Obese babies

mandasalem

For crying out loud. Is this seriously what we've come to? Deciding babies are obese and intervention is necessary? You haven't even laid eyes on the baby.

Every "fat" baby I've ever seen-- even with fat parents who made bad choices-- slimmed up fast when they started moving around, trying to get into things, and generally just being a toddler. Babies are growing at a crazy pace and generally eat to keep up with or store up for the growth. Are there exceptions? Absolutely, but not from someone you don't know and have never laid eyes on.

kaseysospacey

Um, I'm not sure you can call a baby obese unless it's feed juice and soda all day or has a medical disease. Some babies are larger and some are small compared to their peers and it has no relation to excessive calorie intake. Babies have a higher fat to lean body mass ratio for protection, and they even have the metabolically active brown fat. Oh, and if a baby plots at the 95th percentile from birth and continues along that is healthy same if the child plots at the 5th. It's changes in growth that worry doctors if they are crossing lines.

Most children are very good at regulating their food intake. I would never call a child under two obese that's just silliness.

Also if anyone reads this and is concerned about having a fat child...DO NOT EVER PUT A BABY ONTO A DIET!

tHIS IS A REALLY GOOD POINT. My kids were not on solida at all just breastmilk and at 6 mos were around 24 lbs(the same weight actually they were at 1) and looked really fat but as they grew taller and crawled and walked thry naturally leaned out. But over 30lbs at 1 is not healthy.

iamkass

While babies grow at different rates and it's impossible to really judge unless you are a doctor.. I will say that I am extremely saddened by obese children. Children are fed the food their parents' give them, and it makes me sad that you would give that child such a poor start in life. Many people gain weight as a part of life, I know I certainly did. However, I was at a healthy weight when I left high school and the 30 lbs I gained was a mistake on my part, and a lesson I have learned from. I could not even begin to imagine how I would've felt if I was already obese when I left high school. At least I had the good habits that my parents' raised me on to fall back to.

Makes me very sad.

ETA: Just to be clear, I'm not talking babies, when I say "you" I'm not referring to a specific person, and obviously this is not counting SPECIAL circumstances where the children have medical condtions.

ThisCanadian

Maybe I'm being too sensitive though...I guess I didn't realize that people would assume my just turned 4 year old daughter who is 41 lbs was obese. haha...since 5 year old boys are typically 34 lbs? Or how about my son who was 9.5 lbs when born...he must be clocking in at 40 lbs at 2, huh? He's actually a scrawny 21 lbs now:)

I'm not trying to be snide because I get your reaction it just seems a bit misdirected as "fat kids" instead of health/nutrition/parents:)

I don't think you're being sensitive. My 3 year old weighs 32 and she is in the 42% for her weight at her last check up. The OP is claiming that is this the average size for a 5 year old? That isn't correct. Also, Just because a 10 month old weighs 32lbs does not guarantee that the trend is going to continue. And it certainly does not mean the baby will weigh 100 lbs a couple years down the road. And diabetes by age 8?

Pretty sure the OP is trolling.

No, I am not trolling. And I am not judging this baby or his parents. I was simply very surprised at his weight at such a young age, and wondered if this was now the norm for babies. What better place to get the opinions and perspectives of other parents, than on the forums that I have been a part of for the past year.
I have received some very respectful answers to my questions from most of the respondents here.

The fact that your child is 3 and weighs the same as the 10 month old in question, is the very reason that I was surprised.
No need to have me drawn and quartered. It was a simple observation and question.

Childhood obesity HAS become an epidemic in this country, and this is the first generation that is expected to not outlive their parents. It is good to know from many of the posters here, that being at a high weight in infancy, doesn't automatically predict that they will be at an unhealthy weight later in life.

I have seen news reports of 4 yr olds that are over 100 pounds and already showing signs of diabetes, so I'm not completely off-base in my concern.

You say that your not judging the baby or its parents then why did you need to specifically point them out on this forum? Why do you need to make sweeping statements to say that this 10 month old is destined to weigh 100 pounds by the time he is in preschool? Why say he will have diabetes by age 8? You feel that was a respectful way to post your concern about childhood obesity?

newman84

My kids are tiny. My daughter is 6 and weight 36 lbs my son is 8 and weight 45 lbs. My daughter is also kind of short. While my son is about 4'3. He's going to be taller then me.

Shellz31

Um, I'm not sure you can call a baby obese unless it's feed juice and soda all day or has a medical disease. Some babies are larger and some are small compared to their peers and it has no relation to excessive calorie intake. Babies have a higher fat to lean body mass ratio for protection, and they even have the metabolically active brown fat. Oh, and if a baby plots at the 95th percentile from birth and continues along that is healthy same if the child plots at the 5th. It's changes in growth that worry doctors if they are crossing lines.

Most children are very good at regulating their food intake. I would never call a child under two obese that's just silliness.

Also if anyone reads this and is concerned about having a fat child...DO NOT EVER PUT A BABY ONTO A DIET!

Completely agree. Can't believe how judgmental this is getting. And I hate the idea that if a child is in any way overweight that the parents must be horrible people. I grew up overweight with two normal weight siblings. Were my parents just bad at parenting me?? And we're talking about BABIES here. I can't believe how quickly people are to put their child's weight out there like it's some symbol that they are awesome parents. What you're saying is you are already judging your child based on appearance before they can even walk! If you child is living a healthy lifestyle that should be all that matters, not the number on the scale!

savithny

My daughter was nearly 30 pounds at a year. She was also 99.9%tile for height. She was absolutely a Buddha-baby -- and she did it on only breastmilk to 6 months, and nothing but homemade baby food (that she didn't eat much of!) after that.

I'm 5'10", my husband is 6', and several of our uncles are 6'3" or taller. Our kid came by it naturally, nursing and eating only natural homemade foods after that.

And when she started walking? And then running and climbing? She grew into a lovely, proportional, preschooler. She will NEVER be a size zero, because she's built with sturdy, strong legs and a wide chest .... but she has always, since then, been a perfect weight-for-height.

This terror of obesity that leads people to start judging babies? Get over it. A baby being fed on demand and not given junk food may be *big,* but it's not some guarantee that they'll be ginormous unhealthy beasts forever. Panicing about a baby being "fat" has led to people starving their children =--- literally stunting their growth with malnutrition! -- by putting them on "diets" and switchign them to fat-free foods as babies!

(Also, interestingly? My son was almost as big as his little sister when he was a baby. With him, I got all kinds of "Boy's gonna be a linebacker someday!" and "What a big strong little man you've got there." But with a girl? People actually told me I shouldn't feed my infant daughter when she cried.)

quiltlovinlisa

My dad, in complete ignorance, did ask me if I was going to restrict calories for my twenty pound six month old (whom he dubbed "Katie the hutt" because of all the rolls). I educated him on breast milk and child growth patterns and let him know, I would continue to nurse ON DEMAND for her, as she requested. She knew when she was hungry.

Oddly, my personal diet with her was a lot healthier then her much slimmer, at that age sister.

Babies even out, in both directions. The chubby ones slim down, the thin ones tend to catch up. My chubbiest girl, was only 23 pounds at a year, her growth went entirely into height and very little into weight. My skinny girl, that was 5-10% until a year, gradually crept up towards the 35% as a pre-schooler.

Mustang_Susie

Now you have me looking at my daughter's baby book :laugh:

She was born at 6.9 oz and 21 inches. Her dad is 6'5" and I'm 5'8".
I think she was born weighing less because the stinker was pushing on my stomach and I felt full most of the time.

Anywho, she packed on the weight after birth, but has had spurts of weight gain and growth as all babies do.
But, she has mainly been 90% or higher in weight and always off the chart for height.

At ten months she was 21 pounds and 29 inches.
At five she was 50 pounds and 47 inches.
Today at 9 she is 85 pounds and 58 inches.

She is somewhat aware of her weight/height as compared to the waifs in her class.
I have told her she needs to eat healthy and exercise to not gain too much weight.
But, I've also told her that with her height she needs that weight on her body and she is not "fat".

I'm not sure if I'm setting a good example of always checking how many calories are in food and weighing in but I do know it's good for her to see me exercising.

Yes, obesity is more and more common among younger and younger kids.
I'm an RN and hubby is a paramedic and so many health issues are being caused by obesity.
I really wonder who will be healthy enough to be responsible, productive citizens when our generation (tail end of baby boomers) starts retiring.

Wonderwoman2677

All 3 of my babies were huge from the start (9lbs at birth) and they never slowed down. It's more concerning in the beginning because I to put them all in 9mo-1yr clothes by the time they were 6mos old. My oldest is 14 years now and very healthy, but still on the heavier end of the spectrum, without being "fat". She's not petite. My son is 10 and looks like he's 14, also not "fat", but easily outweighs most kids his age. They are both still taller than most kids their ages. They were chunky babies and slimmed down when they learned how to walk. My youngest has different medical circumstances and has been the heaviest of all. She just turned 3 and is just now starting to slim down. She has always been very active. She weighs 45 lbs...only 4lbs less than her 71/2 year old half sister who is very petite and in the 10th percentile. This just goes to show you that even in the same(but slightly mixed, they have the same dad) family kids develop differently. Babies need fat to develop. They store it to use when it's time for them to grow. They shoot up in fits and bursts after storing up the fat. I say worry about your own kids and don't compare them. Considering my weight issues, I've always been concerned about my kids being overweight. I think it is terrible to see kids who are so big they can't play, or worse they don't want to.

megalin9

I don't normally let Internet posts get to me too much, but this one does. My very healthy, very active, very LEAN 2 & 1/2 year old son is about 33 pounds, and at his 2 year check-up, he was in the 75% for his age, if I'm remembering correctly. Perfectly acceptable. So 32 pounds for a 5 year old seems a bit small to me.

My daughter is almost 5, and she is about 48 pounds. She is not as lean as my son is, but she is also far from obese. Also healthy, very active, and eats like a champ. Her go-to food is vegetables. She snacks on cucumbers and peppers! She's always been in the 90-100% for weight in her age group. She's also been off the charts for height.

I'm hoping that you just don't know what 32 pounds actually looks like. Yes, maybe 32 pounds for a 10-month old is heavy, but maybe this mother also exxagerated the weight to be funny because her baby was a chunky monkey...or maybe she forgot what his actual weight was at his last check-up.

Additionally, as others have stated, just because a baby/toddler is tiny or has some adorable, pinchable extra rolls, that does not mean that the trend will continue.

:grumble:

Bxrlvr73

People must of thought I was a horrible mother. My son was born 10lbs and 23 inches long, always a bit chubbier and taller than his peers. Now at 18 he is 6'4 and 200 lbs and it looks great on him! Genetics.

Salt_Sand_Sun

Babies, toddlers, children and adults all come in different shapes and sizes. However I do agree 35lbs for a 10mo is very large - but how tall was this child needs to be taken into consideration.

My son 5.5yo is almost 50lbs and he is skinny little thing. So 35lbs would not be the size of all 5yo's!! My children were grown big - I'm 5'9", Dad is 6'2 and Grandpa and Uncle are 6'5". So both my daughter and son are very tall and with being taller comes weighting more as well. Daughter has always been in 90th+ percentile for weight and 95th for height. Son in 90th for both height and weight.

Again 32lbs for a 10mo is probably too large for a child that age. But there is no guarantee the child will continue on that path. It is very sad that the parents do not see it and continue to feed their child foods that probably are not the best choice (high calories/fat and little fruits/veggies).

MikeInAZ

My girls have always been on the 90+% scale for height but the 40% scale for weight. Basically, tall and skinny. I don't think either one looks disproportionate. I talked to the pediatrician about it once. He said, it is true. There are a lot of short and fat kids these days. Mostly fat kids. It's not unusual to see 5 or 6 year olds weighing over 80-90lbs.

I'm was very saddened on day while out to lunch. I saw an 11 or 12 year old boy SO large that he had to sit sideways in the chair at the table. His parents looked small compared to him. The whole family had XXL drinks (I assume with full sugar soda), and very large portions. His brothers and sisters were tipping the scales too. But this kid WAS HUGE!

The other day, I saw a little girl, maybe about 5, walking with her mom down the sidewalk. She was so large that she waddled when she walked.

Parents, you need to stop buying JUNK and eating fast food everyday. It's your responsibility, not the child's. Fast food, pizza, hotdogs, soda, etc is a treat to have once in awhile. Not a staple. You can make healthy chicken nuggets at home and bake them and the cost about the same as McDs or less. You can make oven baked fries. You CAN get kids to eat fruit and veggies.

I live in Arizona where we have a large hispanic (mostly Mexican) population. It's not surprising when I see fat Mexican kids running around. Mexico was just declared the fattest nation in the world (by the WHO). With the US a close 2nd. The Mexican diet consists mostly of highly saturated fatty meats, carbs, and sugary foods (especially Coke and Pepsi). It's gonna get a lot worse before it gets better.

I guess, I don't need to preach to this crowd. Just get your kids to play outside for 30-60 minutes a day and keep their calories under 2500 a day and the world will be a better place.

Im_NotPerfect

I noticed on the beach this year many more obese children; it just makes me straight up sad, and IMHO negligence on the part of the parent. The kid is learning bad behaviors from their parents; those mistakes could last a lifetime and develop into many more problems than just extra weight.

I think this is complete BS. How can you ASSUME that the parents are bad and teaching bad habits if a child is overweight? I will tell my side of it. My son is 7 years old. He's 4'4" tall and weighs 93 lbs. However, if you look at him (which I will not post a picture of my child on the interwebz) you would never think of him being overweight. Because of genetics, he's got very dense muscles and is overly strong for his age. When he was born, he was 8 lbs 3 oz and 20.5" long. Never once in all of his baby-hood, did have the traditional baby rolls of fat on his arms and legs. In fact when we asked the DR, the doctor got a stunned look on his face and old us "No, those are fat rolls. That's his bicep muscle". He was that sculpted at 2 months old.

However, I will say he's got lingering baby fat around his stomach. We are a healthy-minded family. Both my husband and I exercise regularly. "Snacks" in our house are grape tomatoes, cheese sticks, yogurt, etc. It's a RARE occasion when we have any kind of chips, cookies, or other processed crap.

Edited to add: As far as activity goes, he never stops moving. He's ice skates in the winter, plays baseball in the spring, swims in the summer, and is starting football this fall. He's into anything and everything.

When it comes to babies and kids, genetics play SUCH a huge role it's ridiculous. And I really find it poor to automatically blame parents of teaching "unhealthy" habits if a child is on the heavier side.

TheRunningGuppy

My best friend and I laugh when we compare our babies. Mine were both very small at birth, 5 lbs 9 oz for my first, and 6 lbs 8 oz for my second. My best friend on the other hand, her 3 were all closer to 10 lbs. She did deal with gestational diabetes, and I did deal with pre-eclampsia, which partially accounted for their respective birth weights. But to this day, 9 years after my first, 8 years after her first, and more due to genetics than anything else, I have tall & slim boys, and her kids are tall, and, not fat by any definition, just more densely built than my kids.

I honestly don't think babies can be obese. They naturally eat what they need, and some need more than others. If they get to 5 or 6 and they still have the rolls on their thighs that they did as babies, then there may be a problem.

A good example of a fat baby growing up to be healthy would be my older brother. Pictures of him as a baby are hilarious! I think my parents thought he was going eat them out of house and home from birth. But he's an active (hiking, mountain biking) adult who has never had any weight issues. Wish I could say the same for myself...

ChgingMe

okay I can only relate to what I have seen. I used to work with a woman who had a 6 year old daughter that was obese. I can't remember exactly how much she weighed but I do know that this woman couldn't keep a pediatrician because everytime one told her that the child was obese the mom would get mad and fire the doc.

I saw pics of the child and she was startling fat.. Looked like a sumo. The mother would make excuses and say the little girl was big bondeded.. Her word not mine. So a lot of parents they themselves obese are in denial.


In this new millenium obese is the new overweight.

Side note. I am an almost 49 year old women with a little too much around the middle. This past weekend at the mall I saw a little girl, I'm guessing around 8 or 9 whose stomach was bigger than mine. How is that possible? My teenager agreed that this little girl had more girth than I did. That is abusive in my eyes.

SharonCMach

32 pounds at 1 year old may sound like alot but you also have to consider height into it. My son was 32 pounds at 1 but he was also 32 inches long. Now at 2 years old he still weighs 32 pounds but he's 38 inches long.

mfpseven

Maybe I'm being too sensitive though...I guess I didn't realize that people would assume my just turned 4 year old daughter who is 41 lbs was obese. haha...since 5 year old boys are typically 34 lbs? Or how about my son who was 9.5 lbs when born...he must be clocking in at 40 lbs at 2, huh? He's actually a scrawny 21 lbs now:)

I'm not trying to be snide because I get your reaction it just seems a bit misdirected as "fat kids" instead of health/nutrition/parents:)

I don't think you're being sensitive. My 3 year old weighs 32 and she is in the 42% for her weight at her last check up. The OP is claiming that is this the average size for a 5 year old? That isn't correct. Also, Just because a 10 month old weighs 32lbs does not guarantee that the trend is going to continue. And it certainly does not mean the baby will weigh 100 lbs a couple years down the road. And diabetes by age 8?

Pretty sure the OP is trolling.

No, I am not trolling. And I am not judging this baby or his parents. I was simply very surprised at his weight at such a young age, and wondered if this was now the norm for babies. What better place to get the opinions and perspectives of other parents, than on the forums that I have been a part of for the past year.
I have received some very respectful answers to my questions from most of the respondents here.

The fact that your child is 3 and weighs the same as the 10 month old in question, is the very reason that I was surprised.
No need to have me drawn and quartered. It was a simple observation and question.

Childhood obesity HAS become an epidemic in this country, and this is the first generation that is expected to not outlive their parents. It is good to know from many of the posters here, that being at a high weight in infancy, doesn't automatically predict that they will be at an unhealthy weight later in life.

I have seen news reports of 4 yr olds that are over 100 pounds and already showing signs of diabetes, so I'm not completely off-base in my concern.

You say that your not judging the baby or its parents then why did you need to specifically point them out on this forum? Why do you need to make sweeping statements to say that this 10 month old is destined to weigh 100 pounds by the time he is in preschool? Why say he will have diabetes by age 8? You feel that was a respectful way to post your concern about childhood obesity?

I am completely judging the parent even if my mother was not. She was easily obese and referred to her husband as huge. I was obese for several years until I learned to eat healthy as were most of the people on this site. But guess what, weight can be lost and eating habits can be changed. After doing it myself and finding out that the only truly hard part is to just do it, it makes me a bit upset to see that this 10 month old baby is likely headed down the same path that it's parents are on. Had I been diligent about eating properly and exercising from the time I was in high school I would never had gotten to an obese bmi or gone to the hospital on Thanksgiving for a gallbladder attack due to my excessively fatter diet.

When you see a kid heading to a weight that caused you years of agony, unnecessary stretchmarks, and god knows how many times crying at the clothing store because nothing fits, you might get a little upset about it. I let my "tiny" daughter eat sweets, snacks, even french fries IN MODERATION along with a balanced diet and she is no where near the size of this kid. Sure she may be small but only compared to these other babies. I think 20 yeas ago she would have been in the 50th percentile and that the scales are most definitely being skewed buy this idea that overfed babies are cute.

Lmns218

Every child is different. I get the "your son is so tiny" spiel all the time!!!! He is almost four and he is about 32lbs. He wears a fricking 3T/4T so obviously he is of normal sized. But his nephew is 2 and weighs over 40 lbs. He is not obese at all!!!! But I do agree that alot of people think bigger is better when it comes to little kids, but when they become big kids and even bigger adults, then it's a problem!!!!