My Kid is Happy, Healthy and Skinny

My oldest daughter was born tall and thin into the eighth percentile for weight and 78th percentile for height and by the time she was six months old she was in the zero percentile for weight and 86th percentile for height. The doctors assumed I was not producing enough breast milk. I could easily pump out eight oz in a sitting with a nice layer of fat in it and she was not fussy, tired or sickly. She was hitting all her development milestones and bubbly. This aside our doctor was very worried about that number on the scale and started us on a high fat diet mixing coconut oil, olive oil and formula into everything she ate. Still she remained in the zero percentile for weight and the 84th percentile for height. By the time she was ten months old the doctor ordered a huge round of blood tests which all came back perfect and normal. After that our doctor backed off for awhile as she moved into the fourth percentile for weight and held that until she turn two.

When children turn two they put them onto a different percentile chart. Factoring in her height this chart showed she was very underweight, again. They offered to refer us to a dietitian that would most likely prescribe a feeding tube. At this point my husband just about lost it. "She ate half a chicken last night and was running laps around the other kids at the park!" he yelled. My husband has some food allergies that affect the way he digests food so we decided to take her into for a food allergy panel even though she has never really showed any discomfort. This was an absolute fiasco! She screamed through the entire appointment and testing. Thank goodness my parents were there to help. Guess what they found? NOTHING! She can eat anything and everything and she does!

The problem with using a percentile chart to measure a child's health is it is comparing my child to other American children. The last time I checked America was having an obesity epidemic and most children are way too big. My child is not undernourished, she is in perfect health. Our society is obsessed with charts and test scores. Everyone wants their kid at the top of the chart, but is that a good thing? Maybe being at the low end of the weight chart is actually a good thing. So, I am declaring no more tests unless she is sick. My kid is happy healthy and skinny!