DD (5yo) is in the 97th percentile for BMI...doc says she's in the obese category

[mamatoablessing]

I am so confused, mamas. We just returned from our pediatrician's office where DD had her 5yr check-up. The ped was shocked to see the jump in her percentile in the BMI category, from 70th% last year to 97th percentile this year. Ped is worried about obesity. DD is a solid kid but never in a million years would I consider her obese. She weighs 56.8lbs and is 47 inches tall. She turned 5 two weeks ago. She is incredibly active, eats healthy and organic and seems to self-regulate. How much stock do you all put into BMI percentiles? Ped wants blood tests run to check thyroid, etc. and then wants to refer us to a nutritionist. I cook from scratch, use mostly organic, my kids eat an unusually large amount of fruits and veggies, very little junk, very little fast food, etc. Portions might be larger than most kids, but she's hungry because she burns so much energy each day.

Just for perspective, I'm also posting a picture of her...maybe you all might see something that I don't.

AGH! I'm feeling like a bit of a failure right now. I have worked really hard to make sure my kids eat healthy, all of our friends, family and classmates are amazed at what our kids eat and how healthy they are.

Anyway, I'd love to hear perspectives and experiences.

Thanks so much!

Taken 3 months ago:


This was taken 1 month ago...she's the one on the right. The other little girl is about 9 months older than her.

[D_McG]

New pediatrician time?  That is ridiculous she is NOT overweight!!!

[mamatoablessing]

Up until today I totally loved our ped. She owns the only holistic ped practice within 250 miles of us. For years, she has been supportive of our choices, non-judgemental, offering natural alternatives, etc. I think that's one of the reasons I'm so worried. It's like, if she thinks it's a big deal, it must be. She is not over-reactive by nature (quite the opposite actually).

Thanks for the reply and reassurance.

[Storm Bride]

I dn't trust BMI at all, even for adults. I trust it even less for young children. I see a perfectly normal looking, healthy looking little girl. In the second picture, I see a little bit of a tummy, but it's the kind of tummy I see on lots of young chlidren, and it doesn't mean anything...except possibly that she's facing a growth spurt in the very near future.

IMO, your ped is out to lunch. Aside from the fact that the little girl in your photos is clearly not obese, there's no reason to jump to blood tests, nutritionist, etc. based on one visit! If she does happen to have a growth spurt coming up, that little bit of tummy is even more meaningless than it would be otherwise.

I'd find a new ped...or just skip the well child checks completely. My kids haven't had a well child checkup in ages. DD2's last one was either 9 months or a year, and she's 2+ now...and the others haven't been in for years...my GP (it would be very unusual to have a pediatrician doing well baby/child checks around here) saw dd1 to confirm that some growths on her face are warts last week, and he said, "Hi, dd1, how are you? We haven't seen you in here in a long time - you don't come in much - good for you!" with a strong implication that he really only expects to see kids when they're sick, and she basically never gets sick.

Honestly, I've seen soooooo many posts here over the years where a ped has caused some mama concern about her child, because of BMI, obesity concerns, etc., when the child appears to be completely healthy and happy - and usually active. It's weird. I know there are major concerns about the impact of obesity on public health (mind you, I also think that the focus on obesity, instead of on the causes of obesity, is off target), but the way it's translating into action where children are concerned is something I find worrisome.

[JollyGG]

With the attention childhood obesity is getting from Washington, in the media, and basically all over doctors are getting a lot of pressure to identify and reduce the number of kids who are obese. I think it makes them a bit quick at times to jump to the issue.

At this point I would simply tell him you would like to wait and see if this is the start of a growth spurt and don't choose to do anything about it at this time, but would be happy to revisit the issue in the future if concerns continue.

A quick conversion to cm (120cm) and look at the WHO charts shows that she would be above the 95th percentile for height as well as for weight. As long as she is at a similar range for weight and height I don't see that their is anything really to worry about. Realistically a child in the 95th percentile for height would be underweight were she at the 50th percentile for weight.

[bandgeek]

I wouldn't call her "fat", but she's not lean.  It's not necessarily a bad thing.  It does depend on how healthy she is otherwise.  I know 2 little girls about the same age and size as your DD.  One eats very healthy.  You can just tell her mom is on top of it.  She never refuses fruits and veggies and is eager to try unfamiliar foods.  The other one practically lives on carbs.  Her dad drops her off at daycare everyday with a huge bagel and cream cheese from tim hortons, or a breakfast sandwich and donuts.  Flavored milk, the whole nine yards.  She eats a LOT and it's usually bad stuff.  The girl who eats healthy, you can tell she's just built like that.  Her mom is a larger lady too.  Very tall and a larger frame (NOT fat).  The other little girl's mom is very lean and smaller framed.

I can't imagine it would hurt to see if there's something more going on, unless you really think it's just genetics.  How are you and dad built now?  As kids?  What about her siblings?

[Alyantavid]

Your ped is a moron.  She isn't obese and as long as you are teaching her healthy eating habits, she'll be fine.  Kids are all built differently and alot of times a kid will get rounder and then shoot up during a growth spurt.  My 5 year old is roughly the same size.  He isn't fat at all though he's always been in the 85-95%.  Your daughter is beautiful and looks totally healthy to me!
 

Originally Posted by bandgeek 

I wouldn't call her "fat", but she's not lean.  It's not necessarily a bad thing.  It does depend on how healthy she is otherwise.  I know 2 little girls about the same age and size as your DD.  One eats very healthy.  You can just tell her mom is on top of it.  She never refuses fruits and veggies and is eager to try unfamiliar foods.  The other one practically lives on carbs.  Her dad drops her off at daycare everyday with a huge bagel and cream cheese from tim hortons, or a breakfast sandwich and donuts.  Flavored milk, the whole nine yards.  She eats a LOT and it's usually bad stuff.  The girl who eats healthy, you can tell she's just built like that.  Her mom is a larger lady too.  Very tall and a larger frame (NOT fat).  The other little girl's mom is very lean and smaller framed.

I can't imagine it would hurt to see if there's something more going on, unless you really think it's just genetics.  How are you and dad built now?  As kids?  What about her siblings?

That's a whole lot of judgment there.  If you looked at my youngest son walking along beside me, we don't "fit".  He's built exactly like his dad.  My older son is exactly like me. And they both eat the exact same way.  I hate the thought that people see me with my kids and assume I'm feeding them wrong because of their body type.

[bandgeek]

Originally Posted by Alyantavid 

That's a whole lot of judgment there.  If you looked at my youngest son walking along beside me, we don't "fit".  He's built exactly like his dad.  My older son is exactly like me. And they both eat the exact same way.  I hate the thought that people see me with my kids and assume I'm feeding them wrong because of their body type.

Did you even read my whole post?  I see what these kids eat every day.  And I'm sorry, but kids often DO take after their parents.  Not always, but if I see you overfeeding your child simple carbs every single day of the week and your 5 year old is already as big around as you, I will assume it's not "just genetics" making her heavy.  It's as easy as adding 2 and 2.  If that's judgmental, then I'm guilty.  It doesn't make a person a bad parent, but probably misguided or uninformed.  I was trying to point out to the OP that there's a difference and gave her examples so she can see where I'm coming from.  This isn't about your kid, or you as a parent.  There's no reason to be defensive, *especially* if you really do feed your child a healthy diet.
 

[DariusMom]

Your daughter is a lovely little girl and doesn't look in the least bit overweight.

My DS is solid. He takes after his mama! This is *not* a euphemism for fat! He is active, eats lots and lots of fresh fruit and veg, and is active (bikes to and from school every day, etc.) His BMI is high for his height too. But he's not at all fat and we don't worry about it.

If your little girl is active, eating a healthy diet, and growing normally, I'd just let it go.

I think your ped was probably having an off day and was, as a PP said, under a lot of pressure from the recent media blitzes on the issue. If you like her, stick with her (or at least bring this up with her) and I bet it won't come up again.

[onlyzombiecat]

I entered your dd's numbers into an online kid's BMI calculator and it said 94 percentile and "at risk for being overweight".

Scrolling down the page it said "Since body mass index doesn't directly measure body fat, it is possible to be overweight but not obese. Some kids who are very athletic and have a large muscle mass, may be overweight, but if they do not have excess body fat, then they do not need help with weight loss." from http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/usefultools/l/bl_bmi_results.htm?test=1&gender=2&age=5&months=0&cwt=56.8&chf=3&chi=11

I guess I wouldn't worry about your dd's lifestyle since you know she eats really healthy food and gets lots of exercise but I wouldn't blow the health concern off entirely if there has been a big jump in weight or bmi. If the doctor you liked who typically doesn't overreact suggested the blood test then it might be worth looking into or monitoring just to be sure there isn't anything else going on that would cause a big gain.  It doesn't mean you are a bad parent or that your child is doomed just to get things checked out. http://www.medicalonly.com/2008/07/09/weightgain_children_hypothyroid http://altmedicine.about.com/cs/treatments/a/WeightGain.htm

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by bandgeek 

I wouldn't call her "fat", but she's not lean.  It's not necessarily a bad thing.

I don't really think you meant it this way, but this comes across really, really, really badly. You're right - not being lean isn't "necessarily" a bad thing. Many kids just don't have "lean" builds. FWIW, I know five children who are clearly not eating well, and are not in fabulous health. Three of them - siblings - are obese (not "overweight", but definitely obese...one of them has such a huge frame - literally a head taller than any other child in his class - that I can't be sure, but I suspect he's morbidly obese). The other two - not related to each other - are skinny as rails. The heavy kids eat a lot of junk, and not much else. The two skinny kids eat a smaller amount of junk, and not much else. The skinny kids also come from very petite parents, and are kicked outside to play, while the heavy siblings are allowed to spend a lot of time in front of screens, and have big parents (the dad has never been obese - the mom has been, but has also been a healthy weight, but not healthy, a lot - but both parents have huge frames, big bones, etc.). So, there are differences, and the exercise level is definitely important...but none of them are very healthy, and they're on opposite ends of the weight spectrum.

However, the whole way you phrased these two sentences is kind of...obnoxious? offensive? I can't find quite the right word. Turn it around, and see how it sounds if you say, "I wouldn't call her "skinny", but she's not sturdy. That's not necessarily a bad thing". It really comes across as though the default is that not being lean (or "sturdy", in my example) is probably a bad thing, but might not be, in unusual circumstances. There were a lot of kids around with builds like the OP's dd when I was a kid...and none of the ones I kept in touch with or see around town grew up to have weight problems. I think her dd has a very normal body size and shape for her age. (Oddly enough, I was slimmer than that as a young chlid...and I'm morbidly obese. There are a WHOLE lot of potential factors at play where obesity is concerned. In my case, the causes are about 95% psychological.)

And, I'm not taking any of this personally. DS1 was always skinny, and has been "buff" (he was his high school's gymnastics team captain last year). DD1 is also very slim. I have some concerns about ds2's weight and body shape, but the ped (went to see her for something specific this summer) has no concerns at all. I don't have a dog in this fight. I just really dislike the way the "obesity epidemic" is affecting the way we look at children's bodies.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by onlyzombiecat 

I entered your dd's numbers into an online kid's BMI calculator and it said 94 percentile and "at risk for being overweight".

Scrolling down the page it said "Since body mass index doesn't directly measure body fat, it is possible to be overweight but not obese. Some kids who are very athletic and have a large muscle mass, may be overweight, but if they do not have excess body fat, then they do not need help with weight loss." from http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/usefultools/l/bl_bmi_results.htm?test=1&gender=2&age=5&months=0&cwt=56.8&chf=3&chi=11

I guess I wouldn't worry about your dd's lifestyle since you know she eats really healthy food and gets lots of exercise but I wouldn't blow the health concern off entirely if there has been a big jump in weight or bmi. If the doctor you liked who typically doesn't overreact suggested the blood test then it might be worth looking into or monitoring just to be sure there isn't anything else going on that would cause a big gain.  It doesn't mean you are a bad parent or that your child is doomed just to get things checked out. http://www.medicalonly.com/2008/07/09/weightgain_children_hypothyroid http://altmedicine.about.com/cs/treatments/a/WeightGain.htm

The part I bolded doesn't even make sense. "Overweight" and "obese" are separate categories, which fall under different BMI ranges, anyway. You can be "overweight", but not "obese", just on BMI, without percentage body fat even coming into the equation. The terminology here is all screwed up.

ETA: Never mind. I just read a bunch of stuff about BMI categories for kids. Ugh. I don't think most of this is going to accomplish squat in battling childhood obesity...but I between the massive onslaught of junk food, and the attempts to combat obesity in children, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see an massive increase in the diagnosis of eating disorders in another 10-15 years.

[Alyantavid]

Originally Posted by bandgeek 

Did you even read my whole post?  I see what these kids eat every day.  And I'm sorry, but kids often DO take after their parents.  Not always, but if I see you overfeeding your child simple carbs every single day of the week and your 5 year old is already as big around as you, I will assume it's not "just genetics" making her heavy.  It's as easy as adding 2 and 2.  If that's judgmental, then I'm guilty.  It doesn't make a person a bad parent, but probably misguided or uninformed.  I was trying to point out to the OP that there's a difference and gave her examples so she can see where I'm coming from.  This isn't about your kid, or you as a parent.  There's no reason to be defensive, *especially* if you really do feed your child a healthy diet.
 

I did read your whole post.  And it's full of judgment.  Your very first sentence was "she's not fat, but she's not lean".  The op's daughter is a perfectly healthy size, she's active, she has a good diet.  And you brush all that aside with that one phrase like there's a problem with the fact that she isn't "lean".   It just comes across like there is a problem not just an over zealous ped when in reality the op's daughter is probably completely fine and at her next check up the ped might not even mention her size/bmi because she's hit a growth spurt.

I'm not taking this personally btw, this is just another example of how society feels the need to pressure 5 year olds into being a certain size or shape.  Completely ignoring the fact that bodies come in many different sizes and shapes and lean doesn't equal healthy, just as not lean doesn't equal unhealthy.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by Alyantavid 

I'm not taking this personally btw, this is just another example of how society feels the need to pressure 5 year olds into being a certain size or shape.  Completely ignoring the fact that bodies come in many different sizes and shapes and lean doesn't equal healthy, just as not lean doesn't equal unhealthy.

...and ignoring the fact that a five year old's body is far from a constant, in any case. Their weight and shape is shifting on a regular basis when they're young.

[TiredX2]

This is something that really bothers me AND seems to happen often:
 

Originally Posted by onlyzombiecat 

I entered your dd's numbers into an online kid's BMI calculator and it said 94 percentile and "at risk for being overweight".

Scrolling down the page it said "Since body mass index doesn't directly measure body fat, it is possible to be overweight but not obese. Some kids who are very athletic and have a large muscle mass, may be overweight, but if they do not have excess body fat, then they do not need help with weight loss." from http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/usefultools/l/bl_bmi_results.htm?test=1&gender=2&age=5&months=0&cwt=56.8&chf=3&chi=11

/a/WeightGain.htm

I did the same (well, looked at the CDC growth charts) and also placed your DD's BMI of 18.1 at under the 95th%.

I don't take BMI too seriously with kids for a few reasons:

1) many kids tend to grow in real "spurts."  So they might put on 3-5 lbs very quickly and then grow an inch just as quickly.  If you happen to measure the child between putting on the weight and putting on the height the picture is totally different than it could be in just a couple weeks.

2) kids are notoriously hard to measure.  If the OP's DD measured just 1/2-3/4" taller, she would drop under the 90th%.  Same thing if she was like 1-2 lbs lighter.  What if she ate right before going in?  Was wearing heavier clothes?  Maybe she wasn't standing up right.  Heck, maybe the scale was off! 

3) Kids are not adult propoprtions.  This is especially "hard" on bigger kids.  Because their height/weight is higher people often expect them to have more adult measurements.  But a 5 year old who is the height of a 7 year old will generally be heavier because they will have larger torso for height (and torsos are just heavier than that amount of leg).

And so on.

OP: What is your "mom" sense telling you?  If you had no concerns until seeing the doctor and DD seems healthy and happy, I would letit go for another while at least.

[bandgeek]

I don't really know what to say.  Maybe I didn't phrase it the best but the OP did ask for opinions.  She doesn't look obese to me but with all the weight problems in this country nowadays I think people don't see it when a child is borderline overweight.  They are used to seeing so many heavy kids that one borderline looks perfect.  And average kids get told they don't eat enough because they look too thin compared to their peers.  If this post was supposed to only be for reassurance then I do apologize.  If the OP posted about an underweight child and posted a pic of child who looked a little too thin, I would have been honest then too (and I'm fairly sure that would have been perfectly acceptable given that the weight issue often only goes one way).  I think the OP needs to look at different angles, which is what I tried to convey in my first post.  Somehow it got misconstrued in that I'm just judgmental of fat people, end of story.  I'm not.  I used to be heavy myself and goodness know I have problems with overeating.  I tend to speak very frankly about weight and sometimes forget that it's a super touchy subject for most people.  I don't expect all kids to be exactly the same size but all too often I hear parents brushing off concerns.  I applaud the OP for considering that something might be off.  If she looks at everything, decides her DD is fine, then that's great.

[wishin'&hopin']

Your daughter is beautiful.  

Perhaps the doctor miscalculated the BMI?

And...it's important to remember that the BMI doesn't work well for folks who are athletic--muscle weighs more than fat does.  Thus, a person with a muscular build will have a higher BMI than someone without those muscles.

[mamatoablessing]

Originally Posted by TiredX2 

This is something that really bothers me AND seems to happen often:
 

I did the same (well, looked at the CDC growth charts) and also placed your DD's BMI of 18.1 at under the 95th%.

I don't take BMI too seriously with kids for a few reasons:

1) many kids tend to grow in real "spurts."  So they might put on 3-5 lbs very quickly and then grow an inch just as quickly.  If you happen to measure the child between putting on the weight and putting on the height the picture is totally different than it could be in just a couple weeks.

2) kids are notoriously hard to measure.  If the OP's DD measured just 1/2-3/4" taller, she would drop under the 90th%.  Same thing if she was like 1-2 lbs lighter.  What if she ate right before going in?  Was wearing heavier clothes?  Maybe she wasn't standing up right.  Heck, maybe the scale was off! 

3) Kids are not adult propoprtions.  This is especially "hard" on bigger kids.  Because their height/weight is higher people often expect them to have more adult measurements.  But a 5 year old who is the height of a 7 year old will generally be heavier because they will have larger torso for height (and torsos are just heavier than that amount of leg).

And so on.

OP: What is your "mom" sense telling you? If you had no concerns until seeing the doctor and DD seems healthy and happy, I would letit go for another while at least.

[/quote]

My "mom" sense, before today, was that she was an active, muscular kid. Nothing else. I knew she weighed as much as her 7yo sister, but she's almost just as tall. I know that we joke about her being a gymnast because she has the perfect build for it (shorter but incredibly solid). She's like a rock when you hug her. I don't think I could actually pinch any skin/fat on her body. Every inch of her is just...solid. I keep coming back to that word, but it fits perfectly. Aside from that, I know she eats great and even though she may eat more than most kids her age, she is eating the right things.

Originally Posted by wishin'&hopin' 

Your daughter is beautiful.  

Perhaps the doctor miscalculated the BMI?

And...it's important to remember that the BMI doesn't work well for folks who are athletic--muscle weighs more than fat does.  Thus, a person with a muscular build will have a higher BMI than someone without those muscles.

Thank you. This is something I asked the ped about. I said, "feel her - she's all muscle". Her response is that her build hides it well. The more I think about that comment, the more it upsets me. You're right. Muscle does weigh more than fat; I don't understand why that isn't being taken into consideration?



Thanks for everyone's responses so far. I feel somewhat validated now...I think this whole thing is an overreaction.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by bandgeek 

I don't really know what to say.  Maybe I didn't phrase it the best but the OP did ask for opinions.  She doesn't look obese to me but with all the weight problems in this country nowadays I think people don't see it when a child is borderline overweight.  They are used to seeing so many heavy kids that one borderline looks perfect. 

I'm not in the US, and we have the weight problems, but not to the same extent. I know what heavy kids look like (ds2 looks heavy). OP's dd does NOT look heavy.

And average kids get told they don't eat enough because they look too thin compared to their peers. 

I'll have to take your word for this. I've only ever seen someone try to push a child to eat due to being "too skinny" a handful of times. I think it was completely out of line in all cases, but they were also all really, really thin kids (the "all bone" physique).

If this post was supposed to only be for reassurance then I do apologize. 

I think there's a lot of room between "only for reassurance" and the phrasing you used. Without the "necessarily", it wouldn't have bothered me as much, but even your first sentence was kind of...off.

If the OP posted about an underweight child and posted a pic of child who looked a little too thin, I would have been honest then too (and I'm fairly sure that would have been perfectly acceptable given that the weight issue often only goes one way). 

If you had replied using the same phrasing, but with the opposite words (as in my above example), it would have bugged me, too. To me, this isn't about a "weight issue", though. It's about the level of paranoia we're developing over the weight of very young children. Children are growing so fast, and often so unevenly, that talking about blood tests and a nutritionist after one visit is overkill, unless we're talking about a child who is suffering obvious ill effects (eg. a couple I know who literally can't run a half block). If teh ped is concerned, I could maybe see scheduling a follow-up in 3-6 months, to see if she's at the same BMI, or has had a growth spurt, or whatever. But, beginning to intervene, without establishing that there really is an issue is overkill and counter-productive, imo. We don't have the same kind of pressure to "fatten em up" with thin kids, so I don't think you'd see the same reaction from a ped, unless the child was showing other signs of issues. And, I think the medical profession puts waaayyy too much emphasis on height, weight and BMI in children.

I think the OP needs to look at different angles, which is what I tried to convey in my first post.  Somehow it got misconstrued in that I'm just judgmental of fat people, end of story.  I'm not.  I used to be heavy myself and goodness know I have problems with overeating.  I tend to speak very frankly about weight and sometimes forget that it's a super touchy subject for most people.  I don't expect all kids to be exactly the same size but all too often I hear parents brushing off concerns.  I applaud the OP for considering that something might be off.  If she looks at everything, decides her DD is fine, then that's great.

Fair enough. Personally, having looked at the pictures, I have no idea what "everything" she should look at, but that's life. I can say that I absolutely wouldn't subject my child to blood tests over a BMI that the doctor seems to have calculated incorrectly in the first place (the ped said 97th percentile. Two posters here got 94% and 95% and I checked a calculator, as well, and got 94%). Before a doctor convinces me to subject my child to blood tests, they're going to have to give me a better reason than the asinine BMI.

[mamatoablessing]

Originally Posted by TiredX2 

This is something that really bothers me AND seems to happen often:
 

I did the same (well, looked at the CDC growth charts) and also placed your DD's BMI of 18.1 at under the 95th%.

I don't take BMI too seriously with kids for a few reasons:

1) many kids tend to grow in real "spurts."  So they might put on 3-5 lbs very quickly and then grow an inch just as quickly.  If you happen to measure the child between putting on the weight and putting on the height the picture is totally different than it could be in just a couple weeks.

2) kids are notoriously hard to measure.  If the OP's DD measured just 1/2-3/4" taller, she would drop under the 90th%.  Same thing if she was like 1-2 lbs lighter.  What if she ate right before going in?  Was wearing heavier clothes?  Maybe she wasn't standing up right.  Heck, maybe the scale was off! 

3) Kids are not adult propoprtions.  This is especially "hard" on bigger kids.  Because their height/weight is higher people often expect them to have more adult measurements.  But a 5 year old who is the height of a 7 year old will generally be heavier because they will have larger torso for height (and torsos are just heavier than that amount of leg).

And so on.

OP: What is your "mom" sense telling you? If you had no concerns until seeing the doctor and DD seems healthy and happy, I would letit go for another while at least.

[/quote]

My "mom" sense, before today, was that she was an active, muscular kid. Nothing else. I knew she weighed as much as her 7yo sister, but she's almost just as tall. I know that we joke about her being a gymnast because she has the perfect build for it (shorter but incredibly solid). She's like a rock when you hug her. I don't think I could actually pinch any skin/fat on her body. Every inch of her is just...solid. I keep coming back to that word, but it fits perfectly. Aside from that, I know she eats great and even though she may eat more than most kids her age, she is eating the right things.

Originally Posted by wishin'&hopin' 

Your daughter is beautiful.  

Perhaps the doctor miscalculated the BMI?

And...it's important to remember that the BMI doesn't work well for folks who are athletic--muscle weighs more than fat does.  Thus, a person with a muscular build will have a higher BMI than someone without those muscles.

Thank you. This is something I asked the ped about. I said, "feel her - she's all muscle". Her response is that her build hides it well. The more I think about that comment, the more it upsets me. You're right. Muscle does weigh more than fat; I don't understand why that isn't being taken into consideration?



Thanks for everyone's responses so far. I feel somewhat validated now...I think this whole thing is an overreaction.