mango
Mustachio Nut
This is pretty shocking. I just wonder why people are willing to hand their children over to nuff-nuffs like the childcare workers at this Learning Centre in outer Melbourne. :doh:
Are we now discriminating against baby fat?
Are we now discriminating against baby fat?
Staff at ABC Belvedere Learning Centre say Olivia Villella is 'fat and obese'
By Nikki Protyniak
Herald Sun
December 10, 2008 12:50am
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,24778512-1243,00.html
OLIVIA Villella is a healthy, thriving baby girl, according to her mother and the experts.
But staff at an ABC childcare centre have branded her "fat" and "obese".
Now upset mum Belinda Moss-Villella, 32, has pulled the 10-month-old out of the centre, fearing staff won't feed her enough.
Olivia, who weighs 9.3kg, comes within the healthy weight range on official charts used to measure babies' growth and development.
"She's no 'boomba'. She's just a baby," Ms Moss-Villella told the Herald Sun.
"Yes, she's very chubby. Yes, she's got rolls on her arms and her legs and her tummy. But she's a baby. They're meant to have rolls."
The curly-haired tot with the chubby cheeks is around the 75th percentile for weight and the 25th percentile for height (70cm) for her age - all within normal ranges.
Baby Olivia was given a big tick at a weigh-in with a council maternal and child health nurse last week.
"The nurse has never, ever told me Olivia is too fat.
"She did say last week, 'Belinda, she's certainly not lacking.' But too fat? Never," Ms Moss-Villella said.
She said people often stopped her in the street or while shopping to comment on her daughter's curls, but none had mentioned her size.
The Dandenong North mum said she was stunned when her four-year-old son, Lucca, told her staff at the childcare centre called his baby sister a "fat beast".
When she complained, a staff member explained Lucca had got it wrong - the words used were "fat and obese".
"I couldn't believe it. It's not like I'm sitting here feeding her chips and McDonald's every day," the mother-of-four said.
She said bottle-fed Olivia eats a normal diet - usually Weetbix for breakfast, mashed vegetables for lunch, and chicken for dinner, with fruit, cheese or yoghurt for snacks.
Olivia and Lucca attended the ABC Belvedere Learning Centre in Noble Park North three days a week, while Ms Moss-Villella studied.
But she withdrew both children yesterday when told that the staff involved would continue to care for Olivia.
"I'm just so worried that if they think she's too fat, they just won't give her enough to eat," she said.
"I just can't believe the comments and after hearing them, I can't trust that my children are getting appropriate care there.
"As a mum who loves my kids, I just can't subject them to that.
"In my heart of hearts, my heart says don't do it.
"They obviously have a lot to learn about babies."
A staff member at the Princes Highway centre refused to comment yesterday.
But Kay Gibbons, head of nutrition at the Royal Children's Hospital, said Olivia appeared "perfectly normal".
"At that age, they're meant to be chubby. If growth is regular and steady, there's nothing to worry about," she said.
She said babies often slimmed down when they began crawling.
