My 51 pound three-year-old girl is not overweight, just BIG

[Anonymous]

Honestly, I think your pediatrician is alarmed because that's incredibly big.

I would be concerned about the possibility of a pituitary gland tumor if I were him.

[Anonymous]

Both of my boys were among the taller kids in their Kinder classes and weighed right around 50 pounds. Their weight/height percentage was pretty much the same.

So it's o.k. to be in the 99th percentile for weight but height should be 99th percentile, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, I think your pediatrician is alarmed because that's incredibly big.

I would be concerned about the possibility of a pituitary gland tumor if I were him.

Yes. Pituitary gland tumor and excessive growth hormone being produced. I'd be concerned, too.

Almost all pituitary tumors are benign (non-cancerous) glandular tumors called pituitary adenomas. These tumors are considered benign because they don’t spread to other parts of the body, like cancers can do. Still, even benign pituitary tumors can cause significant health problems because of their location near the brain and because many of them secrete excess hormones.

Anterior pituitary
Most pituitary tumors begin in the larger, front part of the pituitary gland known as the anterior pituitary. This part of the gland makes several hormones that control other endocrine glands.
• Growth hormone (GH, also known as somatotropin) promotes body growth during childhood. If too much is made in a child they will grow very tall. Normally, adults make only small amounts of growth hormone. If an adult makes too much growth hormone, the bones of the hands, feet, and face continue to grow and become quite large, causing their normal features to become distorted. This condition is called acromegaly.
• Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH, also called thyrotropin) stimulates growth of the thyroid gland and the release of thyroid hormone. Thyroid hormone regulates metabolism. Too much makes you hyperactive and shaky, and too little makes you sluggish. If a pituitary tumor makes too much TSH, it can cause hyperthyroidism (an overactive thyroid gland)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, I think your pediatrician is alarmed because that's incredibly big.

I would be concerned about the possibility of a pituitary gland tumor if I were him.

+1
My four year old is 42 inches (four years and two months, since that seems relevant when discussing growth) and 40 pounds, and he's near the top of the charts for height. 42 inches and 51 pounds for a three year old? I would want to talk testing.

[Anonymous]

Well 42 inches tall and 51 pounds is sort of high when my 4 year old was 43 inches he was 39 lbs and not underweight

[Anonymous]

Not to be mean, but the height weight charts sort of Max out. So your 3 year old is off the charts tall by maybe an inch. She is off the weight charts by probably 10 lbs. that is a heavy inch. Time to take the doctor seriously.

[Anonymous]

My daughter has also always been big but proportionate (in the 97-99 percentile for height and weight). The important thing to look at is that height/weight balance how she is tracking on her growth curve. Is she growing consistently in both? It's a red flag when weight jumps up above that child's curve, not just having a high weight. We have a great pediatrician who looks at all those aspects of DD's growth, not just her weight. She did once raise an issue with us with DD was in for her 6 yr old check up -- her weight had, for the first time, deviated up above her usual curve. That prompted us to review what had changed in her life. We realized that when DH took over packing lunches (I'd gone back to FT work) he was loading her up with lots of carbs. We got her lunch back to a better balance and by the next check up her weight was back to its normal trajectory. The pediatrician is also a good partner with us in helping DD be confident about her size -- she talks with her about the range of variation in size, the importance of a healthy lifestyle, that muscle mass and frame size are important factors to consider. So far, she doesn't seem to be self-conscious about her weight (103 lbs) but enjoys being one of the tallest girls in class (5'1" in 4th grade) and very strong (she does rock climbing and martial arts).

I'd highly recommend that you read the book "Your Child's Weight: Helping Without Harming" by Satter to learn about appropriate growth and how to be support your daughter, whether she is overweight or not she will need your support.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD was 7 pounds and 6 ounces at birth. By three months she remained on the 99-100% percentile for height and weight. She is just big, always looking so much older than the children around her age.

She is now 3, and weighed 51 pounds at her last appointment and our pediatrician said it was alarming because it was way off the average for children her age. It always has been, and so is her height. If you were to look at her you wouldn't see a overweight, or even chunky three-year-old...you'd see a athletic five or six-year-old. She is 42 inches tall, she's taller than her five year old cousin. Why all the sudden the concern about her weight when it's in correlation with her height? She isn't and won't ever be a thin girl, she is muscular and has a wide build like her father.

The doctor even admitted that if she were older that the height and weight would be fine but he is concerned just because it's abnormal for her age. Why is he worried about the weight and not the height?

I know it doesn't mean much without pictures, but she's just not an overweight fat child. She is just BIG!

I don't know, my 4yo is 46 inches and 40 lbs and slim but not skinny. I think 11 lbs heavier and 4 inches shorter is probably heavy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no such thing as just a big child. Your child is overweight. Fix it now or it will continue to get worse.

But her child is 42 inches. That is VERY tall. My 7-year old DD is 42 inches and weighs 45 lbs and is SUPER skinny and tall for her age. So if OP's DD is really 42 in and weighs 51 lbs at 3, then I doubt she's overweight. The real question is why she is so tall. OP -- are you and DH very tall?

42" is not tall for a 7 yo. My son is 5 and 46" and average on his class. Are you sure she's 42"??

[Anonymous]

Those measurements correspond to a bmi of 20.3 which is well over the 97th% for bmi for a 3 yo girl. That's the equivalent of an adult bmi in the mid 30's and is extremely concerning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are immigrants from another country. We are a different race than white. It is ridiculous for our kid to be not compared with other kids of the same race.

WTH? Are you saying "all" Asian kids are skinny and "all" Hispanic kids are fluffy? And you're one of those? You're off your rocker, PP

[Anonymous]

PP here. Also, our ped said that 99th percentile in height (which our daughter has been since 3 months, her dad is 6'7" and I am 5'9"), shouldn't necessarily match up with 99th percentile in weight after age 2 or so. Max height can't be increased with overeating, but after the infant years, being at the top of the weight percentiles probably means you're overweight. So he said that it's typical to be 99th in height and 75th in weight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD was 7 pounds and 6 ounces at birth. By three months she remained on the 99-100% percentile for height and weight. She is just big, always looking so much older than the children around her age.

She is now 3, and weighed 51 pounds at her last appointment and our pediatrician said it was alarming because it was way off the average for children her age. It always has been, and so is her height. If you were to look at her you wouldn't see a overweight, or even chunky three-year-old...you'd see a athletic five or six-year-old. She is 42 inches tall, she's taller than her five year old cousin. Why all the sudden the concern about her weight when it's in correlation with her height? She isn't and won't ever be a thin girl, she is muscular and has a wide build like her father.

The doctor even admitted that if she were older that the height and weight would be fine but he is concerned just because it's abnormal for her age. Why is he worried about the weight and not the height?

I know it doesn't mean much without pictures, but she's just not an overweight fat child. She is just BIG!

A 7.6 birthweight would not be in the 99% percentile. Sorry, OP, it sounds like you're in denial about the size of your snowflake. Your ped went to med school while you, presumably, did not. I'd be a little more receptive about what he's saying

[Anonymous]

When I brought home the statement from the doctor that my children were technically obese, everyone did a double take. They are both quite tall for their ages and universally mistaken for being older. They don't look at all chubby or even plump. The ratio is appropriate.

Still.

I re-visited our diet and removed some snacks. I also added more opportunities for exercise. Nothing major.

Why not take in the feedback from your doctor? It prompted me to improve the good habits that were already in place and remove a couple of things from my grocery list that didn't fully contribute to healthy energy and high-power nutrition.

We all have room to improve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP here. Also, our ped said that 99th percentile in height (which our daughter has been since 3 months, her dad is 6'7" and I am 5'9"), shouldn't necessarily match up with 99th percentile in weight after age 2 or so. Max height can't be increased with overeating, but after the infant years, being at the top of the weight percentiles probably means you're overweight. So he said that it's typical to be 99th in height and 75th in weight.

By definition, 1% of healthy, non-overweight children are in the 99th percentile for weight.