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!

Love_Is_My_Fuel · July 2013

I was one of those mom's for my first baby. Everytime she cried I'd feed her and she got fat. She was up to 32lbs. by 8 months old. Once she started walking she just kept getting taller and didn't gain any weight and she is now 30 lbs. at 3 years old. I understand how it can happen and you just want to make your baby happy but YES SHE IS DOING SOMETHING WRONG IF HER BABY IS THAT BIG!!! I learned my lesson and for my second one and he's a happy and healthy 18lb. 7 month old.

honeysprinkles · July 2013

I think some babies are just naturally big and some are naturally small. I worked in the 1 year old room at a daycare and there was this one baby who was so chunky and he ate so much more than any of the other kids at snack time. He had an older sister (maybe 4 or 5) who was pretty average sized and tall parents who were also pretty average. If I had to guess, I think he'll grow into his weight like most babies/kids do.

I am not a fan of worrying about children's weight, unless (as the parent) you KNOW that your child is adapting unhealthy behaviors that cause it...and even then, I would introduce more exercise in a fun way and try to provide better meals for the child but never limit how much they eat of it or make them aware that they are heavier. A lot of kids are chubby and they grow into it, or they grow into chubby adults and I think that's fine too. You can't assume that all chubby kids have unhealthy diets or poor exercise, just like you can't assume that all thin kids eat well and aren't lazy. Sometimes it's just how the kids are naturally.

BeachIron · July 2013

My daughters have always been at the bottom of the weight charts with their pediatricians being very happy about that. They're quite active, eat well, and are incredibly healthy. I usually laugh at the comments about them being "skinny," as they're usually from people who are obese themselves and clearly clueless enough to make such a comment in the first place.

Linli_Anne · July 2013

My husband, due to severe colic, reflux and undiagnosed formula/milk sensitivies was fed "traditional" formula, with corn syrup and powdered milk etc. Anyway, he was 40 ish pounds by the time he was 1. But, he didn't gain any weight after that and just continued to grow taller - at 4 he was only 2 pounds heavier.

My own children were completely different from each other. My daughter, was 8 lbs 5.5 oz and just shy of 20 inches at birth, was 17 pounds at 6 months, and about 22 pounds at 1 year. She has always been on the 50th percentile line for both height and weight. Even now, as being almost 7, she is about 50 pounds and 4 feet tall.

Her brother was a bigger baby, 9 lbs 11 oz and almost 23 inches at birth, and by the time he was 6 months he was 22 pounds, and he was almost 30 pounds at 1 year. He slimmed right up between his 1st and 2nd birthday, gaining only 2 pounds but a LOT of height. Now at 4 he is only about 3 inches shorter than his sister, and weighs about 45 pounds.

Children grow in completely different patterns, and a weight that early on does not indicate a lifetime of obesity. I too feel a pang of concern for children whose parents are only buying treats and no fruits or vegetables, and I hope that they will be able to get an exposure to a healthy lifestyle like my children have, but I do not know everyone's situations, and more than anything I just want those children to know love, to never go to bed wtih an empty stomach and to not be shamed by society because of choices someone else made for them.

HeidiCooksSupper · July 2013

Most recently research is linking consumption done by the mother while pregnant with the programming for obesity in infants. I think a few years from now, we will have quite different ideas on the proper diet for pregnancy than we do now just as we now have a different idea about alcohol's effect on the fetus than we did in the 50s. I still remember joke cocktail napkins my parents had portraying drunken twin fetuses. Sure wouldn't be funny now.

jaznon · July 2013

Just spoke to my cousin the other day. Her baby is 6 months old, 24lbs. and in 18 month clothing...I was a little shocked.

honeysprinkles · July 2013

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

I like this and I completely agree

ldrosophila · July 2013

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!

zytah · July 2013

i was a natural big baby. ive noticed that the bigger babies around me are all being made to be big. i see them being fed baby cereal way before it should be introduced. i hear people give bad advice such as putting baby cereal in their bottle with the formula/bm to keep them fuller longer, so they pass out at night so you can sleep, etc. smh. i just hope those kids grow up healthy. its really no use to voice your concern to the parents either. im sure they know or at least their doctors should be telling them. its not my job to parent people on how to parent their children.

lmbame905 · July 2013

I had a baby in January. She was born at 8lb 11oz. She's still in the 90+ percentile for height, weight and head circumference. This is typical of my older 2 children, as well one who is 16 and 150 lbs at 5ft7.5 the other who is 11 and 4ft 11 and 80 lbs. So, for me, if my children were not in the 90+ percentile for height and weight up to about 2 years, I would be a little concerned.

I think trying to become upset over what a BABY's weight is, is just silly. Chubby babies are cute, and healthy. Baby fat is a good thing to have. It's the chubby toddlers and school agers that we must worry about. we must teach our children that our choices of food determine our health and weight. And we must guide them to make healthy choices.

Obese babies

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