Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just used the kids BMI calculator and apparently my VERY skinny 5 year old is in the 82nd percentile for BMI. (He is not tall). This is just below "overweight"

My average (certainly not chubby) 2.5 year old is in the 89th percentile for BMI.

I was firmly in the "your kid's fat" camp, until I looked at this. I can't believe that my 5 year old can be "close" to overweight. the only possible explanation I have is that they have huge heads (heavy perhaps?) They certainly aren't muscular or even stocky. the only descriptor for my 5 year old's body type would be skinny.

Parents are notoriously bad at realizing if their child is overweight. My husband tells me all the time that our 5 year old is so skinny, when in reality he is average (his BMI is in the 67th percentile rank). He is a muscular kid because he does gymnastics three times a week. His 8 year old brother is 2 pounds away from being in the overweight category, which my husband refuses to believe. He would never be called chubby, but young elementary kids should be lean. There is an epidemic of obesity in this country. I dug out a photo album when I was kid. I showed him pictures of pool parties we had as a kid and swim team pictures. Almost all the kids look so skinny compared to many kids now. When we were at my MIL's house I had her take out photo albums too. The same thing was found- lots of kids that look really skinny but were considered average back then . Since realizes the older ones BMI we have cut out some processed foods, made sure there was cut up fruits and veggies in the fridge, and stopped bringing snacks with us everywhere. I think it is the endless snacking that is leading the obesity epidemic.

Maybe some parents are, but I'm certain that if you were to see my 5 year old, there is ZERO chance that you would think that he was close to being overweight, even though the calculator says that he's in the 82nd percentile.

This is a kid whose pants fall down around the waist. He is both short, and slim for his age. He is 43 inches and 44lbs (just measured/weighed yesterday). We don't eat processed food at home (at all). He doesn't eat a lot, in fact he's somewhat picky which is an issue. There is not a gram of fat on him -- his stomach so flat it is concave and you can see his ribs. he is not "muscular" or "stocky" he's thin. If he lost weight he would be emaciated. The only explanation I can come up with to throw off his percentile is his adult size head.

My 2.5 year old is another story entirely. He has a typical toddler's physique which includes a tummy. He eats about twice what his brother eats and fills up on a wide variety of fruit and veg. He's both taller and heavier than average, but I wouldn't say he was fat at all. If he had a tummy like that at 4 or 5 then yes, he'd likely qualify as slightly overweight. So, 89 percent? Surprising, but not shocking like suggesting that my healthy thin 5 year old is close to overweight.

So I'm questioning that calculator, particularly as it applies to my older child. I even plugged in different dates of birth and found out that it doesn't relate to weight and height but that age is taken into account too.

Anonymous wrote:young elementary kids should be lean

why?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just used the kids BMI calculator and apparently my VERY skinny 5 year old is in the 82nd percentile for BMI. (He is not tall). This is just below "overweight"

My average (certainly not chubby) 2.5 year old is in the 89th percentile for BMI.

I was firmly in the "your kid's fat" camp, until I looked at this. I can't believe that my 5 year old can be "close" to overweight. the only possible explanation I have is that they have huge heads (heavy perhaps?) They certainly aren't muscular or even stocky. the only descriptor for my 5 year old's body type would be skinny.

Parents are notoriously bad at realizing if their child is overweight. My husband tells me all the time that our 5 year old is so skinny, when in reality he is average (his BMI is in the 67th percentile rank). He is a muscular kid because he does gymnastics three times a week. His 8 year old brother is 2 pounds away from being in the overweight category, which my husband refuses to believe. He would never be called chubby, but young elementary kids should be lean. There is an epidemic of obesity in this country. I dug out a photo album when I was kid. I showed him pictures of pool parties we had as a kid and swim team pictures. Almost all the kids look so skinny compared to many kids now. When we were at my MIL's house I had her take out photo albums too. The same thing was found- lots of kids that look really skinny but were considered average back then . Since realizes the older ones BMI we have cut out some processed foods, made sure there was cut up fruits and veggies in the fridge, and stopped bringing snacks with us everywhere. I think it is the endless snacking that is leading the obesity epidemic.

About kids a generation ago being skinny; FXCO native and there were very few children who were obese. These few kids realllly stood out and as I recall, nearly all of the obese kids were actively working to lose and the four or five I'm picturing have truly become fit adults.

I was a 64 pound sixth grader (girl). I was so small that I couldn't wait to get out of wearing childrens sizes and was so excited to shop at the 3/5/7 stores.

We saw a different ped in our practice and he gave me a very hard time about my kid's size which was teetering just at obese on the BMI scale.

We reviewed activity level (off the chart) and he suggested cutting out chips and serving pretzels instead and water instead of juice. I pointed out that he didn't eat pretzels or chips or crackers for that matter and we didn't serve juice at home.

I don't think the doctor believed me but I'm pretty comfortable with the nutrional profile of the kid's diet.

Anonymous wrote:My tall almost 6 yo boy is not even 51 lbs. I'd say you should heed your ped's concern.

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just used the kids BMI calculator and apparently my VERY skinny 5 year old is in the 82nd percentile for BMI. (He is not tall). This is just below "overweight"

My average (certainly not chubby) 2.5 year old is in the 89th percentile for BMI.

I was firmly in the "your kid's fat" camp, until I looked at this. I can't believe that my 5 year old can be "close" to overweight. the only possible explanation I have is that they have huge heads (heavy perhaps?) They certainly aren't muscular or even stocky. the only descriptor for my 5 year old's body type would be skinny.

Parents are notoriously bad at realizing if their child is overweight. My husband tells me all the time that our 5 year old is so skinny, when in reality he is average (his BMI is in the 67th percentile rank). He is a muscular kid because he does gymnastics three times a week. His 8 year old brother is 2 pounds away from being in the overweight category, which my husband refuses to believe. He would never be called chubby, but young elementary kids should be lean. There is an epidemic of obesity in this country. I dug out a photo album when I was kid. I showed him pictures of pool parties we had as a kid and swim team pictures. Almost all the kids look so skinny compared to many kids now. When we were at my MIL's house I had her take out photo albums too. The same thing was found- lots of kids that look really skinny but were considered average back then . Since realizes the older ones BMI we have cut out some processed foods, made sure there was cut up fruits and veggies in the fridge, and stopped bringing snacks with us everywhere. I think it is the endless snacking that is leading the obesity epidemic.

or parents are simply notoriously bad at measuring 2.5 yo height precisely. even half an inch makes a big difference ~ 15% on the percentile.

Anonymous wrote:I just used the kids BMI calculator and apparently my VERY skinny 5 year old is in the 82nd percentile for BMI. (He is not tall). This is just below "overweight"

My average (certainly not chubby) 2.5 year old is in the 89th percentile for BMI.

I was firmly in the "your kid's fat" camp, until I looked at this. I can't believe that my 5 year old can be "close" to overweight. the only possible explanation I have is that they have huge heads (heavy perhaps?) They certainly aren't muscular or even stocky. the only descriptor for my 5 year old's body type would be skinny.

Parents are notoriously bad at realizing if their child is overweight. My husband tells me all the time that our 5 year old is so skinny, when in reality he is average (his BMI is in the 67th percentile rank). He is a muscular kid because he does gymnastics three times a week. His 8 year old brother is 2 pounds away from being in the overweight category, which my husband refuses to believe. He would never be called chubby, but young elementary kids should be lean. There is an epidemic of obesity in this country. I dug out a photo album when I was kid. I showed him pictures of pool parties we had as a kid and swim team pictures. Almost all the kids look so skinny compared to many kids now. When we were at my MIL's house I had her take out photo albums too. The same thing was found- lots of kids that look really skinny but were considered average back then . Since realizes the older ones BMI we have cut out some processed foods, made sure there was cut up fruits and veggies in the fridge, and stopped bringing snacks with us everywhere. I think it is the endless snacking that is leading the obesity epidemic.

I just used the kids BMI calculator and apparently my VERY skinny 5 year old is in the 82nd percentile for BMI. (He is not tall). This is just below "overweight"

My average (certainly not chubby) 2.5 year old is in the 89th percentile for BMI.

I was firmly in the "your kid's fat" camp, until I looked at this. I can't believe that my 5 year old can be "close" to overweight. the only possible explanation I have is that they have huge heads (heavy perhaps?) They certainly aren't muscular or even stocky. the only descriptor for my 5 year old's body type would be skinny.

My tall almost 6 yo boy is not even 51 lbs. I'd say you should heed your ped's concern.

Anonymous wrote:I'm sure a million people have already written things like this here, but my children were adorable, chubby babies and toddlers. One of my sons was put in a major ad campaign by a friend of mine who works for a major retailer.

They are now 9 (twins) and 10, and skinny, lanky, athletic kids.

If your child is eating healthy foods and getting lots of exercise, he will be FINE.

Ostrich

I'm sure a million people have already written things like this here, but my children were adorable, chubby babies and toddlers. One of my sons was put in a major ad campaign by a friend of mine who works for a major retailer.

They are now 9 (twins) and 10, and skinny, lanky, athletic kids.

If your child is eating healthy foods and getting lots of exercise, he will be FINE.

Anonymous wrote:Could they be worried about a hormonal issue?

This is what I was thinking too.

Anonymous wrote:My twin boys who are almost 9 just passed the 50 lb mark within the last few months.

Wow -- my 8 year old weights about 54 pounds, and she looks emaciated to me. I guess she's tall though (about 53 inches).

Anonymous wrote:OP, I think you are overthinking this. If the child is fine, she is fine. I know quite a few adults who are morbidly obese if you judge by the numbers only. However, their "morbid obesity" is muscle mass that is evident from their looks. Numbers are just that. If DD is tall and muscular, she's probably okay.

But it is the doctor who is raising concerns so OP needs to take it seriously and not brush it off.

This is directly from webmd based on the dats provided.

"Based on your child's age and gender, her BMI of 20.3 places her in the 99th percentile. This means that in a room of a 100 kids the same age and gender of your child, on average she has more body fat than at least 99 of them. A BMI that is in the 95th percentile or higher is in the obese range.

Many parents think that it's OK -- or even cute -- for young kids to be overweight. Your child may look like you did as a kid, or like their cousins or friends.

Most parents don't like the word "obese." It's not a word you'd use when talking with your child about this problem. Most parents use terms like "overweight" or phrases like "too heavy for your size." We use the word "obese" here because it conveys something specific to health care providers and, potentially, to you as a parent.

BMI does not tell the whole story. It gives a sense of body fat but it does not evaluate health or risk of disease. Obese children may already have a health problem. So use the fact that your child's BMI is high as a cue: Now is the time get a more thorough medical check from your child's doctor."

OP's doctor is trying to help and OP should listen

OP, I think you are overthinking this. If the child is fine, she is fine. I know quite a few adults who are morbidly obese if you judge by the numbers only. However, their "morbid obesity" is muscle mass that is evident from their looks. Numbers are just that. If DD is tall and muscular, she's probably okay.