How can you tell whether your child is obese?
About 18% of youths 12 to 19 are obese, as well as 20% of children 6 to 11 and 10% of those 2 to 5 years old. These Centers for Disease Control and Prevention figures date to 2008, but all indications are that those numbers are on the rise.
How do you know whether your child is obese? You can’t tell just by looking.
One of the tools a doctor will use is a BMI growth chart that compares your child’s body mass index, or BMI, calculated from his or her weight and height, with others of the same sex and age. Children who fall in the 85th to 95th BMI percentiles (meaning 85% to 95% of children have a lower BMI) are considered overweight; 95th percentile and above indicates obesity. Check out more information about kids and weight by reading “Tips for Parents: Ideas to Help Children Maintain a Healthy Weight.”
Childhood obesity can continue into adulthood and lead to heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. Health professionals nationwide are pushing exercise and healthy eating programs for kids. The Baltimore Sun reports on this trend by profiling a doctor who’s taking a cue from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in “Pediatrician has prescription to fight obesity.”
--Mary Forgione / For the Los Angeles Times