Keeping our kids weight in perspective

[jroche5998]

I've noticed that I have to restrain myself sometimes when thinking about my kids weight.

I and my wife have always had weight problems, and I look at my kids and hope that they never have to deal with that. BUT, even though my kids are bigger than most (3yo son 98% height and weight, 2yo daughter off the charts, 8mo son 98% h&w) they are not fat. They tend to chunk up and then have a growth spurt, during which they thin out.

We have an excellent pediatrician and I'm sure that he would let us know if it was becoming an issue. But since weight is a suject which hits so close to home, it's difficult for me to not be concerned for them given their genetics.

Does anyone else have the same concerns?

Thanks.

[CollieLove]

I very much share your concerns! We have a daughter who is very active and thin, and a son who is not as blessed and has inherited my genes! He was born at 10lbs and has been a "big" child ever since.
Although I agree the pediatrician should say something if it is becoming a problem, multiple medical journals are pointing out that they are not saying something soon enough to the parent.
Our son is seven, and we have tried to help by watching his diet, and increasing all of our exercise. Instead of TV, we go for a family walk. We also enrolled him in wrestling this past fall, and although it was difficult for him at first, he is now loving it and we are enjoying watching him become more and more active.
What I find hard is watching his diet and being careful without over doing it as I don't want to affect his self-confidence. He has watched my struggle and work on Atkins and I have tried very hard to stress to him that I am doing this be a healthier Mom, and we want him to be a healthy boy!

[jroche5998]

Thanks for replying CollieLove.

I'm sure our pediatrician would say something right away. We brought our oldest in for an appointment and we dressed him in a pair of pants that he could wear "just one more time" (e.g. too small) and the pedi said, "I think it's time for some new pants, don't you".

As far as active my kids are constantly running everywhere, so that's not an issue. I just sometimes tend to look at their baby fat a little too critically.

I look at them as my future NFL linbacker corps. (and no I won't pressure them.)

[CollieLove]

That is great you have such a great relationship with your doc.!
Best of luck with your NFL corp. We actually let our little guy play football this past year, figuring as he was big it would be a great sport for him! Turned out to be true, he had a great time and made one heck of lineman!
I really do agree with you though that it is hard to remember not to be critical. I think on my part it is that I am so frightened they will go through what I have, and struggle all their lives. Maybe it's too much love?
Do you tend to feed your children less carbs than the normal family?
I know there is a lot of controversy about that.

[jroche5998]

The kids eat slightly less carbs. But my daughter is the carb queen, between toast, pasta, and rice. But overall they eat well. They only drink water or milk. My daughter just recently started drinking orange juice. So now that I think about it, considering how much juice and fruit drinks other kids drink, yeah I guess my kids get fewer carbs than most. Also they don't get very many cookies or sweets. An occasional ice cream in the summer, but most of their snacks are carrot sticks, cereal, or crackers (goldfish, teddy grahams, etc).

But my kids are strange they don't like pb&j or mac&cheese. Go figure.

[not2late]

Hi Jim. At the next visit to their pediatrician, ask the doc to go over their growth charts with you. Your doc should also be able to calculate their BMI-for-age-and-sex.

The tricky thing with children is that they are growing. You don't want to stunt them, but you certainly don't want them overweight too.

Usually for kids, if you increase their exercise and cut out the junk food, they'll either lose weight or maintain it.