Determining the difference between some "baby fat" rolls and childhood obesity can be a minefield for parents. Here's how to work out if your little one is on the bigger side of healthy.
But there's no set rule of thumb or weight guideline that shows definitively whether a child is in a healthy weight range or not, given there is such variation in their speed of growth and their size.
Genetics play a role and some kids are naturally big, and putting young children on a diet can cause more harm than good – either by robbing them of energy or setting them up for an unhealthy relationship with food.
"Chubbiness can be healthy and children can grow out of it," explains Melanie McGrice, nutrition and wellbeing specialist.
"Never in your life do you grow as quickly as you do as a toddler. You don't want to get upset about it and have young children dieting."
First stop should always be a visit to your GP or dietitian who will assess their height and weight against a graph and monitor them for changes.
Signs that they could be veering towards the unhealthy side of obesity is if they wear clothes more than two sizes above their age, if they eat as much or more than adults in the family, if they eat takeaway more than twice a week, get puffed out doing physical activity and watch more than three hours of television a day.
The challenge with food is that it's one of the first things children are able to use to assert their independence or try to control.
"You also get children eating for comfort at a young age, often imitating their parents," McGrice says.
There's no need to be counting your child's calorie intake, but McGrice says that parents can help chubby children grow into their weight by having healthy foods on hand for snacks.
"Have fruit and low starch veggies, such as cherry tomatoes and snow peas, available for snacking between meal times – they will be more healthy than a muesli bar," she explains.
"Explain to them that this is what is available and they can eat as many of those vegetables and fruit as they want between meal times but if they don't want any then they have to wait until lunch or dinner."
Studies show that the more TV a child watches, the more overweight they are likely to be, so doctors at the Children's Hospital at Westmead suggest keeping screen time to a maximum of two hours per day, and ensuring they get at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity each day.
"This means that they are huffing and puffing," the Westmead doctors and dietitians write.
"Start by increasing physical activity by thirty minutes each day and work your way up to 60 minutes."RELATED: 90 percent of two-year-olds don't get enough exercise