Discussing weight with your child

My son is shuffle/waddling down the stairs, complaining that his pants don't fit him right. He is frustrated about this to the point that I imagine him upstairs trying to play immediately after getting dressed only to have to pull up his pants half a dozen times before he gives up and seeks help.

I get down on his level and show him that the pull tab on one side of his jeans came undone. I pull the tab out almost as far as it will go and secure it with the button so the pants won't fall off him again.

"Mom, am I too skinny?" he asks me.

"Nope." I say. "Your body changes a lot as you grow, and you are strong and healthy. That's all you need to focus on."

He runs off to play.

I am careful with the words around weight that I use with my son, because I don't want him to think about people that way. And although I know I have slipped up and used words like "skinny" and "overweight" in the past, I try to stay focused on conversations around how we could be healthier.

It turns out that this struggle - finding the right words about weight - is something that even medical professionals need to keep in mind. It doesn't matter which end of the weight spectrum your child falls on, as parents we need to keep our terms as neutral as possible.

Of course, that is a difficult message for us parents to tell the rest of the world.

How do you talk to your child about their weight? Tell me in the comments.