DS1 (9) worried he's fat

[recyclingbag]

Several times recently DS1 has said something makes him look fat.

He is quite the opposite. He is very tall for his age and has always been skinny. He never sits still, eats like a horse but still nothing on him.

He says his belly is fat. It's not but obviously he's 9 so he doesn't have a six pack.

He says he's fatter than the other boys at school.

What do I say?

Both DH & I are overweight. I'm a size 16 but am active (I go running /cycling etc) and I would say we're quite an active family.

We eat healthy meals.

I'm sure it's not a big issue but set off alarm bells with me about body confidence that I never thought I'd have to worry about.

Check the details first to be sure your going to get the result you expect, but if you enter his height, weight and age into the kids bmi calculator on the NHS website, it tells you where you are in the he spectrum.

I have checked. He is slap bang in the middle of healthy weight.

51st percentile.

My ds says the same, I think it must be something that's said at school. Mine probably is a little overweight but I'm not sure how to tackle it without reinforcing the negative message - this is tricky!

Where do you think he is getting this idea from?
Why would he even be thinking about this at his age?
Has something happened?

May be time for a 'there are all sorts of body shapes and sizes, and what is important is that a person is healthy' chat. Not everyone is built the same way, and various sizes and shapes make a person suited for different things (a rugby player vs a jockey, for example).

I think someone said something at school.

He says all the boys at school are really skinny.