{"id":77,"date":"2014-01-08T23:01:36","date_gmt":"2014-01-09T07:01:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.mainelyseo.com\/cdi-upgrade\/parenting_today\/?p=77"},"modified":"2019-07-23T16:54:16","modified_gmt":"2019-07-23T23:54:16","slug":"pediatric-obesity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/childdevelopmentinfo.com\/child-health-news\/pediatric-obesity\/","title":{"rendered":"Pediatric Obesity: The Unspoken Epidemic"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The press has frequently focused on infectious disease epidemics such as H1N1 influenza and HIV, but rarely discusses the growing problem of pediatric obesity.\u00a0If HIV affected 30% of the population you would bet there would be an outcry for the government to do something about this problem.\u00a0Right now almost 32% of children 6-17 are considered overweight or obese.\u00a0There are some general guidelines on what to eat and how much to exercise but really there are no easy straightforward plans for families to address obesity in their children.\u00a0Obesity is not as simple as eating less and exercising more or following the food pyramid, if it were that simple all my patients would be thin and fit and I wouldn\u2019t be writing this article.\u00a0Weight management should be approached in a holistic manner in that diet, exercise, emotional and family dynamics should be addressed.<\/p>\n

The diagnosis of obesity is dependent on two main factors, height and weight.\u00a0These two factors are used to calculate the Body Mass Index or BMI.\u00a0The CDC has an excellent BMI calculator<\/a> on their website.\u00a0The BMI is then adjusted for age and graphed to determine the BMI percentile.\u00a0If the BMI percentile is between 5-84%, that is considered normal; 85-94% is overweight; and greater than or equal to 95% is obese.\u00a0Your healthcare provider can order additional laboratory tests to rule out metabolic causes for obesity.<\/p>\n

We try not to use the word \u201cDiet\u201d in our practice because it implies a temporary change that will fix a lifelong challenge.\u00a0We try to emphasize \u201cHealthy Eating\u201d and help the families to make better decisions on what to eat and healthier choices when they have the occasional fast-food.\u00a0In general, \u201cFad Diets\u201d usually drastically reduce calories and nutrients in order to quickly produce weight loss.\u00a0Children and teens need to eat healthy foods for normal growth and fad diets do not address the nutritional needs of growing children.\u00a0The reality is that it\u2019s almost impossible to avoid fast food nowadays but thankfully many of the major fast food restaurants now offer healthier alternatives to French fries or hamburgers such as salads, fruit or grilled chicken.\u00a0In addition, we emphasize portion size and second helpings.\u00a0Most families are already familiar with the food pyramid and it\u2019s a great place to start to get healthy food ideas but this should be a family effort and the entire family\u2019s eating habits should be adjusted.\u00a0Children tend to eat what their parents buy and if the cabinet is full of cookies and chips that are what they\u2019ll snack on.<\/p>\n

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