Your child's weight

Children’s body shapes are constantly changing as they grow and make the transitions from baby to adolescent.

So it’s not surprising that the parents of overweight children often don’t notice when their child is heavier than they should be.

Sometimes, friends and relatives might refer to an overweight child as having ‘puppy fat’, which implies they’ll grow out of it. Some children do, but many go on to gain additional weight.

Being overweight as a child is linked to being overweight as an adult and consequently having a greater risk of developing conditions including heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.

Measuring your child's weight

To find out whether your child is a healthy weight you can:

• use an online calculator, like the one at Weight Concern
• talk to your child’s school nurse or health visitor who will be able to work it out for you.

Don’t use adult BMI calculators or charts as the same categories don't apply to children. A healthy weight for a child is different for girls and boys and for the different ages and stages they go through.

Talking to your child about their weight

Some parents are anxious about talking to their children about their weight because they don’t want to make them overly concerned about their body image.

This is understandable, but often children who are overweight already know but don’t want to raise the issue. It’s important that you do talk to your child about their health.

• Avoid sitting them down for a serious talk about their weight – if you do this or keep reminding them about it then the subject of weight can become a bigger issue than it needs to be.
• Try to focus on the issue of good health - eating a balanced diet and taking regular exercise. If you focus on weight as the issue then you will establish a false notion that being slim equals good health. Losing weight is secondary to sticking to healthy eating patterns and regular exercise.
• Try to talk to them as and when it arises – they might have found their clothes don’t fit them or remark that the other children at school are smaller than them. They may say that they are being teased by other children at school.
• Think up practical things you can do: set goals for the whole family so your child doesn’t feel as though they are being punished and look at what you can all do to help each other.