Life as I Know It; Family; Lifestyle; and Healthy Living!
I took my daughter for her annual physical earlier this evening. I just don't understand why they schedule appointments when you have to wait almost 30 minutes to be seen?! The doctor we saw this evening wasn't her usual pediatrician, it's the other doctor who is also a part of the practice. Since her doctor was fully booked, I decided to keep this appointment that I had made a month ago. It was good timing too since she suddenly got ill last Wednesday night, right before Thanksgiving and I wanted to make sure she was OK (although she has improved since then).

Finally the doctor came in just as Amanda was whining because we had been waiting a bit! I'm glad she heard her whining for heavens sake! Anyway, the usual stuff out of the way, sounding, knocking on the knee, checking eyes, ear, throat, etc; Asking me questions on how active she was, what stage her development was, her bout of illness last week had left no trace of an infection or anything to worry about. She did still have a little cough which some Tylenol should help to keep under control. OK, that's good I thought, my baby was getting a clean bill of health! Then the doctor wanted to know again, how active she was, did she dance or anything? I said yes, we did do a lot of things together, she's not in a registered dance program or anything like that but She's a pretty active six year old.

Then she mentioned that I should make sure she eats a lot of fibre, cut back on juices, she should not be getting any juices at all, just water because the sugar in the juice was bad. I said, that I usually try to buy the healthier juices but I was aware of this (sugar in juices - too much of it) and monitored her intake as well as watering down most of her juices which she has begun to like that way. OK, but she should drink mostly water, especially Propel (spell?), because that's better than juices.

And I should make sure there are less trips to the fast food, and I told the doctor that we rarely have fast food, i.e., MacDonald's etc., when we do, it's once a month or some times every other month. She was happy to hear this. Now by this time I've been trying to get the doctor to say what was wrong with Amanda since she seemed concerned. I asked out right. She said that Mandy's weight is at the top percentile, although she is a tall girl, just monitor her and help her to lose about five pounds.

OK, I realise that Mandy is now six, and she might not be skinny, but she isn't fat either! I've been making sure that she gets lots of exercise especially after school. She does have a little pot belly, nothing to lose sleep over about and I make sure she exercises! She rides her bike, plays a lot, goes to the playground, is constantly actively busy! I do let her eat whatever she wants within reason but making sure that she doesn't over do it, i.e., eat too much. I just don't want her to have hang ups about food!

Meanwhile, Mandy is looking at me and looking worried. I'm getting anxious, so I asked the doc, what is her weight now, since the nurse didn't tell me at weigh in, she's 62 pounds and her height is now 47 inches. "OK, so is that too much for her body type, is she too big (being careful not to say the word fat within earshot)? I then asked the doc what was normal? She told me that no, she isn't really overweight, it was just that according to the growth chart, Mandy is slightly above the weight for her age and should be around 55 pounds. She seemed a bit reluctant to tell me because I'm sitting there trying to figure out what the heck, my six year old needs to go on a diet? Why does it seems so difficult for the doc to come out and say anything?! Then I asked the doctor, "So she's too heavy for her height and body type then? What is normal?" Well, she's a tall girl but it is best to make sure that she doesn't put on weight. Then she got her shots, one this time, a chicken pox booster, then we left.

The first thing Mandy asked me, "Mommy am I fat?" Me, "No sweetheart you're not fat (and I wasn't lying) the doctor just wanted to make sure you didn't have too much sugar and stuff like that". We then attended an after school club meeting and got home later, by which time dinner was ready.

I served her food making sure not to give her too much, (there I go now, starting the mental thing with the food being an issue)! In the middle of eating Mandy asked me if she was full. I looked at her plate, realised that she had barely eaten anything and then asked her if she felt full. She wasn't sure. I told her to just eat until you feel full without being uncomfortable and not to worry about eating. Do you see this kind of mess?!


I went on line to do some research and found this little bit of information:



A 6 year and 1 months old (female) child who is 62 pounds and is 3 feet and 11 inches tall has a body mass index of 19.8, which is over the 95th percentile, and would indicate that your child is overweight.

Your child's ideal body weight would be at a BMI at the 85th percentile or below, and so would be about 53 pounds.





I am going into overdrive now! What the fuck, she's supposed to be 53 pounds now?! So she's not 7 lbs overweight she's 9 lbs over weight?

The website information also said:



That doesn't necessarily mean that your child has to lose 9 pounds. As he gets older and taller, he may thin out some and therefore just need to stop gaining weight, gain weight more slowly or lose some of that weight. Talk to your Pediatrician for more help interpreting these results.






It went on to say that a child is considered to be overweight if their BMI is over the 95th percentile, where my daughter's weight landed her and considered to be healthy if they were between the 85 and 95th percentile for their age! I also read that some children might have a more dense body-mass than some and may not be considered overweight if they are not considered flabby!


One of the things I do is make sure my children eat as healthy a diet as possible but we also have pizza nights as well sometimes! They do have snacks and I make sure the snacks or not fatty or too calorie-laden. I've gotten Amanda used to eating food with little or no sugar and also monitor her food intake because she is a growing child with a healthy appetite and the women in our family, some of us, we go through the chubby phase as children. I didn't want her to be a fat adult, but I also don't want her to have bad experiences or issues with food and her body so I've been careful about what I do and say when it comes to that. She has been giving herself scrutiny already because of the other little girls she plays with.

While I understand the reasoning of making sure our children are not overweight which can lead to problems later on in their lives, I really dislike the pressure it puts on children! The pediatrician obviously wasn't too comfortable in having that conversation with me, for whatever reason, but they need to be more comfortable doing that and not making parents or children feel awkward! I also didn't like that Amanda heard our conversation and that and in turn became uncomfortable and is now more likely to be overly anxious for a while! I will have to diffuse that situation! I'll make sure she continues to exercise daily, i.e, we dance and have physical activities, but she also continues to ride her bike and play outside daily, but I refuse to put her on a diet!




The website link is: Link "

Comments (Page 2)
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on Nov 29, 2007
I do hope she doesn't worry herself about this.


The sad thing is that she is Mark and it pains me that this has started so early for her. So having given her some guidlelines, some of which I know she won't remember, for God's sake she's 6, I can only pray that this too shall pass for her and she can go back to being a happy go lucky kid.


Take out the engine from your car to reduce its weight.


Uh?
on Nov 29, 2007
she can go back to being a happy go lucky kid.


I hope so too. Imposing these sorts of pressures on kids is carrying things way too far. The doctor needs to get a clue before she does this again.

Uh?


Jythier was making a point about my tale, basically saying telling someone to lose weight because they're very fit is a little bit like taking the "engine out of a care to reduce its weight".
on Nov 30, 2007
Jythier was making a point about my tale, basically saying telling someone to lose weight because they're very fit is a little bit like taking the "engine out of a care to reduce its weight".


He can be pithy and succint at times.
on Nov 30, 2007
Jythier was making a point about my tale, basically saying telling someone to lose weight because they're very fit is a little bit like taking the "engine out of a care to reduce its weight".


Got it!


He can be pithy and succint at times.


I know he can be sarcastic!lol!
on Nov 30, 2007
Pithy sentences are like sharp nails which force truth upon our memory.
— Denis Diderot

Thanks Dr. Guy. I didn't know I was pithy AND succint.
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