My 4yr old "overweight"

Bella79

Hi all,

I thought my daughter was looking a little "chunky" and ive just measured her height and weight and shes coming out on the 94th centile , over weight.

Im a little upset by this, i thought she eats pretty well, all hm meals and when we do have treats there usually hm too.

I was wondering if any of you could post your childs daily eating menu if there about the same age so i can compare, and poss see where im going wrong, it could be my portion sizes.

She does have a little chocolate each day, maybe a small milkybar or somthing, do your kids have chocolate ?, do you keep it in the house ? or buy it as a special treat ?

THankyou

happy35

does your daughter look a bit chubby? I am not being cheeky but she may be solid and that is the reason she is heavy rather than actually being overweight

My son is slim but is solid and has always weighed heavy even though there was never any fat on him. At a weigh in aged about 11 or 12 he was quite a bit heavier than his friend but his friend had a bigger waist and looks generally like there was more meat on his bones

if she is eating healthily and getting plenty of exercise i wouldnt worry too much, it may be that she is putting on a little bit of weight as she is going to have a growth spurt. just keep an eye on it but dont let her know you are worried about it as there are too many children who have hang ups about their weight at too young an age

MadDogWoman_2

My daughter also 4, has had

Breakfast: 1 weetabix with semi skimmed milk followed by some blueberries.

Snack: Cake (she licked the icing off then handed it to me) and biscuit (bake sale on at Church)

Lunch: Baked potato and cheese with carrot sticks followed by a yoghurt

Snack: an orange

Tea: Small 100% meat beefburger, 3 potato wedges, peas and green beans (about 30g of each). Another orange to follow.

She is allowed chocolate, it is kept in the house as we're still consuming Easter Eggs.

Your daughter could be about to gain some height, my daughter always gains weight then shoots up - she's just grown and inch in 3 weeks.

BitterAndTwisted

I'm not sure that offering a small child chocolate every day is a good idea. What do you give her as an extra-special treat for being an extremely good girl?

In any case, just because a treat is home-made doesn't mean that it's not got loads of empty calories. Maybe your little girl needs to get outside and do some running about?

SkintGypsy

My daughter is five and only eats what she needs. She does not clear her plate often, and is constantly trying to do anything other than eat her meal. On a regular day she will eat- 1 piece of toast or half her bowl of cereal, fruit snack, a sandwich and a yoghurt for lunch, fruit snack or a biscuit, small portion of lasagne/roast dinner/fish fingers. We do not keep chocolate/special snack foods in the house and she rarely has pudding after a meal. She is tall and of a slim but muscular build. Tbh she needs to eat more. She just doesn't want to sit still long enough to do so. I would definitely look at the chocolate every day if you are concerned, but you must know if she is actually overweight, rather than the chart saying so?? Perhaps see your hv if concerned. Btw- my daughter had a nurse come to school (reception class) this year to weigh all the kids and measure them.

nad1611

I'd have to agree on the chocolate everyday issue. Apart from her weight think about her teeth. I think the other factor is how much exercise she gets as this will play a big part in the amount of calories she burns. If she's sittting in front of a TV in the evenings and weekends she won't need as much as in the summer when she's hopefully outside and playing.

I used to give a couple of bag of sweets and a chocolate bar and my girls had to make them last the weekend.
Unless it was something special or I treated them for something they'd done well, they only had sweets/chocs at the weekend. Two of my kids are in their twenties and at Uni and still like this little ritual when they're home!!!

A lot of things to do with kids is about following your instinct and getting a good balance. Make sure she drinks plenty too and get things in which can be used as a substitute for the chocolate,because everyday I think is a no no.

McKneff

I think you probably answered your own question - portion size is a major factor

Along with the chocolate every day - give her skimmed or semi skimmed milk, better for her bones.

And exercise

rachbc

94 centile is not automatically over weight - how tall is she? Mine both tend to chunk up a bit as they are about to grow.

Having said that I definately wouldn't give choc everyday, or even hm cakes etc.

Becles

Today my 4 year old daughter had:

Breakfast: honey mini-Weetabix and milk, glass of fresh pineapple juice

Snack: ginger biscuit

Lunch: wholemeal ham salad bap, packet of McCoys crisps, slice of malt loaf. She had Dr Pepper to drink as her big brother wanted it, but usually she would have squash.

Tea: toad in the hole, steamed potatoes, carrots, parsnip, broccoli and gravy. Chocolate milkshake.

She was out at the shops with us this morning and walked round. Then I've hardly seen her since! She went out after lunch and played outside until tea time. She came in and ate and she's back out again until I call her in for bedtime. She's been playing football, riding her bike, playing on a friends trampoline and generally running about so all energetic stuff!

We do have chocolate and sweets but not everyday. She's still got Easter Eggs and some Christmas sweets left!

ramblinghaggis

Where little folk are concerned i think its always best to give a small amount of food and see if they ask for more. Mine tend to have some sort of sweets or pudding a day and none of them are over weight or have bad teeth! Home cooking is great but its not always better in terms of calories....meals using a lot of carbs and dairy need small portions.

jetta_wales

I'd put good money on it being portion sizes.

For a start our two always have their meals on small plates not the large ones (our plates are square so the adult plates are quite big and the side plates are perfect for the kids). Think of your size compared to hers, compare your hands for instance and really let it sink in just how much smaller than you she is and yes I know she's growing but her meals should still not be anywhere near as big as an adults is.