My 3-year-old is "at risk for overweight"

[Anonymous]

We just got back from the doctor and that is what the print-out of the vital statistics said. My son is a twin and has an older brother. The other two boys are of normal weight. My son has always had a really good appetite since birth. There is no food he doesn't like. Since he likes everything, we serve lots of fruits and veg and he always eats everything.

We do not eat processed food, fast food, etc. I cook all of our food from scratch. We normally don't do dessert - maybe some fruit after supper. On weekends, I make cookies from scratch as a treat. This son always cleans his plate and will often have more than one serving of food. I don't limit what he eats because it is always a fresh home-cooked meal full of fish, vegetables, whole grains, etc.

He is as active as any 3-year-old. He is always running, climbing and jumping. He attends a Montessori preschool with 2 hours a day of outdoor play (they nap for 2 hours and do their "work" for the other 2 hours). We are outside almost every evening and on weekends.

What more should I be doing?

[Anonymous]

Introduce more whole grains/high fiber. Bread/cereals/pasta should be 2 grams of fiber or more.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like you're doing everything right. Make sure he's getting a good source of protein at each meal/snack and that he's hydrated.

Btw those BMI charts can be way off. Don't put too much importance on them.

[Anonymous]

Don't worry about it.....my daughter was the same and I refuse to put her on a diet at this age. She has a high BMI, but she is not fat. She wears appropriate sized clothing and eats a variety of foods.

[Anonymous]

Give him smaller portions, why is he so hungry all the time?

[Anonymous]

Wouldn't worry about it at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't worry about it.....my daughter was the same and I refuse to put her on a diet at this age. She has a high BMI, but she is not fat. She wears appropriate sized clothing and eats a variety of foods.

Op here. Thank you, PP. This son and his twin wear the same size clothes - 3T or 4T. His BMI is in the 90th percentile, but I can't imagine what to do to improve his diet/lifestyle besides eliminating all treats, which would make for a sad childhood.

[Anonymous]

Sometimes weight is just a number and sometimes it's an indicator - do you think he's over weight? If it's just the number that's high I'd completely ignore it - he sounds pretty perfect to me otherwise

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Give him smaller portions, why is he so hungry all the time?

Op here. I don't know why he eats so much. He and his twin do the exact same activities. He just has a bigger appetite and has been like that since birth.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like you are doing a great job. What is he drinking? Is he getting too many liquid calories?

[Anonymous]

Did the pediatrician mention it or seems concerned? If not, and it is just the words on the print out, then I think you are overreacting. If you are concerned, email the doc. But some kids truly ARE big-boned. I have a DS who always weighed a lot and ate a ton and he was slightly chubby for about a year at age 12 before his massive growth spurt into puberty. Other than that short span, he has always been average proportions, but very heavy. He is just muscular and dense. He is now a Navy Seal and still muscular and strong. DH is the same and jokes that men in his family are built like Clydesdales.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like you are doing a great job. What is he drinking? Is he getting too many liquid calories?

Thank you. They drink milk and water. At preschool, it's only water. They get milk at breakfast and supper, but they rarely finish their milk. I think they get most of their hydration from water and fruit.

They get juice at birthday parties, play dates, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did the pediatrician mention it or seems concerned? If not, and it is just the words on the print out, then I think you are overreacting. If you are concerned, email the doc. But some kids truly ARE big-boned. I have a DS who always weighed a lot and ate a ton and he was slightly chubby for about a year at age 12 before his massive growth spurt into puberty. Other than that short span, he has always been average proportions, but very heavy. He is just muscular and dense. He is now a Navy Seal and still muscular and strong. DH is the same and jokes that men in his family are built like Clydesdales.

The doctor said nothing about the weight, but he is a 20-something resident, so he is relatively inexperienced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wouldn't worry about it at all.

I wouldn't either.

You have some awareness so you might see some opportunities in the future, but it sounds like you are doing the right things.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't worry about the weight and I would just keep emphasizing healthy eating. You might want to talk about portion control and hunger cues in an age appropriate way too. The main concern is that as he gets older he will make more and more of his own food choices and with a big appetite, if he doesn't choose well, he will quickly gain weight.

At his age and given that he eats healthily and gets regular exercise, nothing to worry about now.