My 4yr old "overweight"

Be_Nice

Is it just her weight that's on the 94th %ile or height as well? If its both then you have nothing to worry about, she is just tall.

Althougth the the whole %ile thing is not always that accurate, my daughter is admittedly very tall and slim 75th %ile for height, 25th %ile for weight, so according to the charts very underweight. However, she eats very well, breakfast lunch and dinner and healthy snacks inbetween, she does look slim but not scrawny. Health visitor said its just the way she is, nothing to worry about.

My son has always been on the 98th %ile for height and 91st %ile weight, so not overwight at all as his height/weight match, infact he looks like he could do with putting on a few extra poinds, we nickname him 'Mr Burns' (The Simpsons) when he is naked as he looks so skinny!

Do you think your daughter looks overweight, how is her diet?

I agree with the post above about teaching children how to moderate their intake of 'bad' foods and also having an open fruit bowl.

Becles

Bella79 wrote: »

Ahh, thankyou all for your kind words and helping me out, I am def gonna cut the chocolate out, i dont know why i do it , when i was young we got a treat on a saturday night with the video we hired !:D

She cleared a good dinner tonight, a tea plate size of shephards pie with hidden veg , i would have usually given her a biscuit afterwards, but tonight i just gave her a small glass of milk for bed.

Don't cut the chocolate out altogether. Let her have it as a treat, like you did with video night, and it teaches her that it's ok to have less healthy foods now and again. My daughter had crisps today but knows she's not allowed to eat crisps every day as they're not as healthy as other foods, but they're ok to have a couple of days a week.

If you teach her how to eat healthy now, she'll be less likely to binge on junk food later in life.

I hate terms like bad food, naughty food etc., as that just makes it more attractive to eat!

Try and work on the hidden veg becoming less hidden too. I know you put it in there because it's good for her, but she's going to grow up thinking she hates veg. Try putting out tiny portions and encouraging her to eat them then build up when she realises she likes them.

All of mine have been interested in where fruit and veg come from, so finding out how they grow might help. Also get involved in cooking as she's more likely to eat food that she has helped to prepare - even if it's just a simple job like picking the pieces up that you've cut and putting them in the steamer basket.

ailuro2

I think you will know yourself if your child is carrying baby fat or whether she's overweight for real - normally a double chin indicates the latter.;)

Never mind the weight thing, her dentist will tell you not to feed her chocolate and sweets on a daily basis - home made or not! I can whip up something really unhealthy from a recipe, just because it's homemade doesn't mean it's good for you.:)

I'd replace the milky bar with fruit and yoghurt, make sure she's getting plenty of fluids ( as thirst can be confused for food hunger) but not squash, just plain water or milk.

Make sure she's getting plenty of "exercise" too - they normally do at that age, but a walk to the park rather than sitting in front of CBeebies after tea is a nice way to spend some time together.

NickyBat

I wouldn't even be thinking about her weight at this age.............it's puppy fat!
the likelihood is that when she starts school the weight will even out as she uses more energy and has the growth spurts. Obviously if it doesn't and she keeps putting weight on then do something about it but at this age i wouldn't worry

JodyBPM

I posted a similar thread to this a year or so ago about my DD.

I was generally reassured by peoples comments, and now as a six year old my DD has def slimmed down. I didn't make any major changes to her diet, just kept an eye on portion size etc. TBH my DD was never "fat", she was just ranking high on the NHS centile charts for both weight AND height, but the NHS online tool was saying she was overweight which really worried me.

Honestly, as long as she eats a good varied diet with appropriate portion sizes (I would cut out daily chocolate though) and is active and running around, then Im sure she will be fine.

nottslass_2

NickyBat wrote: »

I wouldn't even be thinking about her weight at this age.............it's puppy fat!
the likelihood is that when she starts school the weight will even out as she uses more energy and has the growth spurts. Obviously if it doesn't and she keeps putting weight on then do something about it but at this age i wouldn't worry

"Puppy Fat" is still fat and its still detrimental to health.

Overweight children oftern end up as overweight adults and its far better to address weight issues early and adopt healthy eating habits for life.

Bella79

Morning all,


Thankyou all for your helpfull replys and not a troll in isight ! :j,
i was expecting some sacrastic comments.

I was laid in bed last night, giving this a lot of thought, ive def got to do something about our who health as a family, my mum and her family are over weight and there perspective of what healthy is is soo offf the mark, when they see someon who is slim they always say things like "ohh i wouldnt want to be like that", or "im glad e**** is not like that (my child )".

All my family serve massive portions and use lard to cook most things !, im not like them i have pretty good cooking skills and never use lard, sometimes i use olive oil but not often.

I can remeber my mother as a child jumping from one diet to another boxes of cambridge stacked up in cuboard, going to slimming classes with her. And then when she did well it was "ohh we will go out for a meal now as a treat" :wall:, or when she wasnt feeling well "ohh i cant diet when im not well, and one of her many quotes "strengh goes in at the mouth" lol, Hey im not blaming my wonderfull yoyo dieting mother, but my attitude to food is the same as hers, ohh im feeling down lets have a treat, ohh im not well lets eat, bored = EAT.

My husband on the other hand always had 3 meals a day and that was it, his mum told him that if she didnt buy him sweets he could have the money for his piggy bank, being the sensbile one of us 2 he chose the piggy bank idea lol.

This morning went well anyhows, shes usally asking for biscuits by now, shes had 1 weetabix with semi milk and some chopped strawberrys and milk, lunch will be a sandwich, we are going out later and wont be home till later so i will take her a snack of rasins. I myself have had weetabix and fruit so heres hoping fingers crossed to a more healthy way of life for us all. This has been the wakeup call ive needed, My daughter to have a healthy attitiude to food and hopefully at 4 im not too late to change it. x

LittleMissMPB

I think you must have a different chart used in your red book to the one I have (my daughter turns 4 in sept) I know they used an up to date one with my son, but my daughters says it is from the "child growth foundation 1996/1"

I worked out from what you said that your daughter is 45lb. So for the sake of looking at the chart in the red book, I converted it to 20.4kg. Even at 4y6m this is below the 91st% and is on the 75% for a 5yr old. So, assuming she is 4yr6m and according to the chart I have in front of me she is on roughly the 55% for height, and 85% for weight.

I wouldn' worry too much tbh. Just make sure she is eating healthy and that treats are treats. If it helps my daughter looks skinny, but her height and weight are both at the 75% but she is still shorter than any 3yr old I know, which I don't understand. I think the charts are out of date. I may look in my sons later just out of interest to see how much they have changed. The new ones are taken from WHO data.

pinkclouds

Bella79 wrote: »

Im overweight too, so i guess i have to blame myself but i will do everything in my power to make sure shes not the "fat girl" at school as its hell. But i dont want to make her paraniod either, i suppose theres a fine line. shes 3ft 6in and 3st 3lbs.

My DD is about 46 months, so she's near enough the same age as your DD. I have just worked out the BMIs for her and myself (although the figures might be a bit "rough" because I just measure height against the doorframe with a tape measure) - so, about 58 centile for her and 18.09 BMI for me. But - and it's a big but - we are both small people. She's about 3'2 and I'm 5'3. Your DD is taller than mine and I bet you're taller than me. You haven't mentioned your height here but if you and/or hubby are tall then your kid will always be on a larger scale than her peers. Sod the scales. I think it's more important that weight is in proportion with height.

As for eating habits, I don't think we have a typical day. I certainly don't actively measure anything. I use kids/baby plates (i.e. side plate size) to serve my kids' food and I don't expect them to finish everything. I encourage them to eat a lot of fruit. They certainly get chocolate, when they ask for it - so not every day but several times a week I guess. And I have ice cream in the freezer. If they want snacks during daytime, they get them. My philosophy is: eat when you're hungry and don't when you're not.

Btw, I just used the NHS BMI calculator: http://www.nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/Healthyweightcalculator.aspx

nottslass_2

Bella79 wrote: »

Morning all,


Thankyou all for your helpfull replys and not a troll in isight ! :j,
i was expecting some sacrastic comments.

I was laid in bed last night, giving this a lot of thought, ive def got to do something about our who health as a family, my mum and her family are over weight and there perspective of what healthy is is soo offf the mark, when they see someon who is slim they always say things like "ohh i wouldnt want to be like that", or "im glad e**** is not like that (my child )".

All my family serve massive portions and use lard to cook most things !, im not like them i have pretty good cooking skills and never use lard, sometimes i use olive oil but not often.

I can remeber my mother as a child jumping from one diet to another boxes of cambridge stacked up in cuboard, going to slimming classes with her. And then when she did well it was "ohh we will go out for a meal now as a treat" :wall:, or when she wasnt feeling well "ohh i cant diet when im not well, and one of her many quotes "strengh goes in at the mouth" lol, Hey im not blaming my wonderfull yoyo dieting mother, but my attitude to food is the same as hers, ohh im feeling down lets have a treat, ohh im not well lets eat, bored = EAT.

My husband on the other hand always had 3 meals a day and that was it, his mum told him that if she didnt buy him sweets he could have the money for his piggy bank, being the sensbile one of us 2 he chose the piggy bank idea lol.

This morning went well anyhows, shes usally asking for biscuits by now, shes had 1 weetabix with semi milk and some chopped strawberrys and milk, lunch will be a sandwich, we are going out later and wont be home till later so i will take her a snack of rasins. I myself have had weetabix and fruit so heres hoping fingers crossed to a more healthy way of life for us all. This has been the wakeup call ive needed, My daughter to have a healthy attitiude to food and hopefully at 4 im not too late to change it. x

What a refreshing and honest post.

Sincerly wishing you and your family a happy and healthy life