Is there such a thing? My daughters friend who is a very young mother told me that her health visitor told her that her 13 month old daughter is obese.I am a little skeptical that her health visitor would actually say this bluntly but I am concerned as my family have a lot to do with the child. I realise she is a bit of a chunky girl but could you actually cut a babies food down? I know what she normally feeds her and although her portions seem large to me it is all good stuff fresh veg ect.... Any advice I give to her mum has to be very softly softly as she has a lot of problems with authority type figures. any one any advice?

Yes, I think it is a concern.  I'm not sure how you will broach the subject with her but really you should not have to as the Health Visitor should follow it up with advise and support, that is what she is for :)

I gave birth to a huge baby, everyone including matron came to look...
He was actually just under 11lbs, and 23" long....
Now this boy ate and ate , he was always too big really.
He is now 19 almost 20, 6' 4" and probably 19 stone at least.
I wish I had watched what he ate more carefully when he was growing up, as it was I let him eat loads, we used to joke when he about 2 he went 'free' at hotels and such like but ate the most! Albeit decent healthy food.
So please if you can 'persuade' her portion size is important too...It would long term be very important to this baby.
I do have two other s who sort of self regulated as they usually do, but some will be likely to over do things, as probably this baby is being allowed to do.
Karen

Thanks for the replies . Very helpful, Iwill wait till she calms down and try to speak to her.At the moment she thinks every one is on her back.She had a visit from social services this week as well. I think shes a good mum but she can be a bit aggressive if criticised. I dont know if I should contact her health visitor myself and tell her how shes feeling or would that make things worse.I really dont want her to not trust me as I am probably the closest she has to a mother figure.

I wouldnt contact the health visitor if I was you - and also - I'm sure that both of mine got very chunky around this age - but the more they started to walk and run so the weight came off.  Maybe you could just encourage a bit more walking and playing....

Yes that was my initial thought that when she starts to walk it will make a big difference, but she is a very content to sit there and do nothing she must be the most placid baby Ive ever met. probably a lot of her problem .Her mum does not realise how lucky she is.

Every child like every adult is different.  I was a nanny for twins a long time ago and the Health Visitor was horrendous and what made it worse she had no kids not all these trained people know best.  Give the girl a break you have said yourself it is good food, so what is the problem.

My first baby would put on 2oz one week and lose 1 the next and my health visitor told me she wasn't thriving which I thought, as a young naive mum, meant there was something seriously wrong with her which as it turns out there wasn't.  It was the way she was and is (at 22 yrs old).  2nd baby did fine but I was very happy with my son who started on the below average percentile line on the weight chart and within 10 weeks broke through the above average percentile line.  The lady at the clinic (not HV) told me that my baby was putting on far too much weight and that she was forwarding his card to the HV (I saw no problem so didn't wish to see her).  I got a phone call though and after a chat with her she was satisfied I wasn't putting my baby at risk :rolleyes:  The next time I went to clinic I insisted that the woman checked his height and what do you know, it corresponded on the chart with his weight.  My son was a gorgeous chubby baby with the squiggy feet I love and now he is a gorgeous lean 16 yr old with a healthy appetite for healthy food and exercise.  Unfortunately LindaMorgan is right in that some of these experts have no personal experience.  Charts are guides and should be treated as such.  They are not for shoehorning every baby into as some HVs and others seem to try to do.

:rolleyes: I have been there and what a load of utter cods whallop

I have given birth to big babies and they have both been on the higher percentile of growth. Not really surprising as I am 5ft 8 and Mike is 6ft 4 :rolleyes:

My girls are both strapping lasses but not in anyway fat ( I am a tad chubby at the moment but hopefully not for much longer :) )

When my HV said to put Indigo on a diet I walked out without giving her my thoughts as was so angry Obese at 13 months Utter tosh :rolleyes:

Lucy
xx

Your family may be appropriately sized for their height but I think there is little doubt that we are eating too much in the UK generally and obesity is getting to be a very serious problem, something that has been linked by research to childhood size, so I think it entirely appropriate that HVs attempt to tackle this when they come across a baby that is, in Wendles words  "a bit of a chunky girl". 
As, often, multiqualified professionals I would not expect them to be doing anything that is not evidence based.  We don't know that they have any intention to reduce food, perhaps they will encourage activity or perhaps the mothers attitude to food needs addressing.  Whatever it requires I'd have a good guess that it is an issue that they are well aquainted with and have explored the best way of helping, supporting and educating the mother.

Isabel

Babies cannot be Obese :rolleyes: I have had two 'Chunky girls' ;)

At 13 months :rolleyes: They need wholesome food

They were well fed babies ! Stuffed full of veggies low fat and high fibre foods ! Also calcium rich foods Also full of good high protein food

What is needed is Education !  ;)

NOT a HV saying your baby is fat/Obese :rolleyes:

Lucy
xx

Unfortunately I've seen one or two babies who were a lot more than 'chunky' or 'well-covered' - they were downright fat. :(

Me too. I've had very big babies but they have levelled out average. Infact, Archie burns more calories than I do cos he runs round like a lunatic with his brothers and sisters :D

I'm not sure how she can attempt to begin to educate the mother if she is forbidden to say the baby is obese. 

>Babies cannot be Obese<

I disagree....

There was a show on sky a few months back tracing the lives of 4 morbidly obese people,they showed baby photo's off all of them,and guess what??They were all what i would call obese babies,not fat or chubby,but overly fat! :( There was nothing medically wrong with any of them as infants that made them that way,it was purely too much food and of the wrong kind.
If a sedentary toddler is given sugary drinks,bottles of milk permanantly attached to their lips(which a 13mth old should no longer be having anyway),junky high sugar/salt foods then why cant they become fat/obese? I see plenty of FAT babies around,there is a difference between a chubby healthy bub and a fat one.

Wendles i would contact the HV,she doesnt have to tell the mum that you have spoken.Perhaps she or you should encourage her to book themselves into a mother and babies group,playgroup(sometimes nutritionists are on hand to ask questions of and give advice),or anything that will let the baby mix and play with other children of the same age,this will not only get bub active but will let her mum compare her baby to others of the same age,and this will perhaps give her a wake up call.
It was a huge call on the HV part telling the mum her baby was obese,i'm sure she didnt take suggesting this lightly,i would be taking it seriously and if there is indeed nothing wrong with the baby and she is in the normal range than no harm,no foul.They do afterall see hundreds of babies of all shapes and sizes,weight charts and percentiles aside,i would think it's pretty  easy for them to tell the difference between a little chubby baby fat,and a child who is obese/fat.

There is good evidence that overweight babies tend to turn into obese adults. As a healthcare provider myself I have to admit that patients often are extremely dishonest when talking about eating, drinking and smoking habits....this unfortunately often makes us assume that EVERYONE is dishonest. The health visitor does not have your independent view of the food being provided. The fact remains that the child is overweight for age and height.
The problem can be caused by  either
too high fat, too high sugar diet ( dont forget to include sugar content of drinks)
Good content food in too big portions
Inactivity
Medical problems

You say that the child is unusually placid..........could there be something medically wrong I wonder? Might be worth seeing the doctor.

>The fact remains that the child is overweight for age and height.

This is on a chart that has an average line, one that most babies will cluster around.  You have to take individual differences into account and accept that you will get a number of babies that will be slightly below or above and babies who will be in a minority that will fall a long way away from the average.  This doesn't necessarily mean that the baby is obese. Obviously we are being made more and more aware of the problem of obesity but at 13 months if the baby has a healthy appetite and is not being fed too much sugar or fat then what should you do?  The fattest baby I have known was one fed soley breast milk.  Breast fed babies are not supposed to get fat but he wouldn't even take solids until he was about 7  months and he looked like a little Buddah.  Just another example of a baby that refused to conform to the norm.

As pinklilies has suggested, a GP's advice should be sought.

just to clarify that in the medical world the term "obese" is not the personal, subjective (or insulting)term that lay people imagine. Many non medical people imagine that "obesity"is a matter of personal opinion or perception. One persons "fat" is the others "bonny" in the MEDICAL  world weight issues have specific terminology......it is specifically related to BMI...body mass index (height/weight). The official classifications range from "underweight" to "normal to "overweight" to "obese", to "morbidly obese"and these are calculated using a special chart.
The health visitor will be using the MEDICAL term obese.  She is not being insulting. Obesity is not in the eye of the beholder. It is perfectly possible for a baby to be obese from intake....and many mums accidentally feed their babies loads of "invisible " sugar in drinks and food etc. Food labelling could be better. Do you know that in a low fat yoghurt there is the equivalent of 9 sugar lumps? In a can of non diet pop, 17 sugar lumps ?
The recommendation is to keep a precise food diary for the child and study the food labels hard. As I said , consider a medical problem

Well if the health visitor is like mine just out of university with no kids of her own she can shove her 'obese' comment back into her study books.

I had an 'obese' child she looked like the mitchelin man she couldnt even close her legs she was such a porker, ok she had mobility problems which even the HV said i was neurotic!! but mri proved otherwise hmmmm,she was really reagardless of condition not very active anyway she could still crawl but she just didnt bother much, we said she was a thoughtfull child as she prefered to play with bricks and stuff.

Regardless of that once she got splints and was mobile it fell off in time for nursery she was a beautiful and still is lovely girl no sign on obesity whatsoever now aged 7yrs and she is still as thoughtfull as ever playing with her dolls houses and she still eats for england!!

I had one child of 10lb 6oz and one of 10lb.  Fairly big babies, the girl that was 10lb 6oz is very slender (not skinny) eats wonderfully healthily unlike her Mother!  She is 13 and 5ft 9" she weighs around 9 stone and is gorgeous.  When she was a baby she was ill with a stomach tumor so lost lots of weight quickly, so became slim unintentionally, she then went on to have a fixed brace at 10 and ate so healthily it was unreal as she didn't want any decay on teeth where braces had been fixed.  The boy now 19 weighed 10lb, was always a big lad, won't say fat or obese.  I think children need encouragement and obviously guidance in what to eat and with Alex the lad, he played Sunday Leage football from under 8's even though he looked more like rugby player.  He wanted the David Beckham Adidas Predator boots (£100 at the time) I said that is no problem and we worked out this healthy eating plan (not diet) and god bless him at 10 he lost all his excess weight and his reward was the boots.  He is now a strapping 6ft 2" lad who weighs approximately 14.5 stone and works out most days at the gym, muscles upon muscles you could say and I think doing that with him gave him the incentive to realise he could lose the weight and he could become fitter for football etc., I think if the healthy eating is instilled in children from a young age they don't know any different.  My granddaughter only drinks sugar free juice obviously and when she comes here I give her a cup of tea without sugar and she loves it!  She's never had it so don't know what she is missing.  Watching what they eat young I think is the key and so long as it's healthy and not in excess how can it be wrong.  Don't get me wrong we'll eat chips sometimes (although son won't) and sweets as I did last night but not all the time, everything in moderation. A little bit of what you fancy does you good etc., and if you deny yourself totally you'll have it anyway so use it as a treat.  Now I just need to practice what I preach!

I think there is a stage in a young baby/toddler where their calorie intake is not quite balanced by their activity level, particularly when they are still having all their daytime naps. I was told that my youngest son was overweight at 15 months, but as soon as he was really steady on his feet and able to run and play freely , the stage passed.
He is now 6'2 and just over 10 stone. as thin as a beanpole, because he plays so much sport.
I think your friend shouldn't worry too much, but just keep a close eye on weight and activity over next few months.

My son was 7lb 14oz at birth and 23" :) The only time he has looked anywhere near chubby was at around 10/11 months just before he walked. Now at 23, he is 6' 3" and just 10 stone :D All his life he has been a beanpole :D He has always been very healthy despite being so skinny :)

Daisy

I wouldnt have thought the weight a baby is when they are born has any affect on whether they'll be obese or not?? Just because a baby weighs 10lb at birth shouldnt mean they'll grow up to be fat.It's what goes in to their mouths after their born that would make the difference IMHO.

http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/323/7325/1320

I'm afraid that after run ins with HV's and Midwifes with my 3 boys I take things they say with a pinch of salt.  My eldest boy was 81b 6ozs at birth and was pretty 'normal' but my second boy was 8lb 11ozs and skinny as he was long.  I was forever being told that he was 'below average'.  Now correct me if I am wrong but to get an average you need babies that are 'below' and 'above' to get the average.  Sam is still a skinny beanpole at 16.  He eats like a pig (always has done) and plays rugby for the county.  Surely it is the health of the baby that is important.  If the baby is eating well,  eating nourishing food and reaching all her milestones,  leave well alone.  My third boy was 91b 7ozs and clapped the weight on for the first few weeks.  The HV told me he was too fat, although he was following the top line on the chart and was perfect weight for his height.  I was told at 9 months that he was too thin because he was suddenly much more active and he was burning the calories.  You sometimes just can't win.

Rant over - and sorry to all you Midwives/HV's out there!

Louise

You don't say what weight the child was at birth.  In Canada large babies, I believe that is over 10 pounds but am not sure, warrants an automatic check for diabetes in mother and child.  I think diabetes is suspect if the child is a normal birth weight but gains too much later on as well.  When I was 10 months old my mother was told to cut my feedings down as I was gaining too much weight (many decades ago).

Yes JJ I was tested twice for diabetes as I had my first 8lb 1oz, second 7lb 4oz, then a 10lb baby (tested negative), then 10lb 6oz (tested negative again).  Our Dr advised me to have the test both times which I did whilst in hospital after the birth.  They do say smoking makes smaller babies but I smoked during all 4 pregnancies (do you know I cringe now when I think of myself smoking!) yuk yuk yuk!  Been almost 6 months now since I stopped!  x

Craigles, I did the same with my 3....to my shame.
I had huge babies and all are very intelligent children, also, I still maintain that to have quit suddenly would have been 'un-natural' to my chemistry and to cut back just a little was more appropriate!
I chose to quit before I was 40 and that was almost 9 years ago now, so I applaud you for your 6 months, keep working at it,  giving up is a very hard thing to do and takes a while to get through. Well done.
Karen

Cringing, what made us cringe was the cousin of the OH who prompted our family to learn of the diabetes connection by producing four 12 pounders.  Four!  Not all at once of course. :)  Just an average sized gal too, poor thing.  All healthy and no D.  We did jokingly suggest Mum should smoke.

Not to say there weren't some problems though.  The first child was big all his life and is now 6'4".  At age two he was the size of a four year old and people had unrealistic expectations of him, not knowing his young age.  A nasty lady in the grocery store once asked his mother if there was something wrong with him; he didn't walk or talk very well.  His Mum had to explain he was only two.

10lb 5 is the cut off here. I've had to be tested with this pregnancy as Archie was over that. Negative thankfully - but the process is there. They also test if your BMI is high, or you have a close family history. There are some arguments for testing all pregnant women. They also tested Archie with a heel prick every couple of hours after birth - but again he was fine. They seem determined to put a reason on my having big babies! :rolleyes: :D

She was a big baby 9lb something, but her mums a big girl too 6ft2 but I wouldnt say she was overweight.I think genetic factors may have a bit to do with it. I have thought about this a lot and when I went shopping I forced myself not to buy any junk for when she comes. I do the think the H.V may have a point but has been tactless.She isnt walking yet and I do think her weight could be hindering this a bit.

My first baby was a tiny thing but a fantastically fast and agile crawler.  She didn't start walking until she was 16 months   The HV should be in best position to judge whether the baby is obese, however, IMO I would hold fire on any interventions (other than your shopping tactics) until the baby starts walking.  Does the baby have any push along walking toys?

My daughter weighed 6lb 4oz at birth, by one year old she weighed 2 stone   Michelin Man had nothing on her, wish I could post pictures lol
My health visitor told me not to worry too much, her view was you couldn't put a baby on a diet, we would worry it it continued when she got to toddler stage.
At 3 years old she still weighed 2 stone and was a skinny beanpole, once she started walking and running she stopped putting on weight
She is now 21 and a size 10