I have an 8 year old, not heavy by any stretch of the imagination, but only in the 10th percentile in height and weight...but I'm hoping she might be going through a growth spurt...she's recently cut back on sports (not enough time for homework), and now she looks like she's put on a little weight...could this just be less exercise or do most kids gain a little weight before they grow? She eats pretty healthy, but I'm hoping now that she's not doing sports every day of the week that her body will be under less stress and have the opportunity to grow.
When did your dd's growth take off?
I don't have girls that age... but my 3 boys did.
My oldest has been 112 for the past 2 years. He was a little chubby then he shot straight up and has growen 6 inches in the past couple of years... his weight stayed the same but he thinned out as he grew upword.
My other boys did the same. They haven't growen upword as much as my oldest but thier weight is still leveling out with getting taller.
my daughter does, she's 5. She eats like a grown man for a few days/weeks and then all of a sudden cuts back and is an inch taller. She's in the 90% for height and 70% for weight I believe. Shes not chubby at all and fits into her 5t clothes still so I guess the height is what makes her 70% for weight. She does get a little stomach right before she shoots up. She's done this since she was a baby. Her charts are always up and down. Our dr said some kids grow wider than taller over and over. I think the pattern is more important than where shes at. If shes really tiny andin the 10% for everything why not let her put on a tiny bit, J. make sure shes eating helathy and putting in the right calories
At that age, it usually is more about growth spurts. My kids are younger, but yes, they absolutely get chubby right before the grow. They're chubby one day, then taller and lanky the next.
Unless there is a really problem with unhealthy food and/or severe lack of exercise, kids at that age really shouldn't be overweight. Their metabolism is much to high. That's why most of us reach a point in our lives when we suddenly have to start watching what we eat and exercising. It's not that we were so healthy before, it's that our metabolism has changed and we don't just automatically burn off the calories.
That's also part of the reason obesity is such a huge problem. Children simply should not be fat. It's not good for an adult, but it's very scary in children. Their bodies are supposed to be able to protect them from gaining too much weight, so if they are gaining too much weight, there is a serious problem with their lifestyle.
Eating healthy and having plenty of time to run around is important, but she's fine.
I don't know any kids who didn't chub out for a few weeks before a growth spurt. They are eating for the cellular expansion!
They they wake up one morning and someone made all their clothes too short.
I think if she is a normal kid she is 8. She is starting to grow her adult teeth, ears, hands, feet, jawbone, cheeks, starting to form her hourglass figure per say. She is getting to that point she is changing her whole bone structure.
Her bones will make her body look different too.
My daughter has always been like that. The beginning of each summer she gets a little pudgy (not really, but maybe thicker) than she usually is (normally she is perfect, not pudgy, not skinny). Then by the end of the summer, she is taller and back to her "normal" self.
It really is noticeable, however, in boys when they hit the pre-pubescent years. My son went from washboard stomach to rolls in one year around age 10/11, with no change in activity level or eating. Now he is 13 and back to almost washboard, but he has grown probably 6 inches in the last 2-3 years. I was worried at first, but talked to other moms of boys, and they ALL said it happened to their boys, too.
:)
My six year old son did this recently. He's never even been close to overweight, but I noticed him right around the holidays looking a little pudgy around the middle (and having trouble buttoning his pants). I chalked it up to too many sweets and fast food indulgences during the busy holiday season, and resolved to not only get him back to his regular eating habits, but to really curb the sugar monster, so we did.
My thoughts were also confirmed by his doctor in January - that he wasn't overweight yet, but he was literally on the cusp of it. She mentioned that sometimes kids' bodies do this before a growth spurt, and while I think he had been eating too much junk, I think she was right! He's always been really tall, but he's growing like a weed. He's experiencing growing pajns in his legs. All of his pants are no longer tight in the waist, but now, in the course of a few months, they are too short! He really "straightened" out! There's certainly no more pudge.
My SD is probably still growing! There were a few times where she was a little chunkier - prepuberty they all seem to gain a few pounds and shoot up several inches or fill out in other ways. If she's not active in general, get her moving. The weather should be getting nicer - take a walk, go biking, hit the pool. If she's used to doing sports, her body may need to adjust to a different calorie intake. Even if it's not every day. Maybe play outside after dinner if her HW is done.
I think it is a mix of the two and that she should find something physical to do to replace the sport every other day or every few days or both of you do something together.
yes, all children put on weight before a growth spurt, or puberty. for g*ds sake, dont put her on a diet ! studies have shown that girls get about HALF the calcium that their bodies require, in fact, with a potential growth spurt on the way, encourage her to take in as much calcium as you can, unless you want her to end up four feet 2, instead of five feet 6 , or more.
K. h.
