Is this little boy obese?
Wednesday 17th March 2010, 11:06AM GMT.
According to Telford's health chiefs little Cian Attwood is obese
Does this five-year-old Telford boy look fat? According to the borough’s health chiefs little Cian Attwood is obese – despite the youngster weighing in at just 4st 2lbs.
When he was examined at school as part of an NHS initiative to turn the rising tide of obesity, his mother was shocked to be sent a letter telling her that he was “very overweight”.
Cian’s mother, Kriss Hodgson, of Overdale, was also sent leaflets on blood pressure, cancer and heart disease.
The 27-year-old was “disgusted” and “upset” when she read her son had a Percentile Body Mass Index of 99 – classed as “clinically obese” on one of the accompanying leaflets.
Miss Hodgson said: “Look at him, there is not an ounce of fat on him. It’s getting ridiculous what they are telling children at such a young age – it is damaging to them. I don’t want my children to grow up to be anorexic.”
Cian, who is 3ft 10ins tall, is one of thousands of children having their BMI checked. The single mother added: “The school asked whether they could weigh Cian and, of course, I said fine. And then it came back saying he was too fat.
“It’s quite upsetting in a way because I can’t tell my son he is too fat when all he does is run around the garden all day.”
Clare Harland, of NHS Telford & Wrekin, said height and weight measurements were carried out by trained staff and families had to the right to opt out if they so wished.
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How ridiculous!
All this “be skinny” lark is taking the mick and taking its toll on our childreI! if anyone has a disorder, its the idiots claiming this child is fat! god what next?
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Utter poppycock!
No way is that kiddie obese, he looks like a perfectly normal regular sized lad to me. This just goes to show how ridiculous some of these new guide lines sent by the powers that be to enable us all to be “labelled” somehow.
One cannot help but wonder just how many of these health inspectors are obese themselves? No doubt a fair few!
Ignore that nonsense dear, there is nothing wrong with your little boy, he looks the picture of health to me.
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A gorgeous little boy with just enough on him for reserve. Perfectly healthy looking little lad a credit to his parents. Never heard such a load of tosh!!!!!!!
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Sounds like another of these “job creation” schemes the present government enjoy creating. This lad is just a normal 5 year old. Find the woman another job more suited to skills(or lack of them)
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Not surprised in the least at this. When my daughter was in primary school she was told she was obese and became anorexic because of it – even though she was below the 50th percentile. They should leave health advice to the professionals and let the schools get on with teaching!
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BMI of 99? Since when is a typo newsworthy!
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Any chance of seeing a picture of the borough’s health chiefs ?
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He certainly looks proportionate for his age. Who ever weighed the little boy may have misread the scales and recorded it incorrectly. When I had one of my children weighed by a health visitor she claimed that my baby had put on several pounds in just 2 weeks, when I queried it, she insisted the weight was correct. When we went back after another fortnight, the baby had ‘lost’ a few pounds. I think she got confused between pounds and kilos. Perhaps this is what has happened here.
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that is my brother he is not fat because if he was i would not be able to pick him up
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my names is mariah and that ia my brother and i do not think my brother is fat to me he looks fine and if you think he is fat you need your eyes tested
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Assuming the figures you give in your article are correct then, according to the standardised growth chart for boys he is, at 3ft 10 inches tall, on the 95th centile for his age. He weighs 58 lbs which is slightly above the 95 centile for his age (the 50th centile being the average or, in this case the mean, as weight/height curves are normal or Gaussian in distribution). According to the NHS BMI (body mass index) calculator he is therefore obese. However BMI is a nonsense as it takes no account of lean body mass. Many fit athletes, especially rugby players and weight lifters are classified as obese because of elevated BMI when there is “not an ounce of fat on them”. I’d just ignore the letter as an example of nannystatemadnessandinterference and let him carry on playing in the garden. Unfortunately a little bad science is being used by nincompoops to justify their salaries and scare joepublic into complying with their received gospel according to wisdom.
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Clearly an admin error, I’m very overweight, morbidly obese in fact, and I’m a long long way off a BMI of 99 – in fact the chart only goes up to 42 anyway. Although looking at a BMI chart for youngsters he would be considered obese and be in the 99th percentile. Poppycock, my very skinny 5-year old daughter is considered obese by the same scale too and I was concerned she was too skinny the Doctor said she is a little slim built but not unhealthily so – she is also very healthy (doesn’t take after me fortunately)
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BTW – BMI is only recommended for those older than 19-years
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I have had the same problem with my son. We took him to the clinic on Oswestry and was told he was over weight for his age. He is 5yrs old and weight 4st 6lb. He is a very active child and does not eat alot of fatty foods at all. I think it is very wrong in telling a child of 5yrs old that they are over weight, no wonder there is so many children out there with eating disorders. No my son has got it in his head that he is fat and turning food down. I am totally disgusted.
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As tc states, the BMI is absolutely not suitable for children. Which pratt in the borough decided they knew better than the medical profession… and more importantly, how much are we paying them for this disgraceful standard of service???!!!!
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My BMI – 26.9 (5ft 7″, 78KG)
I am officially overweight and on the way to obese, However…
I play rugby and an experienced marathon runner, currently running between 30 and 60 miles a week. I’m of a muscular build so therefore BMI just doesn’t work for me!
There is clearly an error with the calculation of the child above as BMI of 99 is crazy.
The point that does seem to be missed though, is that children are generally overweight and don’t exercise enough. The term ‘average weight’ these days is misleading also, as the average adult in this country is overweight and unfit… so what chance do our children have?
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It is madness he looks a healthy little boy just like my 5 year old who I say is too skinny. On one hand they are telling us size 0 & 6 models are too thin then they are saying a lean 5 year old is obese. I think they should look at the health service before commenting on the public how many overweight nurses are there about.
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I would get a second opinion the doctors, although upsetting for the family, it’s laughable, absolutly impossible for a child of this stature to have 99% body fat perhaps 9%
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high time the trained staff were retrained or got a job stacking shelves at tesco
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Just to clarify for anyone that has not had children in the last 15 years or so . . . a Percentile Body Mass Index is not the same as an adult BMI – it is taken from the ‘correct’ weight for height and age with children, so they are saying he is in the top 10% by weight of children his height which they record in a little red book which you are supposed to carry aroung. Knowing that shows just how crazy this statement is – there is no way on God’s green earth that this little boy is in the top 10%!
He looks like a healthy well looked after little boy to me so ignore the nonsense being spouted.
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i really wouldnt take ne notice of it my son had his done n was .1 from bein overweight n his friend who is abit shorter n bit thinner was classed as overweight dont think ne1 has had an acurate measurment. i dont know any1 who is taking much notice so if this a scare tactic they have got it wrong
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Beyond belief. The lad looks a picture of health. Who are these stupid people?. They are the ones who need examining, up at the top end.
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The mum should stop getting so worked up and do some research. BMI is totally inaccurate, look at the science…. it takes into account a person’s height and weight… on this premise Johnny Wilkinson would be morbidly obese (5’11 and weighs 90KG). Without assessing fat free mass by proper anthropometric analysis otherwise everything your doing is an assumption. Also it is population specific (meaning the data you are comparing it with is probably all on 18-22 year old students) and about 100 years old! If everyone is so worried and seems to be so proficient in medical diagnosis then do some reading on the pages of the International Society for the Advancement of Kinanthropometry …..Oh and yes the person who did the initial assessment of the lad is a Muppet!
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To all the above posters (ahem tc) who say “99% body fat isn’t right is it?” note the “Percentile” in front of Body Mass Index. Pretty basic knowledge.
Gorgeous little boy, not fat at all!
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Nothing wrong with him at all – if he’s healthy and happy he’s just fine
Why are the schools focusing children on what the scales say rather than what they are eating? Food education is the key to the child obesity issue
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Suellan, You are 50% correct. Food education is vitally important, but its only half of the battle. A good balanced diet mixed with a sensible amount of exercise is what’s needed.
Unfortunately most of the population are unable to distinguish between processed food that is full of fat, additives, and general badness and simple fresh food! Cooking a healthy meal with fresh ingredients is cheaper than horrible microwave and frozen meals, but we live in world where people are lazy and find every excuse not to live a healthier life for themselves of their families.
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