Just like adults, children can experience difficulty managing their weight. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry estimates that as of 2008, between 16 and 33 percent of kids and teens face problems with obesity. Many factors can lead to obesity, but you can take action to help your child overcome weight problems. The first step is finding out if your kid is at the right weight.
Body Mass Index
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends using the Child and Teen BMI Calculator to determine if your child falls within the proper weight ranges for her age and gender. The amount of fat on a child's body changes with age, and it also differs for boys and girls. The BMI calculator for kids takes these differences into account and places your child within certain percentiles to determine whether she is at an appropriate weight compared to her peer group.
What You Need
To determine your kid's BMI, you will need her date of birth, an accurate measurement of her height and weight and the date these measurements were taken. The height and weight measurements should include feet and inches, pounds and fractions of a pound. Enter this information in the BMI Percentile Calculator for Child and Teen at the CDC's website and press the calculate button. The calculator provides you with an assessment of whether your child is underweight, at a healthy weight, overweight or obese.
What It Doesn't Tell You
The BMI calculation for children and teens tells you how your child's weight compares to other kids of the same age and gender. But the BMI calculator is not a diagnostic tool and cannot tell you why your child is assessed as underweight, overweight or obese. Children grow rapidly, and you will need to consult with a doctor or dietitian to determine if you need to take action to help your child manage her weight. These professionals will perform additional assessments to determine if your kid needs to change her diet and exercise patterns or if there is an underlying medical cause impacting her weight.
Benefits
Identifying your child's ideal weight improves her health and provides additional benefits. Overweight kids face a variety of health risks normally seen in adults, including high blood pressure and cholesterol, sleep apnea, asthma and type-2 diabetes. Additionally, the CDC says overweight kids face discrimination from an early age and may suffer from insecurity, which can lead to poor academic performance and difficulty with social interactions. An underweight child might have an eating disorder or other health complication that makes gaining weight difficult.
Member Comments