This is Matilda. I'm sure you've seen her here before. She's three and half and has the sweetest wee smile, dimples and all.
Today I took her for her health assessment at the Maternal and Child Health Clinic. I have no concerns about her and only really go now so that I can get her book filled in with all the important stuff - her height recorded and ticks placed in all the right spots for her ability walk up stairs by her self and ride a three wheeler!
Before we left today I was given her BMI (body mass index) and ever so politely informed that according to this measure, my healthy three year old is overweight and that I should consider dietary changes. I am horrified that this is the information now presented to parents. Had this not been my third child and I was not already jaded by the overwhelming amount of advice handed out to parents, I am sure I would have come home and sobbed into the couch! I am sure I would have assessed and reassessed every item of food that went into her poor mouth. I'm sure I would have come home to cook a healthy dinner of vegetables served on vegetables!
Instead I put it on facebook.
I've laughed about it all afternoon. I've laughed with the school mums at pick up time, and giggled with my husband over the phone. I rang my mum and my sister and my best friend.
Cause if I dont laugh about it, I might seriously cry.
Because even though she is my third child, a little bit of it slipped in and I am beating myself up with the guilt.
No way!! Son, just keep laughing because that is seriously outrageous. I think you know when a 3 year old needs 'dietary changes' and ths is not be f those times. The utter cheek! x
ReplyDeletethank goodness for the 3rd child as YOU know best, rather than to listen to crazy statistics. She looks very healthy to me :) my eldest was what they called over weight as a wee baby/toddler & now he is a bean pole! congrats on getting to that milestone too! the light at the end of the tunnel must be so close now :)
ReplyDeleteOh lady! Matilda is absolutely gorgeous, perfect and the most healthy looking little girl ever.
ReplyDeleteThose bloody health clinics annoy me. The nurses there made me feel like absolute crap when Angus was only 3 weeks old, because apparently he wasn't getting enough milk from me... after getting mastitis and beating myself up about it all for a few weeks, I vowed I would not be returning to them ever again. And I haven't, with either of the boys.
It's a world gone mad where they can start commenting on a three and a half year olds weight and height and dietary plans. What the??
Let kids be kids and if they're healthy, that is all that matters.
Good on you for taking it so well and in your stride. You're a magnificent Mama and Matilda is lucky to have you as her Mama! xo
Oh dear! what a shame, but thank goodness you have your smarts about you and realise that it's not something to overly concern yourself with! My son (my first) was always off the chart regarding weight, so naturally i got heaps of questions thrown at me about his weight and diet. Even though he was my first, i never really restricted his diet, just what I thought was normal, and he has turned out to be a lovely lean, fit, healthy young boy! Get on with that laughing Son, because I'd hate to see you cry over this issue!!!
ReplyDeleteI read a news paper article from Melbourne about a woman being told the same thing about her son who was the same height as my son and 1kg lighter. That would make my son very overweight. But he is a tall slim boy. They then went on to say that the BMI was never designed to be used with children and that it was being misused and causing parents undue grief. I now have the situation where my 8 month old breastfed baby is well over the 100% for weight and the doctors are monitoring it even though they freely admit there is almost nothing I can do to control her weight at the moment until she eats more solids and starts to move around. I know she will be fine just as my son is but it doesn't make you feel any less crappy as a mum I know.
ReplyDeleteIf my three and a half year old daughter was weighed today there is no doubt in my mind that she would be over the BMI. I can see it in her face. I also know that in a couple of weeks I might see her and worry that she is looking a bit gaunt in the face... because this is the pattern that happens while she is GROWING!!!!
ReplyDeleteHow can you measure BMI when a child's height can change so dramatically over a couple of weeks... and we both know that is true because the little rascals can grow out of an outfit before you even have the chance to sew it!!!