Is my 6 year old dd overweight? :(

[emmalee86]

Oh I wouldn't be worried about a podgy belly!! I find them cute!!

My DD has been best friends with a girl since they were 2 at pre school who is a little podgy but only in her belly and she always has been, and she is more active than my DD (plays multiple sports, as well as swimming and playing) and eats really well, and her mum and sister are tall and thin.. It's just her body shape! She just has a little belly!

At the age her current body shape is not really an indicator of what it will be in the future, and I know you want to guide her in the right direction and I think that's great, just stress the importance of good food and drinking lots of water and playing sport and she will be fine

[Trillian]

I second what Teeki said. It really isn't a problem at this age - she's 6 and from what you describe, I wouldn't call her overweight. If she's wearing clothes from the womens section then there may be an issue, but really, she sounds just fine to me. My 6yo son gained 6kg over the school holidays and it blew me away how much he'd gained, so maybe it's a growth spurt that they go through at this age? You are doing everything *right* by making sure she's active and supporting better food choices for her so it's a matter of let her grow as she is meant to grow.

[Smoke Jaguar]

At this age I'd concentrate more on her sense of self-efficacy and self-worth (not self-esteem, which is a different thing and not really that useful because it doesn't come on its own without the other things first!).
I recommend Sleep Talk, by Joanna Golding (that's definitely her surname, anyway!), if you're stuck, and even if you're not stuck Positive language you can learn from looking up Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) sites and strengthening her from the inside.
I would caution about focussing on positive body image, because that's externalising her worth, still - it comes from inside and her life satisfaction will depend on how she can draw on her inner strengths, not on doing her best to continually remind herself that her body is fine. This will come, and again, on its own it doesn't have the strong foundation it could otherwise have.
Don't be afraid to ask people to cease and desist when they start talking about bodies and food intake. My mum doesn't like being reprimanded, but I actively change the subject when she starts praising my kids for being 'skinny' - I HATE this with a passion, and will always have a word to her about it, because she's doing to them what she did with me as a kid with her value judgments and praise. She'd compare me to other people (favourably, but I hated it and no matter which way comparisons go they are so, so destructive!) and it made me think about these things A LOT. (Not that I think you've been doing this at all! Just explaining my POV )