How to know if your child is overweight
Helping Your Child Who is Overweight
On this page:
- How can I tell if my child is overweight?
- Why should I be concerned?
- How can I help my child develop healthy habits?
- What can I do to improve my child’s eating habits?
- How can I help my child be more active?
- Where can I go for help?
- What should I look for in a weight-management program?
- How else can I help my child?
- What are clinical trials and what role do children play in research?
- What clinical trials are open?
As a parent or other caregiver, you can do a lot to help your child reach and maintain a healthy weight. Staying active and consuming healthy foods and beverages are important for your child's well-being. You can take an active role in helping your child—and your whole family—learn habits that may improve health.
How can I tell if my child is overweight?
Being able to tell whether a child is overweight is not always easy. Children grow at different rates and at different times. Also, the amount of a child’s body fat changes with age and differs between girls and boys.
One way to tell if your child is overweight is to calculate his or her body mass index (BMI). BMI is a measure of body weight relative to height. The BMI calculator uses a formula that produces a score often used to tell whether a person is underweight, a normal weight, overweight, or obese. The BMI of children is age- and sex-specific and known as the “BMI-for-age.”
BMI-for-age uses growth charts created by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Doctors use these charts to track a child’s growth. The charts use a number called a percentile to show how your child's BMI compares with the BMI of other children. The main BMI categories for children and teens are
- healthy weight: 5th to 84th percentile
- overweight: 85th to 94th percentile
- obese: 95th percentile or higher
Why should I be concerned?
You should be concerned if your child has extra weight because weighing too much may increase the chances that your child will develop health problems now or later in life.
In the short run, for example, he or she may have breathing problems or joint pain, making it hard to keep up with friends. Some children may develop health problems, such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. Some children also may experience teasing, bullying, depression, or low self-esteem.
Children who are overweight are at higher risk of entering adulthood with too much weight. The chances of developing health problems such as heart disease and certain types of cancer are higher among adults with too much weight.
BMI is a screening tool and does not directly measure body fat or an individual child’s risk of health problems. If you are concerned about your child's weight, talk with your child’s doctor or other health care professional. He or she can check your child's overall health and growth over time and tell you if weight management may be helpful. Many children who are still growing in length don’t need to lose weight; they may need to decrease the amount of weight they gain while they grow taller.
Don't put your child on a weight-loss diet unless your child’s doctor tells you to.
How can I help my child develop healthy habits?
You can play an important role in helping your child build healthy eating, drinking, physical activity, and sleep habits. For instance, teach your child about balancing the amount of food and beverages he or she eats and drinks with his or her amount of daily physical activity. Take your child grocery shopping and let him or her choose healthy foods and drinks, and help plan and prepare healthy meals and snacks. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020–2025 explain the types of foods and beverages to include in a healthy eating plan.
Here are some other ways to help your child develop healthy habits:
- Be a good role model. Consume healthy foods and drinks, and choose active pastimes. Children are good learners, and they often copy what they see.
- Talk with your child about what it means to be healthy and how to make healthy decisions.
- Discuss how physical activities and certain foods and drinks may help their bodies get strong and stay healthy.
- Children should get at least an hour of physical activity (PDF, 14.2 MB) daily and should limit their screen time (computers, television, and mobile devices) outside of school work to no more than 2 hours each day.
- Chat about how to make healthy choices about food, drinks, and activities at school, at friends’ houses, and at other places outside your home.
- Discuss how physical activities and certain foods and drinks may help their bodies get strong and stay healthy.
- Involve the whole family in building healthy eating, drinking, and physical activity habits. Everyone benefits, and your child who is overweight won’t feel singled out.
- Make sure you child gets enough sleep. While research about the relationship between sleep and weight is ongoing, some studies link excess weight to not enough sleep in children and adults.1 How much sleep your child needs (PDF, 222 KB) depends on his or her age.
What can I do to improve my child’s eating habits?
Besides consuming fewer foods, drinks, and snacks that are high in calories, fat, sugar, and salt, you may get your child to eat healthier by offering these options more often:
- fruits, vegetables, and whole grains such as brown rice
- lean meats, poultry, seafood, beans and peas, soy products, and eggs, instead of meat high in fat
- fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products or milk substitutes, such as soy beverages with added calcium and vitamin D, instead of whole milk or cream
- fruit and vegetable smoothies made with fat-free or low-fat yogurt, instead of milk shakes or ice cream
- water, fat-free, or low-fat milk, instead of soda and other drinks with added sugars
You also may help your child eat better by trying to
- Avoid serving large portions, or the amount of food or drinks your child chooses for a meal or snack.
Start with smaller amounts of food and let your child ask for more if he or she is still hungry. If your child chooses food or drinks from a package, container, or can, read the Nutrition Facts Label (PDF, 753 KB) to see what amount is equal to one serving. Match your child’s portion to the serving size listed on the label to avoid extra calories, fat, and sugar. - Put healthy foods and drinks where they are easy to see and keep high-calorie foods and drinks out of sight—or don’t buy them at all.
- Eat fast food less often. If you do visit a fast-food restaurant, encourage your child to choose healthier options, such as sliced fruit instead of fries. Also, introduce your child to different foods, such as hummus with veggies.
- Try to sit down to family meals as often as possible, and have fewer meals “on the run.”
- Discourage eating in front of the television, computer, or other electronic device.
To help your child develop a healthy attitude toward food and eating:
- Don’t make your child clean his or her plate.
- Offer rewards other than food or drinks when encouraging your child to practice healthy habits. Promising dessert for eating vegetables sends a message that vegetables are less valuable than dessert.
Healthy snack ideas
To help your child eat less candy, cookies, and other unhealthy snacks, try these healthier snack options instead:
- air-popped popcorn without butter
- fresh, frozen, or fruit canned in natural juices, plain or with fat-free or low-fat yogurt
- fresh vegetables, such as baby carrots, cucumbers, zucchini, or cherry tomatoes
- low-sugar, whole-grain cereal with fat-free or low-fat milk, or a milk substitute with added calcium and vitamin D
How can I help my child be more active?
Try to make physical activity fun for your child. Children need about 60 minutes of physical activity a day, although the activity doesn't have to be all at once.
Several short 10- or even 5-minute spurts of activity throughout the day are just as good. If your child is not used to being active, encourage him or her to start out slowly and build up to 60 minutes a day.
To encourage daily physical activity:
- Let your child choose a favorite activity to do regularly, such as climbing a jungle gym at the playground or joining a sports team or dance class.
- Help your child find simple, fun activities to do at home or on his or her own, such as playing tag, jumping rope, playing catch, shooting baskets, or riding a bike (wear a helmet).
- Limit time with the computer, television, cell phone, and other devices to 2 hours a day.
- Let your child and other family members plan active outings, such as a walk or hike to a favorite spot.
Where can I go for help?
If you have tried to change your family's eating, drinking, physical activity, and sleep habits and your child has not reached a healthy weight, ask your child’s health care professional about other options.
He or she may be able to recommend a plan for healthy eating and physical activity, or refer you to a weight-management specialist, registered dietitian, or program. Your local hospital, a community health clinic, or health department also may offer weight-management programs for children and teens or information about where you can enroll in one.
What should I look for in a weight-management program?
When choosing a weight-management program for your child, look for a program that
- includes a variety of health care providers on staff, such as doctors, psychologists and registered dietitians.
- evaluates your child's weight, growth, and health before enrollment and throughout the program.
- adapts to your child’s specific age and abilities. Programs for elementary school-aged children should be different from those for teens.
- helps your family keep healthy eating, drinking, and physical activity habits after the program ends.
How else can I help my child?
You can help your child by being positive and supportive throughout any process or program you choose to help him or her achieve a healthy weight.
Help your child set specific goals and track progress. Reward successes with praise and hugs.
Tell your child that he or she is loved, special, and important. Children's feelings about themselves are often based on how they think their parents and other caregivers feel about them.
Listen to your child's concerns about his or her weight. He or she needs support, understanding, and encouragement from caring adults.
References
What are clinical trials and what role do children play in research?
Clinical trials are research studies involving people of all ages. Clinical trials look at safe and effective new ways to prevent, detect, or treat disease. Researchers also use clinical trials to look at other aspects of care, such as improving quality of life. Research involving children helps scientists
- identify care that is best for a child
- find the best dose of medicines
- find treatments for conditions that only affect children
- treat conditions that behave differently in children
- understand how treatment affects a growing child’s body
Find out more about clinical trials and children.
What clinical trials are open?
Clinical trials that are currently open and are recruiting can be viewed at www.ClinicalTrials.gov.
5 signs your child may be overweight
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Posted by Charlotte HomeFamilies, Health, parenting, wellbeing
Do you know if your child is overweight? Research suggests that parents sometimes find it difficult to spot the signs. But don’t panic – if you’re not sure, read on for five signs your child may be carrying some excess weight…
1. BMI
Finding out your child’s BMI us the best way of understanding their weight.
Children’s BMI (Body Mass Index) is worked out slightly differently to adults, as their age and gender are taken into account as well as their height and weight. Children’s BMI scores are presented as a “centile”, and if your child is over the 91st centile it would suggest they are carrying some excess weight.
There are a few ways you can check your child’s BMI:
- Go to your GP
- At a pharmacy
- Follow these steps at home – you will need scales and a tape measure:
- Weigh them on the scales
- Measure their height by standing them next to a wall and marking with a pencil where the top of their head is on the wall (gently press a book or something flat on the top of their head to find the highest point) and then using a tape measure, measure from the floor up to the mark
- Input their measurements into the NHS BMI calculator
- Or, call your local BeeZee Bodies office and we’ll work it out for you.
2. Friends & peers
You might have noticed that your child looks larger than their school friends and you may have put it down to them having a growth spurt… but if they continue to be larger than their peers, they could be carrying excess weight.
Early intervention can be really helpful here.
At our BeeZee Families programme we often find that families can make a couple of small changes which can lead to having big impact on their child’s health.
3. School uniform sizes
With the kids going back to school in September perhaps you’re buying new school uniforms and during the process you’ve noticed they’ve put on a little bit of extra weight since last time, or you need to buy a larger size than their age?
Getting children’s sizes right can be really challenging; it varies from shop to shop and children of the same age are all different sizes. We absolutely recognise that clothes sizes are not representative of age, as they do not take height or other factors into account – but buying a larger age size could be an indicator that your child may be above a healthy weight.
4. Physical activity
Sometimes parents might notice their child is carrying excess weight when they are physically active. Common signs are; struggling to keep up with friends, needing to take more breaks than their peers, getting out of breath quickly or maybe they’re sweating more than their friends.
We understand that every child is different and that these signs are not an exact science, however they may help to build a picture.
At BeeZee Families we can help children to build up skills and confidence around exercise and help them to find a sport or activity they love.
5. Self image
Children can become self-conscious for multiple reasons, however as children grow up they can become more self-aware of their body image (If your child is struggling with body image issues, be sure to check out our Parent’s Guide to promoting a positive body image)
Often body image issues can arise from influences from social media, the internet and TV. We want our children to be happy and comfortable in their own skin but we can’t lock them away from the world in order to achieve this.
But sometimes children can become self-conscious because they realise they are carrying more weight than their peers.
At BeeZee Families we focus on health and not weight or image, and work really hard on improving children’s self-esteem and confidence.
Sign up to BeeZee Families
Treatment of obesity in children | causes, diet, nutrition
In recent years, there has been a rapid increase in the number of children and adolescents who have problems with being overweight. Excessive deposition of adipose tissue in the body, that is, obesity, is a disease that must be treated. Obesity in children can lead to serious health problems: diseases of the gastrointestinal tract (constipation, diarrhea, cholecystitis, pancreatitis, etc.), cardiovascular system (arterial hypertension, heart problems), atherosclerosis, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes , sexual development disorders, endocrine and metabolic disorders, arthrosis, sleep apnea, bulimia, anorexia, etc. And this, not to mention psychological difficulties, problems with self-esteem, complexes, ridicule of classmates ... In general, if you suspect your child has excess weight - do not let things take their course, contact an endocrinologist!
Our consultant: Natalya Vladimirovna Michurina, endocrinologist, nutritionist of the Euromed clinic.
How to determine the presence of obesity?
Obesity in a child, just like in an adult, is based on measuring the body mass index (the ratio of height to weight, calculated by the formula: body weight (kg) / [height (m)] 2), as well as anthropometric measurements: the doctor looks at the circumference waist, hips.
Obesity diagnosis is set when the actual body weight of the child exceeds the age limit by more than 15%, and the body mass index exceeds 30.
Causes of obesity in children
The development of obesity, as a rule, is influenced by both genetic predisposition and lifestyle. In fact, excess weight appears when there is an energy imbalance - when more calories are consumed than are spent. That is, in other words, with an unbalanced diet, overeating and low physical activity.
In addition, obesity can develop due to serious pathological conditions and genetic diseases.
Children who are overweight usually don't eat the healthiest foods. Their diet is dominated by fast carbohydrates: baked goods, sweets, desserts, juices, carbonated drinks; as well as fats: fast food, fried, fatty foods. At the same time, protein, fiber and water are very small.
Physical activity for modern children is also not enough: they spend most of the day sitting at their desks at school, doing their homework, playing computer games, watching TV or a tablet. That is, children have a fairly intense mental load, but there is a catastrophic lack of movement.
If obesity is detected, the doctor will most likely recommend performing a biochemical blood test, a study of the hormonal profile.
Your child may need to perform an ultrasound of the thyroid gland, an ultrasound of the abdominal organs, an MRI of the pituitary gland, and some other examinations. In addition to the help of an endocrinologist, a child may need to consult a neurologist, geneticist, gastroenterologist, cardiologist, orthopedist, psychotherapist and other specialists.
Types of obesity
Depending on the causes of occurrence, two forms of obesity are distinguished: primary and secondary.
Primary may be associated with hereditary predisposition (exogenous-constitutional) and associated with malnutrition (alimentary). In such cases, the family plays a huge role in the formation of obesity, since the peculiarities of nutrition and lifestyle, the desire to play sports, are instilled primarily by parents.
When we talk about a hereditary predisposition, we are not talking about the fact that excess weight is inherited - the features of the flow of metabolic processes in the body are genetically determined.
That is, how fast the child's metabolism depends on heredity, how quickly he will gain weight when overeating.
Nutritional obesity, most often, occurs during critical periods of development: up to 3 years, in early childhood (the risk group for obesity includes children weighing more than 4 kg at birth, gaining too much weight monthly, being bottle-fed ), preschool age, at 5-7 years old, and during puberty - at 12-16 years old.
Secondary obesity occurs as a result of various congenital and acquired diseases: endocrinopathies, lesions of the central nervous system, psychopathological conditions, etc. Most often, endocrine diseases lead to secondary obesity (problems with the thyroid gland, adrenal glands, pituitary gland, ovaries in girls). Thus, obesity can be a symptom of the disease, but only a doctor can deal with this.
There are four degrees of obesity in children:
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Obesity I degree - the body weight of the child exceeds the norm by 15-24%.
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Obesity II degree - the body weight of the child exceeds the norm by 25–49%.
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Obesity III degree - the body weight of the child exceeds the norm by 50–99%.
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Obesity IV degree - body weight exceeds the allowable age norm by more than 100%.
Treatment of obesity
In the treatment of obesity, the main measures are aimed at reducing body weight and preventing subsequent weight gain.
If obesity is secondary, then the doctor will begin with the treatment of the pathology that provokes the development of obesity. But both with primary and secondary obesity, to reduce body weight, a change in the child's lifestyle is necessary: correction of the diet and rational physical activity.
First of all, it is recommended to limit foods containing animal fats and fast carbohydrates in the child's diet. Meals should be 5-7 meals a day. Together with the doctor, the daily calorie intake for the child is calculated, and parents must comply with it.
In parallel with changing the diet, it is necessary to change the motor mode of the child. For very young children, long walks and outdoor games are recommended, preschoolers and schoolchildren need to add age-appropriate sports activities (swimming, cycling, athletics, etc.). It is important to understand that a doctor can determine the causes of obesity and give detailed recommendations, but parents should control the child's nutrition and physical activity. And you need to take it as seriously as possible!
Prevention of obesity
Any problem is easier to prevent than to treat. Therefore, the task of parents from the earliest age of the child is to organize an adequate diet and physical activity for him.
Set the goal of developing healthy eating habits in your child, instill in him a love for healthy proper nutrition. Do not abuse fast food and sweets - the later your child gets to know these products, the better. The child's diet should consist of a large number of vegetables, fruits, complex carbohydrates (cereals, whole grain bread), lean meat, fish, low-fat dairy products.
Instill in your child a love of movement. With the little ones, you can do gymnastics and visit the pool (children's pools accept babies from two months old), walk in the fresh air as much as possible. When the baby starts walking - do not limit him, let him walk, run, fall, get dirty, hit - he will learn the world through movement.
When the child grows up, enroll him in the sports section. Now there are a huge number of circles for children of various levels of training. Choose with your child what kind of sport he likes: running, dancing, cycling, skiing, figure skating, hockey, football, basketball, swimming, wrestling - there are a lot of options. Be sure to support your child's passion for sports.
Of course, it is important that parents show their child an example of a healthy lifestyle, you will agree that you cannot convince a child to eat broccoli and steam cutlets at a time when you yourself are having dinner with french fries. Yes, and such nutrition is not useful for parents, but motor loads are necessary. So organize a healthy lifestyle for the whole family - and you will avoid serious health problems for yourself and your child.
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Pediatric endocrinologistPediatricianPediatrics
5 kg) per month. Older children and teens who are obese or severely obese may be on a weight loss diet of up to 2 pounds (or about 1 kg) per week. 
In addition, active children are more likely to be fit as adults. 
