Obese babies

DebbieLyn63 · July 2013

I was in the checkout line at a grocery store yesterday with my daughter and granddaughter yesterday, and the checkout girl asked how old the baby was. When told she had just turned a year, she was shocked at how 'tiny' she was. She weighed in at 18 lbs and 28 inches tall at her dr appt that morning. She is a healthy and active little girl with chubby cheeks and the obligatory little leg rolls. She is NOT skinny by any means,

The check out girl then told us that her son was 10 months old and weighed 32 pounds!! Oh my goodness! I was in shock. That is the size of a 5 yr old!

Has this become the norm for babies today? My granddaughter is only in the 10% in height and weight. She still outweighs both her mother and my other daughter when they were a yr old. (16 and 15 lbs).

The pediatrician is not concerned at all with the baby's size, as she is perfectly healthy. She says the charts are inflated today because of all the obese babies that are throwing off the curve.

I just cannot imagine how a 10 month old baby can weigh 32 pounds. Granted, the mother was not a small woman, and she described the father as being built like a Sumo wrestler.
But what are they feeding this child to be able to gain this much weight? She even said the child was short, like his father, so he doesn't have extra height to account for it.

A day later and I still cannot get this baby off of my mind. He will hit 100 pounds by the time he is 3 at this rate, and will probably be diabetic by 8 or 10.

I don't mean to start a fat-shaming thread for a baby, so please don't shoot me. Am I alone at being shocked at this??

ETA, The mother said that he was actually walking, which is even more amazing. So maybe he will slim down a bit now that he is mobile. I sure hope so.

Ralphrabbit · July 2013

Not shocked or surprised but saddened!
What are we doing to our children with our appalling lazy eating habits. They have only the parents to observe & follow.......

petersonabt · July 2013

My daughter is 20 months old and is 35 lbs her brother was the same way and actually probably a little heavier. He is now 6 years old and I think 45lbs.

But both of my kids were over 8lbs my son was almost 10lbs. I think it just depends on genetics.

None of my daughters peds are worried about her weight or anything as she is also pretty tall. So it all depends.

Edit: I do not over feed either of my kids or let them eat tons of junk. I know what its like to have a weight problem and make sure both of my kids get proper nutrients as well as daily exercises (spending time outside and NOT in front of the TV.)

jrue1985 · July 2013

This IS shocking, and sad! I hate seeing overweight/obese children. It makes me wonder why their parents would let them set their child up for failure! Yes, I realize there are some out there with medical problems that cause this, but what about the ones whose parents are just too lazy to cook a decent meal, exercise with their kids, and BE A PARENT. Heads up folks, a fricken TV dinner is NOT a well balanced or nutritious meal by any means! AND don't even try to throw money out there as an excuse... it is cheaper to make REAL food than it is to throw that shi**y pre-made crap in the microwave!

jrue1985 · July 2013

My daughter is 20 months old and is 35 lbs her brother was the same way and actually probably a little heavier. He is now 6 years old and I think 45lbs.

But both of my kids were over 8lbs my son was almost 10lbs. I think it just depends on genetics.

None of my daughters peds are worried about her weight or anything as she is also pretty tall. So it all depends.

Edit: I do not over feed either of my kids or let them eat tons of junk. I know what its like to have a weight problem and make sure both of my kids get proper nutrients as well as daily exercises (spending time outside and NOT in front of the TV.)

There is a big difference between a tall 20 month old weighing 35 lbs and a short 10 month old weighing almost the same. Sounds like you are all set with what you are doing, but the lady at the store that the OP is talking about... she is doing SOMETHING wrong.

jenlarz · July 2013

My boys probably only weighed a couple pounds more at 1 or 2 than when they were 9 or 10 months. They were chubby, not fat, but slimmed out as they became more active and did lots of running. I've seen lots of very round babies who don't stay on that trend as they grown into active toddlers. But 32 pounds does seem like a lot.

sebbysmommy · July 2013

All children are different. I have five daughters who are all tall and skinny. They all are in the bottom 5th % for weight....my son on the other hand is a chunk. He is two and weighs almost 40lbs. He was "overweight" while exclusively breastfed for the first year of his life. He seems to be taking after my brother (6 ft 4), BIL (6ft 3) and cousin (6ft 4). All very big men but no where near overweight.

Overfed and unhealthy children do happen obviously but I wouldn't judge too harshly, you don't know the whole story.

SoViLicious · July 2013

grrrlface · July 2013

Also shocked and saddened. Yesterday I saw an obese woman with her two children who were also obese, we we out walking and through the park where I walk there is a reallysteep hill. They were coming up to climb it and we passed them at quite a pace an the younger child looked at his mum and said "woah, how do you do that?" she jsut turnd to him and said "they're jsut faster than us!"
Really made me sad thatshe would say that to a young child. I hope it made her realise asmuch as it made me feel saddened by it.

FakingFitness · July 2013

If your granddaughter is in the 10 percentile, she Is in fact tiny; not that there's anything wrong with that. I was tiny like that too.
My GD at that age was in the 90th for height and 50th for weight.
She didn't and still doesn't have an ounce of fat, that shouldn't be there.
At 5 years old she weighs 40 pounds.

That being said... if the 10 month old is "short" that would certainly account for some of his 'baby fat.'
Babies are as different as adults, as far as shape and size.
However, we do live in an obese society, so I guess it's not that surprising that parents are not letting the apple (or doughnut) fall far from the tree.

Don't forget, they say this the first generation predicted to not outlive their parents.
It'll take more than a generation to fix the problem we Americans (and this is an American problem) have created.

sarahmoo12 · July 2013

one of my sisters friends sister had a baby and the doctors told her the baby was morbidly obese and basically scared the crap out of her saying she could die!! The baby was big a chubby but wouldnt call her morbidly obese and once she started to crawl and walk she has slimmed down to look like a normal toddler

AnninStPaul · July 2013

The median weight for a five year old boy is 40lb (http://pediatrics.about.com/library/growth_charts/nboystwo.htm).

Your granddaughter is small; you wrote that she is at the 10th percentile for both height and weight, so 90% of girls her age are taller and weigh more than she does. And I've always read that as long as the height and weight percentiles are aligned, there's nothing to worry about.

That said, for a 10 month old boy to weigh 32lb and be at a health weight, he'd better be off the charts tall, not short. My son was always in the 90-95 percentiles (including for head size...my bottom hurts just typing it), and so at 10mos was in the low mid 20's.

It's not the baby's fault. Hopefully his pediatrician will intervene.

DebbieLyn63 · July 2013

My daughter is 20 months old and is 35 lbs her brother was the same way and actually probably a little heavier. He is now 6 years old and I think 45lbs.

But both of my kids were over 8lbs my son was almost 10lbs. I think it just depends on genetics.

None of my daughters peds are worried about her weight or anything as she is also pretty tall. So it all depends.

Edit: I do not over feed either of my kids or let them eat tons of junk. I know what its like to have a weight problem and make sure both of my kids get proper nutrients as well as daily exercises (spending time outside and NOT in front of the TV.)

I get that some children are taller than average, and therefore will naturally weigh more. As long as they are height/weight proportional it is fine. But this child is half the age of your daughter and weighs almost as much!

My son was right at 9 pounds when he was born. But now he just turned 13 and is 5'4" and 98 pounds. My daughters were both 7 lbs and very small as young children, but ended up being very healthy weights.

rosemaryhon · July 2013

...Has this become the norm for babies today?...

No, not in my experience. There are plenty of healthy weight babies around today (my 2 granddaughters included), and there were fat babies aplenty when I was younger too. I don't think this is something new or becoming 'norm today'.

Though yes, it is concerning to me too;

sunlover89 · July 2013

I don't have kids but child nutrition is something that really concerns me. I am terrified of being judged for not letting my kids have "treats" like chocolate after dinner and crisps/chips for snacks and the occasional fast food meal. I intend to NEVER feed my children these foods unless they want to buy it with their own pocket money when they are older. I personally think snacking on melon, mango, grapes etc is much more satisfying and declicious but that would be going against social norms. My OH was brought up with easy access to a cupboard filled with cakes, crisps, chocolate etc and I don't want my child to be brought up that way and I'm worried that his family will think i'm being mean to my child for not letting him/her have occasional sugary processed treats.

k8blujay2 · July 2013

I know of one baby that was born 11 lbs.... No lie... He is just a naturally big baby...

Anyway, I have always got the "she is so tiny" comments too... She has just recently bumped up from the 25% percentile to the 50% percentile... but she still can wear last years clothing...

Since I know my poor kids are going to have genetics to work against them when it comes to health and weight... I try to do my very best to not do things that have been found to contribute to obesity in kids... from infancy on up.

Val_from_OH · July 2013

I am shocked by your reaction, not by a fat baby!

Some babies grow in spurts, getting fat for a while, then growing tall. That's how my son is - he weighed just about 30 lbs at one year old. I remember because I thought it was so funny that the car seat guide said the child had to be both 20 lbs and one year old to turn them around - we were well past that 20 lb mark! At 6 years old, he was up to 60 lbs, and looking chunky. Now 1 1/2 years later, he weighs the same, but has grown more than 3 inches in height. The clothes I bought him when he was 6 are too big around!

My daughter, on the other hand, is petite like a little fairy. She is 4 1/2 and weighs only 34 lbs. They eat the same foods, and in similar quantities - this is just body chemistry at work.

One fat baby is not a symbol of... well.. anything really. It's just a cute little bundle of love

RAEQ127 · July 2013

My daughter had always been on the small side. She is now 55% for her age (18 months) but both her father and I are short and therefore she will be as well. My friend's daughter to whom had larger parents, 5'9" and 6'2" respectively was in a 5T at a year old, but now that she is going on 3 she has only gained in height and is still in the same sized clothes.

jmcreynolds91 · July 2013

my sons 3 1/2 and 36 pounds and daughter is 1 yr and 19 pounds. Can't imagine having to worry about their weight. Both are very lean.

jasonp_ritzert · July 2013

I would say that without the height of the 10 month old, there is nothing to judge. What if the 10 month old is taller than your daughter and the weight is proportioned? I have a niece (3.5 years) and nephew (5.5 years) and my niece is one inch taller and 5 lbs heavier than my nephew. She doesn't look heavy, she looks in proportion even though she is blowing the doors off the height/weight charts for her age. Her mother and father are both tall, 5'11'' (mom) and 6'3'' (dad). Meanwhile my own daughter (5 months) is hitting 50-75 percentile in height and weight.

Assuming the woman has a reputable pediatrician, it seems to me as though it is something that should be brought up by the doctor and it' s just as wrong for her to judge your daughter as 'tiny' as it is for you to judge her son as overweight.

DebbieLyn63 · July 2013

Oh that is funny! Thanks for some comic relief!

Obese babies

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