Big Two Year Old

[CookAMH]

My friend became worried after her dd's Dr. cautioned about dd's height and weight and future juv. diabetes risk. She's 2yo and measuring at 3yo for height and weight, jumped up in last 6 mo or so. She loves to eat, is solid and seems very healthy. My first thought was to discard the Dr.'s advice as no one kid is the same and there isn't really anything she can do now anyway. Her dad is tall and bigger, recently losing weight.

What experience have you had, or what have more naturally minded doctors told you about bigger toddlers? She is wanting some encouragement.

[sapphire_chan]

Since she big for both height and weight she's clearly not overweight so I don't see why they're worried. Last I checked "tall" wasn't a risk factor for diabetes, y'know?

If dad's tall then it's hardly surprising the toddler would be trending towards tall too.

Oh, and what does "measured at 3yo" mean in terms of the 2yo charts? Does it mean she's off the 2yo charts?

http://www.who.int/childgrowth/stand..._5_zscores.txt

Note that the largest size for 2 yo is 95.4cm which is actually larger than the median for 3 yo 95.0515


ETA: So my diagnosis is "fear mongering doctor, remove immediately"

[CookAMH]

Thanks, that is helpful. I can't remember stats at the moment but I think she's 36lb. My friend commented that they mainly looked at her weight and not height and wondered why they didn't take height into consideration. She IS a bigger, taller girl but doesn't look fat.

I found the pdf chart for weight (http://www.who.int/childgrowth/stand..._5_zscores.pdf) and she's under the top range, which converts to 37.4 pounds.

What does the 3SD column mean? I took it to mean that it's the top range.

[bandgeek]

Originally Posted by CookAMH

Thanks, that is helpful. I can't remember stats at the moment but I think she's 36lb. My friend commented that they mainly looked at her weight and not height and wondered why they didn't take height into consideration. She IS a bigger, taller girl but doesn't look fat.

I found the pdf chart for weight (http://www.who.int/childgrowth/stand..._5_zscores.pdf) and she's under the top range, which converts to 37.4 pounds.

What does the 3SD column mean? I took it to mean that it's the top range.

Standard deviation. I have trouble explaining what it means, but at least now you have something to google.

If she's proportional height for weight I wouldn't worry.

[Snowflower]

Hmm.. My DD is 28 months old and weighs 40+ lbs and is super tall as well. Our DR. didn't say anything about it, but knows she eats real well. If she eats healthy I would pay that statement no mind. I mean... my DD is bigger than her 3 year old friends too. She's very solid, as am I.

[Fuamami]

I have a very large niece, as well as two very large sons. My boys have always been off the charts, with my 4 yo now weighing 52 pounds. My sister and I have often remarked on the fact that big boys seem to be cause for congratulations, and big girls seem to only draw concern. It sounds to me like she's fine.

Does your friend's dd have a diet high in sugar and processed foods? Does your friend's dd watch a lot of TV? Does she spend a lot of her time being sedentary? It seems like those are more relevant questions for the doctor to ask, yk?

[sapphire_chan]

The sad thing is if she were a boy they probably wouldn't have said anything. My nephew's (2) is heavier than my niece (4) by at least 10 lbs, but he only comes up to her shoulder and my SIL is quite anxious about her children's health, and, imo, gets doctors who feed into that a bit, and no one has said a thing about his weight.

And there's a family history of diabetes, so it would definitely be mentioned if anyone were thinking of worrying.

But since your friend's dd is a daughter, she's supposed to be all delicate and fragile instead of being solid.

[*Aimee*]

My DS1 and DS2 are both off charts for height, weight and head (they have giant heads!!). Their DH is 6'6 and over 300lbs. So, they're going to be big. Our drs have never said anything.

[kdtmom2be]

This chart might be a little easier to read, since it's the graph and not the actual numbers.

If she is 36 lbs then she is off the charts for weight. But as previous posters have said, if she is also off the charts for HEIGHT then there really isn't a problem. If you look at this chart you'll see that at a weight of 36lbs she should be between 94 and 111 cm tall to be within the WHO height for weight range.

[loveandgarbage]

i had a dr tell me that my 10 MONTH OLD was at risk for type 2 diabetes because of his size (which was, by the way, caused by my horrific habit of breastfeeding him too much). when he was two, he was "off the charts" as well, i think 43lbs 43"? something like that. his growth has slowed down a little... at his 3 yr appointment he was 47lbs 46" i think. i had a dr mention his weight when he was about 2.5 and i explained that he has always been big (12 lbs at birth), we eat a healthy diet, he gets exercise, etc and she completed disregarded me and said "we'd like to see his weight lower". whatever that means. i'm not going to starve my child! as long as the child has a healthy lifestyle, i don't think there's any reason to worry. type 2 diabetes is the new "issue" and whereas it's an important that parents are aware of the risks, some doctors might be jumping to conclusions.