picture of 4 yr old of what the school calls "Obese"

ETA: I'll bet that the school didn't offer to visit your home over the eye exam.

You'd actually be very surprised what services are offered for home visits these days. And I repeat, for the millionth time, that the parents retain full control over where the professional goes. Again, they could sit on the front porch. They could meet at a park. Parents are not giving up rights when they accept an offer of a home or community visit.

Well, it's called the news. You should check it out sometime. BBC and PBS are my typical go-to channels for news on television and both Google and Yahoo are my favorites for new aggregators.

The news is pretty biased. And unless the confidential case files are published, we have no way of knowing the truth of what is reported. I'm not debating freedom of the press, but they have pretty liberal rights when it comes to what they publish as long as they have sources. Of course, mom, grandma, and an uncle of a removed child are often going to think it is unjust.

Can you point us to a story where a child was removed from the home over a dirty dish?

You are speaking about actions taken in school. Once they visit the home, the rules change. Something as simple as a dirty dish in the sink can be an excuse to make a phone call and remove the child from the home. The child would then be "touched" and "questioned" by someone with a badge and someone with a clipboard.

ETA: I'll bet that the school didn't offer to visit your home over the eye exam.

That's just not true. No child is removed from the home based on a teacher's phone call, unless imminent danger is present. Not all calls to Child Services are taken either, and a dirty dish would not be grounds. It's usually pretty tough for a child to be removed, and unless you personally see the case records from a case, in and out, including what's not public record, taking the parents' word for it that it was unwarranted is biased at best. OP has not stated that a home visit was mandated. They can say no, or "let's meet in the office."

And please--don't call the news as someone suggested. If you want to breed an ED in this little girl who is almost certainly unaware of this, then call the news. I guarantee that little girl will find out that "The school thinks you're fat, my mom saw it on the news." I'm horrified that a parent would offer that advice for this situation.

This is actually starting to happen in the UK. And in the USA, at least in my state, it doesn't even have to be the school. Just a random phone call with a false allegation can cause the cops and the Division of Family Services to come knocking. Catch a random family with kids on the wrong day, and the wrong impression can lead to major stress on families. It happens all the time.

When my neighbors child was young she was a little chubby but not even what I considered obese. The kids at school made remarks to her about her weight and she did not have a load of friends. When she was in 2nd grade, the did a unit on the food pyramid, healthy eating and exercise. She listened and started being more conscious of what she ate and started playing outside more. She started losing weight. Then all the kids at school started telling her she looked good. She started getting incited to parties and sleepovers. Then she became obsessed. She almost quit eating at all and she exercised all the time, even when she was watching tv she would stand behind the couch and side step or march in place. She would not even swallow her own saliva for fear she might gain weight. By the time she was 10, she was placed in a treatment facility for children with eating disorders. The school in this case had done a good job teaching the curriculum but the other children were so mean and this child became so obsessed. I just can't believe that it's the school torturing the children! Why would you put that on a child, especially one so young! My middle son was always taller and larger than the other kids his age. Now he is 19, about 205 pounds and at 6' 7" that is quite thin. He is in the Air Force and is under the max weight for his height by about 25-30 pounds. Kids outgrow chubbiness a lot of the time. And yours isn't even chubby.

This notion that you can tell if someone is over or underweight just by looking at them is completely false. And more importantly, why do we care about obesity in children? It's not because of the way it makes them look, it's because of the impact that obesity at a young age can have on their future health. You can not tell whether someone has high blood pressure, high cholesterol, elevated insulin, high blood glucose, or a liver infiltrated by fat just by looking at them.

So if nothing else is taken away from these thread, I hope that people understand that you can not judge health just by the looks of someone, there is some science involved here.

This notion that you can tell if someone is over or underweight just by looking at them is completely false. And more importantly, why do we care about obesity in children? It's not because of the way it makes them look, it's because of the impact that obesity at a young age can have on their future health. You can not tell whether someone has high blood pressure, high cholesterol, elevated insulin, high blood glucose, or a liver infiltrated by fat just by looking at them.

So if nothing else is taken away from these thread, I hope that people understand that you can not judge health just by the looks of someone, there is some science involved here.

If you can't tell if someone is obese from looking at them, then you need glasses. It has nothing to do with health markers such as blood pressure. It has to do with *visible* excess fat on the body.

She is definitely not obese. She doesnt even look chubby. She just has a baby face.

My daughter is similar in size and weight and her BMI was 20.2. The cardiologist that we saw in September listed her as slightly overweight. I didn't know if I should be worried or just let it go since she's only 3.5 years old. We did cut back on a few things and gotten outside to play a lot more but part of me couldn't help but wonder if it was just because she was growing?

I have to be very careful myself about imposing any weight issues with my daughter because I myself have had them my whole life and struggle every day with the stigma of being morbidly obese and having people stare. I am making changes and they are slow but I know what i need to do. It's hard when children are involved though becuase you don't want them to grow up with body image issues, especially young girls. I just try to make sure that my daughter sees me making the effort to eat more healthy foods and sees me trying to get back up every time I stumble on this journey. It's not going to happen over night but if I can help her learn now, we'll be better off in the long run!

I don't know. Either way- good luck!

I would seek out the medical opinion of a board certified pediatrician rather than poll users on a fitness site aimed at adults.

I would seek out the medical opinion of a board certified pediatrician rather than poll users on a fitness site aimed at adults.

This!