over the weekend that he kept saying he was hungry for lunch or dinner even when he had just had a snack ( of banana or apple) so wonder if he has just got into a bad habit of eating when bored ?

Both DH and I are what you would call strapping. We will never be waif like but are on just the right side of sturdy, so genetically DS is never going to be a skinny urchin.

Clothes wise he fits things in the correct age range 2-3 yrs old. He has a long body and short legs.

Should I do anything or will it just sort itself out ?

I wouldn't worry, not at this age.
Just watch his diet and make sure your DS gets as much exercise as possible.
DS2 is very much like this.
DS1 was chubby until he was about 3 (is now lng and lean, although he eats loads he is very active) DS2 is almost 3 but a much bigger build, he has very broad shoulders and rib cage and is heavy set, so whilst I think he will slim down, it won't be to a massive degree. He was 10lb 11oz born and is just a mini-rugby player I guess! He drinks lots of milk, likes vegetables but not fruit and actually doesn't eat very much at all. I have swapped him from full fat to smei-skimmed milk. DS2 is a much more sedentary child too, he likes to sit and colour/play.

Thanks Lizzylou. Its causing some disagreements between Dh and myself. He claims DS is overweight because he eats cheese, I think its more likely because on holiday DH does things like buy him 2 ice creams in one day and sometimes gives him a cake for breakfast .

This morning he made me take Dss weetabix away because DS had left the table and said we should only give him one weetabix in the morning. I'd rather that DS stocked up on cereal which is good for him than sugary snacks.

tbh you both have a fair point - DH is right in that it's his everyday diet that matters more than the treats he has on (presumably occasional) holidays, but you are right in that things like cake for breakfast aren't going to help.

I would have thought one weetabix and then a healthy snack midmorning (why would there be sugary snacks in the equation at all?) was actually a better idea than two weetabix plus having the snack anyway (which it sounds like he does).

And if he'd left the table then he had finished eating, yes?

Hang on, its not really official is it? Those charts are more of a guideline than a rule. Why don't you take him to the docs and see what they say?

Drop the juice and give him water, they are just empty calories that are ruining his teeth - or possibly half juice/half water.

Stop catering to his "fussiness" in our house DS eats what we eat or he doesn't eat. Sometimes he chooses not to eat, not my problem. My job is to provide him with good nutritious food, whether he eats it or not is up to him.

He is probably fine, a bit of baby chub is to be expected.

I think that a big hearty breakfast is better than snacks. It is the one meal that DS2 will always eat well, so he'll often have 2 weetabix but then nothing until lunch.
Try and restrict snacks to fruit where you can, but I am a great believer that children should be allowed cakes/biscuits/ice cream in moderation, mainly as I think that it educates them that those type of foods are not the norm then they don't feel deprived of them and ending up gorging on them when they do get access.
Just keep an eye on his day to day diet and try and encourage him to get lots of exercise, he is very young and will prob becomer leaner as he gets older.

Those charts are a guideline. 92nd percentile is about what he was BORN on, isn't it?

Do his clothes fit him in the waist? Is he able to be active? Does he look significantly bigger than other children his age?

My brother was downright fat until he was 3 - he has been a skinnyribs ever since and is only now, at 23, not technically UNDERweight. But my mum didn't diet him, she always fed him what and how much he would eat.

You're right Mrs Badger, perhaps there is some logic in DHs approach, but a bit annoying as I am always left policing whilst he doles out the goodies.

I was a fat child, although terribly skinny until about age 5 and it has affected my perception of myself growing up and probably even now although I am of normal weight.

We don't provide special menus any more. He eats what he is given or the alternative is a slice of toast. I too feel that never giving him any snacks sends out the wrong messages, so he gets occasional treats, but I wouldn't think they were out of proportion with what other children get.

Agree Morloth will cut back on the juice. Today am doing very well, no juice only water, half an apple as a snack and early lunch as we are shortly off to a Learnabike class ( thus exercise as well).

CAKE FOR BREAKFAST!!!!!

!!!

Other than that I wouldn't worry, he's still young.
My nephew was HUGE - totally OFF the charts. Then for ages (like years!) he stayed the same, just levelled off and now he's just a regular kid.
But still - cake for breakfast! Blimy!!

It sounds like you are doing all the right things. I thing the importnat thing is to offer only a few healthy choices, and if he wont eat them, then...tough; you can't be that hungry. This is the approach we are taking with d, who has always loved her food (some might say too much....) but she is exactly on the 75th centile for both height and weight, which seems ok to me.

It is hard; you don't want to develop some sort of unhealthy paranoia about weight in children, but with so many kids now overweight, we have to do something.

I think the other BIG thing is role modelling. Being a healthy BMI, and exercising regularly are really powerful messages that you can send yo your childrem i'e 'this is normal....you are not supposed sit on sofs and drive everywhere'.

Good luck...sounds like you have it covered.

Purpleduck - I have cake for breakfast sometimes - as long as you aren't eating it for every meal it still plays a part in a balanced diet.

rookiemater - tbh I suspect your son is in perfectly reasonable shape for a toddler. The real issue here is with you and your dh.

You have to stop arguing over this issue - you are making his weight an issue of contention between you and that's bad for all of you. The easiest way to avoid him eating too much of any one thing is to avoid buying large quantities.

Food is for fuel - and toddlers need plenty of that - it's not a power issue or something to fret over. I've had a fussy toddler and it really upset me - until I realised I was associating her eating with my success as a mother.

Coldtits has a very interesting and relevant point regarding the percentile he was actually born on. My dd1 was 9lb 11 so very "high up" on the chart (can't remember exact percentile)

Now she has just turned 5, she is of a fairly sturdy build, but not "fat" imo. I expect she is probably "overweight" according to the charts.

I would be very interested to know at what age a baby that is born larger than average is expected to head downwards on the charts?

rookie how heavy is he?

definitely drop the juice, daily fruit juice has been linked to obesity and it's awful for the teeth.

My girls are really skinny and often eat three weetabix for breakfast (no sugar though).

I just wondered whather or not the big tummy may be in some way related to the 'poo issues'?? Sorry if speaking out of turn, but it's my current favourite subject. He could be witholding poos/constipated which could really make his tummy look big.
Could be completely wrong though.

He does sound like my dd1 (big poo issues!). She has always had quite a tummy on her, always looked pretty stocky, although I have to say, I'm non too keen on weighing her. She's also quite a fussy eater, but now at 3,4 has suddenly turned a corner and is trying lots of new foods, doesn't like everything by any means, but is trying a lot more.

I would tend to agree that two ice creams in one day is not that necessary, and I would say that it's good to let them stock up at breakfast. DDs have virtually cut out the need for morning snacks, but will often have grapes or apple, but have big breakfasts.

I was a stocky child, but went skinny at about 5 and pretty much stayed that way. (Although am now a delightful skinny/lumpy combo!).

I think cake for brekkie is perfectly fine, as long as it is an unusual thing. We have had leftover pudding for breakfast on Boxing Day - had ice cream on our cereal on a camping trip when the shop had run out of milk etc etc. When we were in Italy we were having gelati twice a day (sometimes more) because it was great fun.

Those sorts of things are fun because they are not the normal thing.

I agree with the poster who said to stop fighting about it around him, he really doesn't need to hear that.

how about milk - perfectly OK to move him to semi-skimed at his age if he eats much.

Cheese cause weight gain? Of course it can but it depends how much of it he eats. You may find the issue is just portion sizes. it always amazes me what small portions my DS (3.3) eats but when I checked it was about right.

Switch to lower cal treats eg ice-cream is actually not too nigh in cals if you choose something like a small choc ice not so good if he's getting a Magnum!

I think the constipation would have to be pretty serious for it to cause a constantly swollen tummy.

I also don't think cake as a once off for breakfast is that bad. Cake after all is mostly eggs, flour, butter and sugar, none of which are intrinsically bad for a toddler.

Fruit juice twice a day every day is far worse for his health(not to mention expensive).

They can have semi-skimmed milk from the age of 2.

What centile is his hight on?

sorry "height"

But doesn't weetabix contain quite a bit of sugar? Try porridge or muesli instead. Also agree about half juice, half water. Subtly minimise the cakes, ice creams, chips, chicken nuggets and fried things, and do smaller amounts of them alongside more veg options. Crackerbread makes a great snack as it tastes really nice and looks big, but is very light and airy - DS loves it.

But also wouldn't worry much about a chubby 3yo - just subtly alter the food balance a bit.

I think many fussy eaters are born not made, and so is body shape to an extent - DS is on the tall and skinny side, but wolfs vast amounts of everything (and not all of it healthy).

Don't give him the 1% milk though. They can't have 1% milk or skimmed milk (which is revolting imo) until they are 5.

I tell DS rice cakes are biscuits and crackers are crisps