<p>When I was sixteen, I was 5’2 and 108 - 112. the actual weight doesn’t seem to be bad, but you may want to find out why she lost it and worry if she continue to lose weight. She may need to talk to someone. I think I would have given a doctor a piece of my mind if he told a teenage girl that she was obese. Image is such a issue at that age. One off handed remark can start a teen down a horrid road.</p>
<p>I cant imagine a pediatrician telling a child they are obese.
Throughout adolescence, their weight fluctuates as they grow in height and their body tries to keep up.
Most kids, as long as they are active and healthy, may have a time when their weight shoots ahead of their height or the opposite.
Thats just how nature designed them.
Telling a kid who may be a tad over the optimum weight for their height - If they were a mature adult- sounds like a Doc who is over-reacting to what he has read in newspaper headlines.</p>
<p>You may want to try to communicate with the MD that you will be seeing ahead of time. Maybe an email? You could let her know that you are concerned but that your D had a bad experience with another MD making inappropriate remarks during the exam. Tell this MD to keep it light.</p>
<p>Zoosermom: The OP indicated that there has been a change in her daughter’s cycle. It used to be shorter and now it is longer. I think that is an important indicator that something is going on with her. The weight seems on the low side, but not unhealthy but any change in a woman’s cycle is an important indicator that she should see a doctor.</p>
<p>zm–I would agree that the cycle changes OP describes are normal for a teenager.</p>
<p>I am that height and was at that weight through college.</p>
<p>My 13 year old daughter is much taller, and up until last summer her weight trended toward the higher end of normal. </p>
<p>Since mid summer she has lost weight- I’d say 15-20 pounds. Her growth spurt ended, and her appetite has lessened. She also ramped up her physical activity as a result of moving up to a senior dance company, and has taken up creative writing in lieu of sitting in front of the TV with a bag of chips.</p>
<p>Her weight is stabilized and there have been no changes in her health. I see it more as her losing some puppy fat, she is still within the normal range for her height.</p>
<p>I would have brought her to the doctor if there was a change in her cycle or if the weight loss continued. We’ll discuss it at her next physical.</p>
<p>I would get her checked out because of the changes in her cycle. If she was very regular and the cycle has changed, there could be medical reasons for that. They should do testing. I would not accept a simple statement of “teenagers are often irregular”. Although an extremely rare case, one of my D’s best friends was having irregular periods at 15. They put her on the pill to regulate her without doing any testing. Two years later, she was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer which was likely the cause of the irregular periods at age 15. The pill made the cancer advance more quickly. She died a month after graduating from high school, 10 months after her diagnosis. Had they done tests when she was 15, she might be in college now. </p>
<p>I’m not saying that to scare you, but am just noting that significant changes could be due to a medical problem. I wouldn’t go to a pediatrician. I’d take her to a gynecologist. It is possible that her low body fat ratio is the reason, but why not be sure?</p>
<p>Proud patriot, changes are what I meant by not yet regulated. That is the case for many young women at that age. Neither a five week or six week cycle is unusual. I was diagnosed as hypothyroid at age 9. Now THAT was an adolescence from hell in terms of cycle. I wouldn’t necessarily be concerned if I were the op. her daughter is healthy, active and not underweight by any measure. Her menstrual cycle is also in a completely normal range. It’s fine to discuss what is normal with doctor, but there seems nothing to worry about. A young woman’s body undergoes a lot of changes during these years.</p>
<p>Doesn’t sound too skinny. When I was that age, that’s what I weighed…same height.</p>
<p>I was 5’ 5" and 102 lbs when I was married. Very healthy. I wish being skinny was my problem now. :)</p>
<p>Remember that BMI can be a poor measure of whether someone is obese when applied to an individual. A heavy person may be heavy with muscle, not fat, and therefore not be obese despite weight in the “overweight” or “obese” range. But a person in the “normal” weight range can have too high a percentage of body fat, a situation called “normal weight obesity” that is associated with the same metabolic problems as the usual type of obesity.</p>
<p>There is at least the theoretical possibility of someone at the lower end of the “normal” weight range, but high in muscle, has too little body fat with the associated issues similar to more typical “underweight” people.</p>
<p>Agree that finding a physician who may be more familiar with the types of issues involved would be a good thing to do.</p>
<p>It sounds like your primary concern is a possible eating disorder. Some of the replies aren’t addressing this point. My younger daughter teetered on the edge of anorexia when she was 15, even though she’s a fundamentally pretty grounded person with many terrible examples among her friends and acquaintances of lives derailed by eating disorders. I had noticed her losing weight, but also thought it was the shedding of adolescent “puppy fat”, as I think someone else mentioned, until suddenly she crossed into gaunt. In terms of BMI, she probably was normal; she’s only 4 ft 11 and weighed about 92, but she had that look. I told her she looked too thin and she briefly claimed everything was fine, then “confessed” in tears hours later. She really didn’t want to be anorexic and basically asked us to make sure she ate enough. 4 years later, she still thinks about it but is doing very well. If you have a feeling something isn’t right, it probably isn’t. If you can talk to your daughter without her pushing you away, that may be a more important first step than going to the doctor. There could be a medical reason for her weight loss, but that’s less likely. Best of luck to both of you.</p>
<p>At 16.5, why is she still going to a pediatrician? IMO it’s time she graduated to a primary who sees adults, maybe an internist. Also this is a good time for her first GYN visit.</p>
<p>I personally would suggest getting some blood work done and getting a physical, but I’m not necessarily seeing an eating disorder. Your D sounds exactly like me from 13-18. I’m 5’1 105-110, had irregular cycles, the whole kit and caboodle. </p>
<p>I used to get comments that I had to have an eating disorder because I was so skinny, but no, I just have a fast metabolism. I’m hypoglycemic and have to eat every few hours, and subsequently, I work out more than others. At 24, now working full-time and with fewer chances to work out, I still struggle to get above 110.</p>
<p>Sorry, I have to say it again. A significant weight loss in a normal-size teenage girl (who apparently hasn’t said anything reassuring to explain it, e.g “yep, I decided to cut out french fries but I don’t intend to lose any more weight, I’m just going to eat healthy”) is a big red flag. Not the same as someone who’s always been naturally very thin. Eating disorders are alarmingly common in her age group. If this all turns out to be benign, that’s wonderful. But follow your instincts, OP. Please talk to her.
LasMa, with respect, I disagree about the internist. I’ve been a pediatric nurse practitioner for many years and the mindset is completely different. A pediatrician who likes adolescents (and doesn’t make tactless and stupid remarks like the one mentioned) will probably do much better than an internist up to her neck in hypertensive diabetic senior citizens. Gyn, sure, if the girl is willing to go. We had a lovely one in our area who gave them the option of no exam if they were under 21 - she would just talk to them.</p>
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<p>^^ Wait till you hit your 50s. 
But I agree with you; there are lots of reasons a teenager can lose weight and have irregular periods that don’t involve eating disorders. A thin person isn’t necessarily an anorexic person (and a regular-weight person can have an eating disorder). </p>
<p>OP, extreme weight loss is only one symptom of anorexia, and this weight loss doesn’t sound extreme to me. Does she exercise obsessively? The exercise you describe sounds normal and healthy. Does she carefully count calories, or “ration” her daily intake of food? Does she seem to have a realistic body image or does she think she’s “too fat”; does she seem to have an intense fear of gaining weight? Does she have unusual rituals surrounding meals? Does she make excuses not to eat; does she prefer to eat in privacy?</p>
<p>If she’s getting at least 1000-1200 calories a day, and if she’s eating her dinner without much fuss, then this doesn’t sound like an eating disorder to me. But since you’re worried, of course you should get her checked out (by a doctor for adults, not a pediatrician).</p>
<p>ETA --Ruthie, I suggested a gyn because he/she is obviously going to be more attuned to problems affecting females (and eating disorders affect females far more). Also, if there are menstrual issues, a gyn is the obvious person to see. But I do like the idea of a talking-only appointment; great way to ease a girl into THAT whole area of adult life.</p>
<p>Not all internists or family practice doctors are overrun with hypertensive senior citizens, any more than all pediatric practices are havens of personal attention and sensitivity.</p>
<p>Like we need another opinion here, but I don’t think the issue here is her current weight or her cycles…it’s the change. So, does ‘mom’ chalk these up to normal adolescent adjustments that also fit into the ‘normal’ range, or does she take her DD to a trusted physician to run a few tests just to make sure there isn’t something else at play. I am in the camp that even if both the before and after fall into the ‘normal’ range the change is large enough to warrant some investigation in bloodwork and a physical. Who should do this? That depends. Who is the DD comfortable with? We made a natural switch to a family practice Dr. when our boys were early teens and it’s worked out well. I would not take them to my internist who treats mostly older patients (at 45 I am one of her youngest). Another internist may have been fine. It just depends. The OP should discuss with her DD that the changes are nothing to be alarmed about and are probably part of her normal growing process, but just to be safe she’d like to take her for a physical and have some bloodwork to make sure her metabolism (ie thyroid) is where it should be. Is she happy with her current Dr., or would she like to see someone else? I would make sure to have a full metabolic blood profile run. They’ll check for more then a regular work up.</p>
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<p>Lots of women have some disordered eating behaviors (not necessarily full blown eating disorders).</p>
<p>[UNC</a> School of Public Health - Survey finds disordered eating behaviors among three out of four American women](<a href=“http://www.sph.unc.edu/school_of_public_health_news/survey_finds_disordered_eating_behaviors_among_three_out_of_four_american_women_7294_1957.html]UNC”>http://www.sph.unc.edu/school_of_public_health_news/survey_finds_disordered_eating_behaviors_among_three_out_of_four_american_women_7294_1957.html)</p>
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<p>But is she eating anything else besides the observed 1000-1200 calories per day? That number of calories per day seems like a target number for obese people trying to lose fat, rather than a physically active teenager (with typical teenager high metabolism).</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure I don’t know a college aged woman (only because I’m most familiar with them) who doesn’t exhibit signs of disordered eating, even if on a temporary basis. I’m sure we all know someone who decided to quit eating carbs, do a juice cleanse, etc. etc. I’m even guilty of occasional disordered eating behaviors, although they are never on a regular basis, but rather as a way to balance out Thanksgiving, 3 Christmas cookie parties in a weekend, or when I need to squeeze into a piece of formalwear that was tailored too small (curse you tailor who seemed to think that breathing is unnecessary)</p>