13yr old's pediatrician just told her she is overweight and I am pissed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She IS overweight for her height. It is her doctor's job to talk to her about that. It is NOT about her looks but about her health. Nothing to get your feelings hurt about.

+1 This is about her health. We don't need a generation of people reliant on Ozempic. Start addressing the real issues early.

Oh brother! I am the one you're responding to and on Ozempic. Just stop.

You don't wish your parents helped you earlier?

I am not going to comment on what my parents did or didn't do. Your comment on a "generation reliant on Ozempic" is not necessary. Some people use drugs to get healthy. Nothing wrong with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The pediatrician would be derelict in their duty if they did not run a BMI calculation and inform you that your child is overweight. It is standard practice. Being overweght comes with increased risk for a lot of chronic conditions such as Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, etc. It is better to flag these things early rather than later in life.

Well it is obvious you are not in the medical field. 5 feet 5 inches and 150lbs on a teen still growing is not at risk for type 2 diabetes or high blood pressure. The girl also plays sports and works out year round.

+1 - where are these people coming from?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Her BMI is high, but her doctor should do a body fat measurement before having any concern, because you are absolutely correct that, if she has a lot of muscle, a high BMI alone does not indicate a health issue.
I would likely change doctors if her current doctor does not grasp that issue.

13 YO girls rarely have "a lot of muscle." Even ones who are as active as OP says her DD is.

[Anonymous]

She is 5.25 height and was 151lbs with her clothes and sneakers on.

I'm just under 5'2" and I'm 125 pounds -- in my mid-50s. I control my eating to maintain my BMI.

OP, she IS heavy for her height, and lucky for her she is still at an age where it can melt right off if she puts her mind to it.

Yes, some of it could be muscle mass from athletic activity. But not all of it.

It is better that she hear this message from a doctor than from her own mother whose words carry additional weight (pun intended). It is a dose of reality for your DD to pay attention to her creeping weight gain, and to pay attention to what she eats.

If she doesn't learn it now, she will be 250 pounds at age 55.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At my daughter's well visit and during that time she talked to her about physical activity etc...

My daughter does cross fit in winter, volleyball in Fall, and travel softball year round. She definitely has an athletic body. She wears a size 6 in jeans and a small or medium in shirts/pants. She is 5.25 height and was 151lbs with her clothes and sneakers on.

This pediatrician talked to her about being in the overweight category in the BMI and I almost lost my $hit. My jaw dropped. She looks nothing overweight. She has muscular legs and arms (she is a softball pitcher) and no belly gut. She isn't a twig but man, I was thrown they would talk like this to a girl teen. When we left, I told my daughter to not listen to her and she is strong and beautiful and muscle weights more than fat and not to worry at all. But I know this made her start overthinking. I could see it.

Is this normal? Really thinking of moving doctors.

Man, I feel for doctors these days on some level. The lady is just doing her job OP. She is in fact overweight on the BMI chart.

First, muscle does not weight more than fat. Muscle is more dense so a pound of muscle is going to look different than a pound of fat for sure.

I think your role is to ask how your daughter feels. How did your daughter process what the doctor said? Talk together about how being an athlete can change body composition. All you did is just message to her daughter that the conversation upset YOU and you are not a safe space for her to talk about it anymore. Don't listen to the doctor. Don't worry. Done.

Good pediatricians never (and I mean NEVER) use the adult BMI scale to dictate if a growing teen is considered overweight. Lazy ones do.

Good pedestrians never (and I mean NEVER) tell a growing teen they are overweight or obese. That is life altering and can immediately cause ED's and other mental disorders

You are insane. Of course they do and they should. My son's 13 year old classmate just had a gastric bypass. This child was morbidly obese due some extensive trauma but I'm glad he got the help he needed to get his health in order.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At my daughter's well visit and during that time she talked to her about physical activity etc...

My daughter does cross fit in winter, volleyball in Fall, and travel softball year round. She definitely has an athletic body. She wears a size 6 in jeans and a small or medium in shirts/pants. She is 5 ft 5.25 inches height and was 151lbs with her clothes and sneakers on.

This pediatrician talked to her about being in the overweight category in the BMI and I almost lost my $hit. My jaw dropped. She looks nothing overweight. She has muscular legs and arms (she is a softball pitcher) and no belly gut. She isn't a twig but man, I was thrown they would talk like this to a girl teen. When we left, I told my daughter to not listen to her and she is strong and beautiful and muscle weights more than fat and not to worry at all. But I know this made her start overthinking. I could see it.

Is this normal? Really thinking of moving doctors.

Omg I am the OP. Sorry, she is 5 ft and 5.25 inches. I changed it

You mean 5'5"? That's very different from 5.25

At 5'5 and 151, it still puts her in the overweight BMI.

By 2 pounds right? Or is the chart different for teens?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She IS overweight for her height. It is her doctor's job to talk to her about that. It is NOT about her looks but about her health. Nothing to get your feelings hurt about.

+1 This is about her health. We don't need a generation of people reliant on Ozempic. Start addressing the real issues early.

Oh brother! I am the one you're responding to and on Ozempic. Just stop.

You don't wish your parents helped you earlier?

I am not going to comment on what my parents did or didn't do. Your comment on a "generation reliant on Ozempic" is not necessary. Some people use drugs to get healthy. Nothing wrong with it.

The point is there are things you can do when a child is showing signs of obesity before it gets to that point. How many 80s/90s parents had blinders on thinking “oh my kids just big boned”. It would be negligent if the doctor did not point that OPs daughter is only 13 years old, 5”5 and 150+pounds…. And she’s apparently super active? I would think that would be something to flag for the parents to watch/monitor.

[Anonymous]

Wait, are there literally people on here telling OP that her daughter who is 5ft and 5 inches tall with a 27 inch waist and wears S/M clothes - OVERWEIGHT?

And we wonder why eating disorders are on the rise so much.

You all believing BMI is a trusted thing is insane

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At my daughter's well visit and during that time she talked to her about physical activity etc...

My daughter does cross fit in winter, volleyball in Fall, and travel softball year round. She definitely has an athletic body. She wears a size 6 in jeans and a small or medium in shirts/pants. She is 5 ft 5.25 inches height and was 151lbs with her clothes and sneakers on.

This pediatrician talked to her about being in the overweight category in the BMI and I almost lost my $hit. My jaw dropped. She looks nothing overweight. She has muscular legs and arms (she is a softball pitcher) and no belly gut. She isn't a twig but man, I was thrown they would talk like this to a girl teen. When we left, I told my daughter to not listen to her and she is strong and beautiful and muscle weights more than fat and not to worry at all. But I know this made her start overthinking. I could see it.

Is this normal? Really thinking of moving doctors.

Omg I am the OP. Sorry, she is 5 ft and 5.25 inches. I changed it

You mean 5'5"? That's very different from 5.25

At 5'5 and 151, it still puts her in the overweight BMI.

By 2 pounds right? Or is the chart different for teens?

https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/bmi/calculator.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At my daughter's well visit and during that time she talked to her about physical activity etc...

My daughter does cross fit in winter, volleyball in Fall, and travel softball year round. She definitely has an athletic body. She wears a size 6 in jeans and a small or medium in shirts/pants. She is 5 ft 5.25 inches height and was 151lbs with her clothes and sneakers on.

This pediatrician talked to her about being in the overweight category in the BMI and I almost lost my $hit. My jaw dropped. She looks nothing overweight. She has muscular legs and arms (she is a softball pitcher) and no belly gut. She isn't a twig but man, I was thrown they would talk like this to a girl teen. When we left, I told my daughter to not listen to her and she is strong and beautiful and muscle weights more than fat and not to worry at all. But I know this made her start overthinking. I could see it.

Is this normal? Really thinking of moving doctors.

Omg I am the OP. Sorry, she is 5 ft and 5.25 inches. I changed it

You mean 5'5"? That's very different from 5.25

At 5'5 and 151, it still puts her in the overweight BMI.

By 2 pounds right? Or is the chart different for teens?

The Excuse making and attempts at rationalization on this thread are astounding!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She is 5.25 height and was 151lbs with her clothes and sneakers on.

I'm just under 5'2" and I'm 125 pounds -- in my mid-50s. I control my eating to maintain my BMI.

OP, she IS heavy for her height, and lucky for her she is still at an age where it can melt right off if she puts her mind to it.

Yes, some of it could be muscle mass from athletic activity. But not all of it.

It is better that she hear this message from a doctor than from her own mother whose words carry additional weight (pun intended). It is a dose of reality for your DD to pay attention to her creeping weight gain, and to pay attention to what she eats.

If she doesn't learn it now, she will be 250 pounds at age 55.

Karen - read the comments first

[Anonymous]

I was 143 pounds at age 12. My mom talked to my ped who said she didn't really think I needed to lose weight. I continued to gain and have been 250 pounds my entire adult life. Once your body gets bigger, it is harder to ever make it smaller again. I wish someone had helped me when I was a child and I would have had a different life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Her BMI is high, but her doctor should do a body fat measurement before having any concern, because you are absolutely correct that, if she has a lot of muscle, a high BMI alone does not indicate a health issue.
I would likely change doctors if her current doctor does not grasp that issue.

13 YO girls rarely have "a lot of muscle." Even ones who are as active as OP says her DD is.

This is wrong. Yeah, they may not bulge like a weight lifter, but young female athletes can have lots of muscle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was 143 pounds at age 12. My mom talked to my ped who said she didn't really think I needed to lose weight. I continued to gain and have been 250 pounds my entire adult life. Once your body gets bigger, it is harder to ever make it smaller again. I wish someone had helped me when I was a child and I would have had a different life.

Were you an athlete?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wait, are there literally people on here telling OP that her daughter who is 5ft and 5 inches tall with a 27 inch waist and wears S/M clothes - OVERWEIGHT?

And we wonder why eating disorders are on the rise so much.

You all believing BMI is a trusted thing is insane

we were telling her that her pediatrician was not wrong for perhaps alerting her and her DD that a BMI of almost 28 (based on the original weight OP reported) was not out of line. OP later came back to tell us she gave us the wrong data.