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DEAR RETRO HOUSEWIFE
12 and Overweight?, 2006-10-03
Dear Retro Housewife:
I'm 12 and weigh 47 kg and about 1 metre and 52 cm am i overweight or normal? plz reply and if u do thank you xxx
Jane
RE: 12 and Overweight?
Dear Jane,
First, yes you are perfectly normal given that you are a young lady who is concerned about her weight. I was around the same age when I started to think about my weight and worry whether I was "too fat". (No I wasn't, although I thought I was). Girls drive themselves absolutely batty thinking about their weight, and will spend much of the rest of their life dieting, or planning on dieting.
At your age, unless a doctor tells you that you are overweight and puts you on a diet, you should not do any dieting other than cutting out the junk (candy, soda, cookies, chips/crisps etc. ) and getting some more exercise. I say this because you are still growing, and your body needs healthy food to grow. But just to ease your mind a bit, I wanted to find some statistics about how much girls your age weigh.
I had to do a bit of research because I can't remember how much I weighed at 12, and you are also using the metric system, which I don't have a good enough feel for to tell off the top of my head! (We Americans think in pounds and ounces, and I am assuming since you gave me your weight and height in kilos and meters, that you are in the United Kingdom?)
I went to the UK Weight Watchers website and found a nifty link for a Body Mass Index (BMI) Calculator. Doctors often use the BMI measurement to figure out whether you are a healthy weight or not. I entered your height and weight into the BMI Percentile Calculator for Child and Teen at the US Center for Disease Control (I included a link for you). Since you didn't tell me exactly how old you are, I calculated your BMI for a girl that is exactly 12 years old, and a girl that is 12 years and 9 months old. Either way, it said:
Based on the height and weight entered, the BMI is 20.3 (20.3), placing the BMI-for-age at the 76th (71st) percentile for girls aged 12 years 0 months (12 years 9 months). This child has a healthy weight.
So according to the BMI calculator you are perfectly "normal" and more importantly, healthy! If you are still unsure, talk to your mother about your concerns (or older sister, teacher, doctor) and remember that all of your friends are probably wondering the same thing.
RH
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