Moms of 4-5 year olds - BMI?
care99
member
So, Colin had his 4 year old checkup today and they gave me a little flack over his BMI, which was 18. He has always been in the upper 90 percentiles for height and weight and since we eat super healthy (except for a treat on special occasions), I have not worried about it. Well after today I am freaking out. I'm not sure what to cut out though - he doesn't drink juice, we don't do dessert, skim milk is only at meals...
How concerned were your pedis with BMI? I have worked really hard to overcome disordered eating and don't want to pass down to him calorie and fat gram counting when I think he's perfectly healthy. He's just tall and big.
On a positive note though, he got 4 shots and the flu mist and no tears, no flinching. What a trooper!
Re: Moms of 4-5 year olds - BMI?
I have a huge problem with the BMI scale. I understand the purpose of it in general but if you feed your kid a relatively healthy and balanced diet, make sure they get plenty of exercise, sleep, etc. there is absolutely no reason for any pediatrician to make a point about it.
It makes me so mad that they line all of the elementary aged kids up in gym class to weight and measure them and send home a BMI letter. Nothing like pulling up to car line and seeing my freaking 7 year old and all of her friends discussing who is the fattest/skinniest/tallest/shortest.
Honestly, if my pedi were to make me stress about BMI on either of my perfectly healthy children, I would seriously consider getting a second opinion and possibly switching docs. I'm sorry you had to deal with that, Colin is perfect!
Seriously?!?!?! I can't believe they do that!
If you know what he is eating and it is healthy food and he is exercising....don't worry about it.
It is an overall scale and probably needs to be updated.
Now if he was eating McDs and twinkies all day this would be a wake up call. But his body is doing what his body should do.
I would worry about it too much. I don't think any of the pedis I've seen have ever checked it, nor have they ever mentioned it to me.
If you know he's eating well and is and active child, I wouldn't give it a second thought.
Don't worry about it. Connor's BMI at his 4yr appointment was 17, mostly because he's 50% in weight and less than 10% in height. He eats a healty diet, with very limited juice/junk food. And if you look at him, he's skinny. Our pedi gave us the number, but also said don't put too much thought into it at all, since it's based strictly on charts, not reality. I'm so sorry that your doctor gave you a hard time about it!
Julie
I had a similiar conversation with my pedi at G's two yr appt. I know he eats well with occasional treats so I am trying not to worry about it too much. And honestly when I look at him compared to the kids in his class he looks very average. I don't like the BMI chart for children or adults.