I think that the government and all of these special interests ought to BUTT OUT.

A chld's weight is the business of the parent - not ANYONE else.

Calm down Pat8, they are only trying to HELP parents make better decisions. And a child's weight can often be a sign of abuse, so it's of interest to doctor's, teacher's, CS, and anyone tasked with protecting children.

A chld's weight is the business of the parent - not ANYONE else.

How much education do you have?

That's what I thought.

Humm "governtment and special intrest need to BUTT OUT", sounds like something somboday with fat kids would say.

The biggest thing is, someone needs to step in and save these kids. Save the tax payer, from a bunch of fatties being raised so they are living off the system. There is a good chance many of these kids will grow up to be a burden on on society, being apart of the welfare, medicare, ssi, and disability because there to fat/obese to work.

Look it's not ok to be fat. And that statement comes out of concern. America needs to change this big is OK idea. People are dying faster from food now then just about anything. We need to change.

Ok in all fairness I can see the point of weight being a sign of abuse. A girl I know decided formula and baby food was just too expensive when her kid was 6 months old. So at that point she started giving him ramen noodles, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, pop, water, etc. Very rarely did he get veggies and good stuff. The kid cried for food day and night. He was never satisfied because he wasn't getting the nutrition he needed. That kid's belly got sooooooo fat. His mom would laugh about how "chubby" he was until I pointed out that proof of his malnutrition wasn't exactly cute or funny.

My kid was fairly chubby her first year. She still has some chub on her. The docs all keep reassuring me that she's got the "perfect" amount and not to worry at this age. It's actually been a good thing when she's had a stomache virus that she's well-hydrated and well-nourished.

The thing is...even my non-medically trained eye can see a difference between the two. Blood tests to check levels will typically confirm it. Why not step in at an early age if the parent isn't taking proper care of the child? Why wait until it's too late to make any significant difference for the kid?

BUTT OUT you morons!

I can't believe the shape that half the kids in my town are in.

I was at the pool the other day and I @!$%# you not, I saw a 10 year old kid with moobs.

Extreme case but as I said, about half of the kids there are in terrible shape for their ages. You can't hide that under a loose t-shirt when you're at the pool.

Can't tell if your baby is fat? Gosh darn too bad .

What is expected when the kids are mostly parked somewhere playing video games, surfing the net, and texting?

I've raised a couple of toddlers and even the ones who are classified as gifted when they got to be school aged were not playing video game, surfingthe net or texting as preschoolers. This articles isn't about obese children, it's about the preschool crowd. You know the under 5 crowd.

The assumption is that all "obese" preschoolers are going to be obese children who are going to be obese teenagers and be obese adults.

My husband was a fat kid. Not chubby, fat. He lost it all in his late teens and has never had weight issues since. Flip side, my sister was underweight as a child. To the point of causing the pediatrician a great deal of concern. Now she's an obese adult who has her physician constantly addressing her weight.

My kid's have all been chubby toddlers. They have all hit a point where they grew up faster than they grew out. My sister in law took great pride in the fact that her three daughters as toddlers were so skinny and they wouldn't have to battle weight issues like my kids would. All her girls started putting on weight when they hit elementary school. None of them show any sign of the weight gain slowing.

So 15 or 20 years ago you couldn't use a child's size as a preschooler to predict childhood or teen weight, let alone adult weight and you still can't today. The big difference today is that statistically a higher percentage of preschoolers overall will grow up to be obese adults.

Mama, There plenty of the under 5 crowd parked with video games and computers already. My one friend was recently telling about how her grandchild had gotten to the point where he woke up early each morning so he could get in extra play time on his DS, would play it all the way to preschool and would reattach himself to it immediately after preschool and remain attached until he fell asleep at night. And then there are those whose parents prefer to keep them parked in front of the tv iso actually watching them and spending time on them.

Couple that with teaching them terrible diet habits - which we start establishing well before they hit school - and you have a recipe for a bunch of overweight kids. You're right about typical baby/toddler weight not being an indication but the nutrition and lifestyle habits set from age 1-5 plays a huge role in the rest of their lives.

On the other hand, not-so-normal weight can be an indicator. My nephew's girlfriend stopped feeding her son properly at the age of 6 months. Before long he had a huge belly but skinny arms and legs. Nowadays he gulps down anything he can get his hands on when he has the chance though he prefers processed foods since he's not terribly familiar with whole foods.

She also used to keep him penned up in either his play pen or an exersaucer constantly and past the age of two. The exersaucer got a bit dangerous but his well-being isn't exactly a priority.

When he was a baby, his weight would indeed have been an indication of the level of care he was getting. After observing his growth and development I can tell you there is a marked difference between him and healthy chubby toddlers. It's not just the weight of course but in his case it was a clue.

I don't doubt that there are plugged in preschoolersout there, but they're not the norm. For most electronic devices are too complicated. My husband has a cousin who work in video game design and he loves to send my older kids the latest in video gaming, so we have everything. Yes the older kid's play with them, but the smaller kid's can't use them at all. Not that the older ones would let them use them and risk the systems beingbroken. As a matter of fact, my husband's cousin was all excited about a new Sesame Street game that is slated for release that has a cover to hide the buttons on the Nintendo Wii to make it less complicated for preschoolers. (He thinks my 1 year old HAS to have it. I think he's nuts.) So technology isn't to blame for preschoolers being heavy.

I didn't feel this article implied that weight was an indicator of abuse. I agree it can be a component in cases of abuse, but your treading a very slippery slope when you start defining either a low weight or high weight as a definitive sign of abuse. Using weight as a clear indicator is too subjective, there are just too many variable that can be responsible for a child's weight.

What I do feel the article implied is that pediatricians need to do more to address the weight of children because their parents aren't qualified to properly maintain the child's weight without "expert" intervention. That these children are being doomed too a live of being fat and unhealthy from the very beginning because the parents are mismanaging the child's nutrition. And in some cases that maybe true. However, the next step after we decide as a society that parents of chubby kids are to neglecting their children and dooming them to a life of poor health and obesity, is that we make having a chubby baby a form of abuse in and of itself.

What this articles fails to address is that babies are getting bigger. I had huge babies, but my doctors chocked it off to my husband being Scandinavian. However, it has been shown time and time again heavier mothers have bigger babies. My oldest was in the 99th percentile in both height and weight at birth. Over a decade later, my youngest who was almost a full 2 pounds bigger only fell into the 80th percentile. Babies are getting bigger and while the growth charts reflect that in the national averages, but I highly doubt that the accepted normal BMI calculation reflects that these children are starting our bigger than they did 15 or 20 years ago.

I don't doubt that there are plugged in preschoolersout there, but they're not the norm. For most electronic devices are too complicated.

And I think you're underestimating them. As infants they start off with toy cell phones, lap tops and remotes. My niece could easily operate a VCR by the age of three and could use a laptop and navigate a web page by four. It is not the electronics so much as the lack of exercise and outdoor play coupled with poor nutrition. Some toddlers are just chubby. My one friend's baby was unbelievably fat as a baby. Her doc kept telling her not to worry and not to attempt to put him on any sort of diet. At around 2 years he shot up like a weed and slimmed down.

From what I saw of the one child already mentioned it was obvious looking at him that he was not a happy, healthy little cherub. The weight was not a defining factor but as I said was one of the visable signs that he was not being cared for properly. His "baby fat" was also visably not the normal chubby baby fat. I suspect if he had been taken to the doctor on a regular basis those first 3 years, his blood levels would have told the story. Add to that the fact that at 3 years old he is behind my 1 year old in several areas. Obviously if a child is truly obese, blood levels should be run, diet looked at, and the child should be thoroughly checked for underlying health issues if possible.

It does seem babies are getting bigger. Mine was rather solid. We had to go in after her lol...she was stuck in there. Mine was in the 90th percentile for a bit and last appointment was 95th. This has nothing to do with her being "fat". She has what the doc calls the perfect amount of baby chub and they say she is ideal developmentally.

My oldest had toy cell phones and laptops over a decade ago. You hit giant colorful buttons and it made noise. I even remember having this cool and expensive laptop toy given to us that was supposed to teach the alphabet and phonics skills. It wasn't a winner in the we like to play with this department. In hind sight and with the experience of having 5 kid's I now realize it had far too many buttons to be engaging to the age group it was intended for. Preschooler are good at duplicating simple repetitive actions. Something like playing a video game is complex compared to surfing the web or operating a VCR. An Xbox 360 controller has 2 buttons on the top, 4 buttons on the face and two joyce-sticks. And sometimes your using 3 or 4 of these items at the same time. Most preschooler can't remember the sequence to use something like that let alone have the hand to eye co-ordination to do it. That's why they make special preschool gaming systems. And devices keeps getting more complex. The other hurdle for a preschooler is attention span. They simply don't have the attention span to learn to use devices they might see older siblings using. I do agree the elementary set is a victim of under activity caused by technology, just not preschoolers.

It would be interesting to see how many children considered to be heavy attend some sort of daycare facility. Many implement a crowd control philosophy for activities. In many cases it's almost necessary. It's hard to allow a large group of children to be active without loosing control.

What's sad is that in many things in pediatrics they don't know what normal is. When my 18 month old was born they took his blood pressure at birth. (They gave me the cuff and it was a veterinary cuff labeled for use on cats!) Anyway, I asked the pediatrician about when they started doing that since none of my other kid's had it done at birth. He literally rolled his eyes and preceded to tell me what a joke it was. He said the medical community isn't totally certain what normal blood pressure in children and infants is, there still hasn't been enough research. It makes you wonder what do they know about what is and isn't normal for children's health. Remember, the idea children are not just mini adults is new. You and I grew up in a generation that was given the same cold medication as adults becasue the medical community thought they worked the same way in children as they do in adults. They know differently now.

I can sympathize with stuck babies! My last was ten pounds and breech. At 18 months he's the size of a 3 year old. My pediatrician isn't the least bit concerned, he'll think out eventually like the older 4.

Mama,

I still think inactivity plays a part for toddlers up. Have you seen the DS and the kiddie games they have for it? My niece has one. She's past "pre-schooler" age but I know of current pre-schoolers who are addicted to them already. Then, like I mentioned before there are many who use Dora and the like to "watch" their kids for them.

For the smaller set, I've seen lots of parents who keep their kid in a swing all day or in their pumpkin seat all day. The same tend to start feeding them crap rather early on as well.

We're actually in agreement that there is no cookie-cutter mold and I seriously doubt they would ever be able to come up with standards that would be remotely accurate and viable for use.

Good point re daycare facilities. I do wonder how much of a role that plays in things.

Lol re the stuck babies!! Mine is in 2T at 15 months so not quite as big. When the doc asked when I wanted to schedule the c-section I asked her what she was doing for dinner :)

Agreed also re the pediatricians. I was lucky to find one who's smart and who's been around long enough to know there really isn't a "norm". He doesn't sweat the small stuff. As long as she's happy, healthy, and developing well everyone is happy.

Justme,

You're absolutely correct that the video game industry has figured out the preschool set is a huge potential market. It started about 4 years ago with a increase in titles. The first generation titles took what the designers knew about making games for the elementary group and they applied preschool themes. Most were too complicated. The second generation, the ones released in the past 24 months are a little different. They mostly focus on a limited number of very repetitive actions. They're more about cashing in on developing a brand loyal customer at the earliest point. The addict factor. Nintendo freely admits their target customer is the 5 to 12 crowd. I think the president of the company said in an interveiw not so long ago that by focusing on that group a new generation of customer were born every year. The Sesame Street game I mentioned is the first of what may be a trend in the next generation of preschool targeted games; one with specialized controllers. If that happens I think you can really blame part of an increase in preschooler weight on electronic games.

Despite having 3 DS systems and a DSi system in the house, I don't have a single preschool game. House rules state nobody under the age of 5 touches them. I'm not concerned about them getting fat or addicted, I just can't imagine handing a preschooler that expensive and sensitive of an item.

And are so right about the massive number of lazy parents looking for TV to babysit their little ones. That's why Nick Jr markets themselves as "Preschool on TV".

I just can't imagine handing a preschooler that expensive and sensitive of an item.

Lol me neither! The other day an 8yr old told me she's gone through 16 cell phones so far this year. Judging by the condition of the new one I'm inclined to believe her. I'm almost curious to meet her parents just to see what kind of people would keep buying them lol.

That's why Nick Jr markets themselves as "Preschool on TV".

I saw that. Unbelievable that they would tout themselves as anything aproaching the equivalent of preschool. But then again, I'm sure there are plenty of parents who do believe they are "educating" their kids by parking them in front of the TV and turning that channel on.

71 percent of participating parents with overweight or obese toddlers..., 33 percent of preschoolers..., 12 to 15 percent are obese..., 83 percent of all parents reported their children as "about the right weight," and 55 percent of parents with obese children said their child was "about the right weight", etc....

Hernandez and her colleagues interviewed 150 parents with children between the ages of 2 and 5. The parents were asked "Do you feel your child is..."(very underweight, a little underweight, about the right weight, a little overweight or very overweight).

All of these numbers and percentages. Did anyone on the research team think to include one more question (or fact)? How many of these parents are overweight or obese? This would skew the researchers findings.

I definitely think age 2 is too young to start bmi testing. Lots of toddlers are "chunky", then when they get a little older, thin out to the correct weight they should be at.

I'm very lucky in hereditary issues, that I never had an overweight issue, but I always had a problem putting weight on - aside from when I was pregnant. My daughter is now 12, and at a perfect weight for her because she is petite as well. She's shorter than most of her friends, does tae kwon do three days a week, and eats quite well most of the time. Not that she doesn't enjoy sweets and pretzels often, but just yesterday for her snack she had chicken salad after having some chocolate and still being hungry. She ate almost an entire watermelon over the course of 2 days. She's also been known to snack on green beans during the day as well.

She may not be the best meat eater, but she loves chicken, and we have well balanced meals almost every nite for dinner, and she eats 2 helpings of her vegtables all the time.

I'm just glad I don't have to deal with being overweight, or my child either, like the rest of my family does on a daily basis. I take after my father's side of the family who were all thin. I could always eat what I wanted and not worry about gaining weight. Even now at the age of 42, I weigh 104lbs, and can eat whatever I want. I do eat healthy though, but also enjoy a nice big bowl of strawberry ice cream a few nites a week!

Also, my cholesterol - that was just checked - is perfect, and I have low blood pressure, so right now I'm considered perfectly healthy inside. My daughter will be the same too. She's the only kid I know that hates soda and refuses to drink it, something that baffles other parents... of course, when she was little, I never gave it to her to drink so she never got the taste for it. She also won't eat at McDonalds or any other fast food place because she doesn't like the food there. Not that I'd let her eat there often even if she did. Which I see as the problem with these parents of overweight kids - the kids whine and complain and the parents give in, letting them have whatever they want instead of making the kids go on a diet, even a small one, cut out fast food, etc.

They're more worried about making sure their kid is happy. What's going to happen when they hit their teens and are too large to get a date for the dance and start feeling really bad about themselves? Perfect to blame the parents for giving them everything they wanted back when they were little, and they have every right to blame them too. The parents are at fault here.

You wouldn't let her have Mcdonald's? Man I love Micky Dees, kids do too and their friggin bean poles, like their mother.

riiiiight!

"...too large to get a date for the dance..." Ummmm---the large kids ARE at the dance, they are NOT on the sidelines or sitting at home. When so many kids are big, being big seems normal, and size does not keep the kids from dating or dancing. From what I've seen, I'm not really sure what any of them are doing out on the dance floor, they CALL it dancing, though.

I agree. Two of my grandchildren were little tubs of lard until about age 2, but both are now skinny. They have always been healthy eaters. When they want a snack, they usually eat carrots, yogurt or fruit. They eat candy and chips but in moderation and only occasionally. Articles like this will probably cause more people to feed infants skim milk and nuts and berries. There have been several cases of health nuts literally starving their infants and children to death because they are so paranoid about being fat.

My child was also a chunky monkey. At the age of 6 months and 24 pounds she weighed more than many 1 year olds. As a 35 inch tall 2 yr old she eats me out of house and home. I should take out stock in the fruit companies, especially Dole. She runs around alot. She also is built just like me and my brother at that age who grew up to be tall, slender adults who have trouble putting on weight. Being tall and thin runs in my family and my daughter is following in our footsteps.

I go to a lot of trouble to feed my daugher wholesome food. I prepare most of her meals. I feed her raw fruit and whole grains. I serve vegetables with dinner. I read labels and try to eliminate things such as HFCS and junk food.

Toddlers need to be exposed to good foods so they can make good food choices when they get older. They also need nutrition that keeps them going. They need to be allowed to play and just be kids. Toddlers are still growing by leaps and bounds, so why compare them to older children and adults?

My nephews were good eaters too when they were little - now they are just fat. Mom never said no - never practiced portion control - never limited sugary & fatty treats.

Our 3 sons were always well within the weight ranges as toddlers and up until college age, just a bit chubby while still infants and nursing.

They got outside and played, ran, played sports. Their diets were healthy - sparce on junk and deserts, generous on fruits, vegs, and lean meats.

Our pediatrician always let us know how they were doing. Isn't that a regular part of periodic check-ups?

Sure, they bulked up just before puberty, but lost that once the "growth spurt" hit them. Now they are all in their 20's and just fine, but keeping a careful eye on their weight.

So you all disagree with this scientific study based on what, your anecdotal stories? Give me a break.

That's good to hear, Honey. Many, many Latinos (I work in Fresno) think that a fat child is a healthy child, because their culture has not evolved in the last 500 years, when being fat meant that since you had a good appetite, you weren't sick.

This is one reason why the rate of diabetes and heart disease is so high in the Latino community. You'll see men who are 5'9" and weigh 200 lbs., and who brag, "Hey, I'm strong." Yeah, dude, but your heart isn't. If they had to run a mile without stopping, they'd wind up in the emergency room.

It's not that I disagree with the study at all. But isn't it a part of EVERY physical that the kids get, to evaluate their height and weight anymore?

Revenwyn; all well and good to not introduce your kids to junk foods. The issue is they WILL be offered it whether you want them to be or not. At some point your kids need to learn to make choices on their own. Whether you like the choices or not, at some point you have to let go of the uber-control. Better to help them deal with making better choices for themselves as they get older (by 6/7/8 years of age) because THEY choose it; otherwise, well, you know the "stories" of preachers' daughters and the craziness they can get into if put under an iron fist. Think that times many; however, when they are young it is better to offer the good stuff rather than fast or junk food.

Just a side note; please be careful how you criticize those who cannot breast feed exclusively. What about adoptive parents and those who find their bodies do not produce enough milk? Save the criticism that there's always a way; I tried every resource available to me (granted this was 10 years ago now) to do that and ended up extremely depressed because absolutely, positively, NOTHING worked. I lost count of how many doctors and therapists I went to in an attempt to make breast feeding work. I just could not produce enough.....and it caused the first few months with my child to be EXTREMELY stressful and depressing!!!

Neither of my sons were breast fed and were eating baby food by 1 yr, both doing fine now. And please for the love of God give the kids some juice, water and milk all day everyday has to be the most boring liquid diet ever. At least some chocolate milk now and again.

Children can digest solid food before the age of two. If they couldn't most children on the planet would starve to death before they could ever become "obese" preschoolers.

And it has been shown in numerous studies that introducing children under two to solid foods, even the common allergens, does not increase their likelyhood of developing allergies. The only one still universally recommended to avoid in peanuts. Even the idea of exclusively breastfeeding will reduce allergies is contraversial and lacks concrete validity in the scientific community. And there are chemical free baby foods available, they just cost more and are not easily available at most grocery stores. The best and most expensive are even frozen versus jarred to avoid degrading the nutritional value in the heating process used to seal the jar.

I don't know how old your kids are, but someone, somewhere is going to give your kid's junk food. I don't feed my children a great deal of processed oo pre-prepared foods and the ones I do are the all natural and organic products. My kid's eat real food and always have. They like it. But my one son, who is a little cutie and not overweight, has a pension for M & M's , marshmallows and Cheetos. He comes home from school with a bookbag full of M & M fun packets and ziplock bags full of Cheetos and marshmallows every day. The little girls at school bring them to him. The teachers says he eats tons of them along with his lunch and it's the extra that he's too full to eat that he bring home. I could make big deal about it, but it probably won't change anything. So instead I'm waiting for a cuter little boy to move to the school so they can feed him for attention.

@ #4, Before two years? Lol..where did you hear that? Never mind that the poor kid would be starved and have an iron deficiency by the age of two...but yeah they really can handle (& actually need) food before then.

I'm with you on not feeding them junk food at that age but then you lose me again on saving the meat for later. My little one isn't big on meat and the doc is actually concerned she'll not get enough iron so has recommended I blend up ground beef and mix it in with her meals.

Also re the "fatty foods", while one should not go overboard at that age fat does not have the effects on toddlers that it does on adults and a low-fat diet isn't necessary or even recommended. This is also why whole milk is the only recommended milk until the age of two. As far as breastfeeding until age two, you can of course but it is expected that you have them off formula or breast milk by 15 months and drinking whole milk (only 18-24 oz per day).

I obsess about this stuff so thought I'd help you out a bit. You may want to do some more research.

No guidelines on how to modify a toddlers diet - put the cookies down!

My kid is tiny and eats like a horse! Hates his milk but gets his cookies (only healthier ones) whenever. It is only a problem if your child eats junk only and is clearly having weight problems. I have never seen a 2 year old sit still so this TV argument is nutty to me.

Oh, and by the way, I have belly but am a healthy individual who is not lazy and eats her fruits and veggies so enough with the judgement. Where do you live that you are seeing fat kids everywhere munching on snickers bars?

if you want to be a scrutinizer.get these kids off their fat duffs and throw them outside an let um run around breath some real air for a change.. it's not only the food, it's the lifestyle.the lazy life style is the biggest villain, in this whole convoluted situation of kiddie scrutinizing.

Pretty sure a one year old isn't running around anymore. Younger than 2 most kids should be sleeping the majority of the day, like at least 14 hours. Only so much you can do at that age.

then keep them on a sensible diet. alittle bit of this and a little bit of that, and they'll be just fine. i mean c'mon it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this stuff out.

the problem is they make much to do about nothing it's all common sense, and alot of these parents have got to get some.

What about baby strollers, I see children who are capable of walking on their own, yet a little slower then adults strapped into them. I really think this adds to obesity due to them not walking with their parents and being strapped down and unable to move.

Good point about the strollers. It seems a lot of times people keep the kids restrained so they don't have to worry about keeping up with them. Little ones have so much energy it seems like baby torture to me lol.

That is who you use as an example? Dude he is also ill, a druggie and an alkie. Try a person who is actually healthy and slim. Lance Armstrong for example.

Pretty sure a one year old isn't running around anymore. Younger than 2 most kids should be sleeping the majority of the day, like at least 14 hours. Only so much you can do at that age.

Lol yeah right. My little one took her first steps at 10 months and hasn't stopped running since. She gets the majority of her sleep at night and takes long nap around lunch time. The rest of the time she's "beatin' feet" as my dad says.

You are right in your assumption. Overweight people tend to think that chubby kids are the norm. And that is sad.

maybe yours were....my parents were very well educated and they raised me to be the same.

I also believe that doctors are probably so, so tired of telling patients over and over again that they need to eat properly, exercise....

I am not quite sure where you see doctors. Doctors today are to quick to give you a pill and then another and then another. Doctors today treat the system not the problem.

Good eating habits and lots of actitives is the answer to FAT KIDs not another pill.

Pediatricians seems to feel uncomfortable telling parents straight out that there kids are overweight and their diets should be evaluated. Also, many parents ignore what the doctor says because they think they know better or pick and choose what they wish to listen to. Doctors tend to say these things delicately but sometimes too delicately that it gets lost.

Plus, I don't know any pediatrician that is quick to give a pill for anything. Our pediatrician sure doesn't.

Of course there are parents that purposely and knowingly harm their children. If you have ever watched the news you would have heard about a mother who insanely drowned her children, or the father that imprisoned his son in his bedroom, feeding him solely peanut butter sandwiches and water. Parents DO purposely and knowingly harm their children.

What 71%?

Umm, height and weight is used to calculate BMI. Most doctors office's even have these handy block charts that you can put one finger on your height and the other weight and you trace the lines until you lines intersect. The number in the box is your BMI. It's like the size chart on the back of pantyhose containers.

What isn't fair is BMI's do not take into account frame size or muscle mass.