toddler mamas: do you worry about your LO being overweight?

redshoegirl

There's this TV series in Australia called Life At... (Life at 1, Life at 3, Life at 5, etc.) It's really fascinating - a large scale research project to follow the lives of a child from birth to adulthood in several hundred families.

Anyway, in Life at 3, one of the comment the researchers make is that most parents are not concerned about their toddler's weight. This is stated as though it's a shocking fact, but at that point in the series they were discussing 18 month old children.

I was surprised, because although I know that childhood obesity is a growing problem, this seemed young to start stressing. To be honest, unless my child was truly obese at 18 months, as long as they were active and eating healthy food (as all the kids appeared to be in the series) I wouldn't be worrying about their weight at that age. Little kids are often pretty chubby but still very healthy.

My kids run around like lunatics all day and eat healthy food with lots of fruit and veggies, but they still have fat rolls on their legs and little rubberband wrists, and this doesn't concern me in the slightest at their age. They're only in about the 65% percentile on weight, so even with their chub rolls it's not even like they're at the high end of the scale. So I guess all of this makes me one of the shocking non-weight watching parents the researchers were horrified at lol.

Do you worry about your LO being overweight? What age/weight would you start to worry at?

lelekay

I do, but everyone assures me (including our pedi) that I'm crazy.  I know babies are supposed to have folds on their thighs and a belly and such, but I still worry.  Henry has a huge appetite, and though I make certain it is healthy food he's eating, I worry that I'm encouraging overeating in him.  Like I said, though, our pedi always tells me he's right on track.  He is 92 percentile for weight, but also 95+ percentile for height, so I don't know what I'm so worried about!  I guess I just don't want to set him up for a lifetime of unhealthy habits.

inamra

B is 5th percentile weight but I still worry that he may develop bad eating habits while we're trying to fatten him up (Dr's orders). So now, even though the dr told us to add butter to everything he eats, I'm not doing that (I tried it at first actually but stopped) because I don't want him growing up refusing all foods that weren't heavily buttered, so instead we just have him eat pretty much what we eat but he gets whole milk, whole fat yogurt, and lots of avocado (which he loves). Healthy eating habits are so important...I don't want my kid to eat poorly just because he is skinny and "can eat anything he wants". That's why I always thought it's just as important to watch what you eat if you have a high metabolism because it can give a misleading perception that you're healthy just because you're skinny when it may not necessarily be true.

Married2MrWright

I'll admit I was a tad concerned when she was 7 months and wearing a size 24 months because she was already 22 lbs! But here we are...11 months later and she's 24 lbs and wearing the same clothes from this time last year! She's gone from 95+% for weight to 75%. I do hope her metabolism and body composition favor her father's side of the family, rather than mine. His family is long and lean...my side? Not so much!

That said, we're focused on establishing healthy eating habits, a routine of regular excercise (movement daily) and limiting TV/Screen Time and any sort of junkie food. We have treats, but they're on the healthier side of things like frozen yogurt with fresh fruit, homemade smoothies and ice pops, etc. Type II Diabetes runs wide and deep on both sides of our family, so we know that our kids (as well as us) are likely candidates.

MrsNJSwimmer

I did before he turned one, but since then, he's been sliding down the percentile scale to the point that I'm thinking about being worried that he's underweight.  My new philosophy is,  once the dr is worried, then I'll be worried.

mrspresley

inamra:

Healthy eating habits are so important...I don't want my kid to eat poorly just because he is skinny and "can eat anything he wants". That's why I always thought it's just as important to watch what you eat if you have a high metabolism because it can give a misleading perception that you're healthy just because you're skinny when it may not necessarily be true.

totally this.  we're obviously not worried about her being overweight b/c she's barely ever had any chub (more recently, she has started to chunk up in the thighs a little bit and I love to squeeze her legs b/c they've never been like this before LOL) but I do want her to develop healthy eating habits... it's good b/c it has helped us to change our own eating habits, too

MauiWedding08

mrspresley:

totally this.  we're obviously not worried about her being overweight b/c she's barely ever had any chub (more recently, she has started to chunk up in the thighs a little bit and I love to squeeze her legs b/c they've never been like this before LOL) but I do want her to develop healthy eating habits... it's good b/c it has helped us to change our own eating habits, too

us too!

not sure if I would be worried.  I have a cousin that was an obese child (had gastric bypass surgery in college as a "cure") and I was always a little critical of her parents so I think I would probably tend to (needlessly) worry if Jack wasn't so skinny.  But her parents did not feed her healthy foods so I think as long as we feed J healthy foods and encourage activity I wouldn't get too worried.  Interesting that they are pointing it out so young in the program you watch since they are feeding healthy foods etc.