Childhood obesity has doubled over the last two decades reports the American Academy of Pediatrics. The risks of obesity are three-fold, it can adversely effect your child's physical, emotional and social health. Body mass index is useful in identifying overweight and obesity early on in children so dietary and lifestyle changes can be implemented to help you child attain a healthy weight for his age and sex.
BMI
BMI is a measure of your child's weight in relation to his height. The amount of body fat your child has will vary with age; boys and girls differ in their body fat percentages. Therefore, BMI for children differs from adults in that it takes your child's sex and age into consideration as outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is often referred to as BMI-for-age and is used for children over the age of 2 and for teenagers to the age of 19.
Calculating
BMI calculation for children is the same as the one used for adults. Your health care provider can perform the calculation for you. It's derived from accurately taking your child's weight, measuring her height and substituting the numbers into the following equation: BMI = (weight (pounds) ÷ height² (inches)) x 703. Alternatively an online BMI calculator can be used like the one provided by Kids Health website (see Resources).
Percentiles
Once the BMI-for-age has been derived it is plotted on age and sex specific growth charts provided by the CDC. These compare your child's measurements relative to other children to give a percentile ranking. Your child will be classified as being either, underweight, healthy weight, overweight or obese depending on her BMI-for-age and percentile ranking.
Limitations
Although BMI-for-age is a convenient and useful screening tool for monitoring overweight and obesity it does have limitations. It doesn't take into account body composition. For example, an athletic teen may have a high BMI due to muscle and not excess fat. In such cases your health care provider will carry out additional assessments like a skinfold thickness test, rule out any medical conditions like thyroid problems, take a complete family history and evaluate your child's diet and level of physical fitness.
Uses
Your health care provider will monitor and record your child's measurements on her health record. Data collected over years is useful in spotting any weight concerns early on and assessing the risk of your child becoming overweight or obese. According to the website Kid's Health, overweight children and teens are more likely to become overweight and obese adults. They also have a higher risk of developing diabetes, asthma, sleep apnea, hypertension and heart disease as well as other health conditions.
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