Retailers Taking the Measure of Children's Sizes
There was a time when "chubby" babies and toddlers were considered cute. It was deemed healthy for infants to fill out as they grew and to slim down as they became active children. That was before we woke to the reality of potential long-term health problems when children don't become active, eat too much and frequently consume foods that are not especially good for them. It also pre-dated recognition of an official obesity epidemic.
While continuing to fight reality through improving diet, some manufacturers are recognizing children's larger sizes by making it easier for parents to find clothes that fit them. British retailer Marks and Spencer is introducing a range of "plus-size" clothes aimed at children as young as three. According to The Daily Telegraph, the trial is "an attempt to meet consumer demand." It goes on to remind readers that "one in four children is now classed as obese or overweight by the time they start primary school." M&S says the new items are "cut far more generously than ... standard sizes, with almost two-and-a-half inches extra around the waistline and hips for clothes for three-year-olds."
Referring to comments from Tam Fry of the National Obesity Forum, the story points out that Marks and Spencer's customers are generally middle class. This hammers home the point that childhood obesity extends to all economic categories and is not restricted to low income families.
"People used to dismiss obesity as a problem of the lower classes, but the decision by M&S shows just how widespread the problem is," he said, blaming what he called over-indulgence and "a generation of parents who haven't been taught domestic science, and don't know how to feed their children a healthy meal at the end of the day."
In an effort to find out more about children's actual shapes and sizes, several other U.K. retailers, including Next and Asda, have announced a plan to measure some 6,000 children so they can adjust clothing sizes accordingly.
In 2005, a report by The NPD Group found that with nearly one-third of all children in the U.S. considered overweight, finding clothes in kids sizes was a challenge. The NPD report found mothers of overweight children reported 31 percent of their nine to twelve-year-old boys and 38 percent of girls in this age group are already wearing men's, women's or junior-size apparel.
Discussion Questions: What's the retail opportunity around plus-size kids apparel? Is the best solution suggesting overweight children move up to adult sizes?
[Author's commentary] I blush to admit it but there were definitely "chubby" sizes when I was growing up in NY. I have no idea when or why they disappeared -- perhaps it was to do with the stigma that kids felt.