Find Out If Your Child is Overweight    

With your child’s pediatrician, you’ll need to ascertain how overweight your child is, and her risk of becoming an overweight adult. Plotting your child’s weight and height on a growth chart helps the doctor determine what percentile best describes your child in relation to other children in the same age group.

Ideal body weight corresponds exactly to height percentile.  For example, if your child is at the 60^th percentile in height, she should be at the 60^th percentile for weight. If her height is at the 60^th percentile while her weight falls into the 70^th percentile, then she is ten percent above the ideal weight. Children who weigh 20 percent more than their ideal weight are classified as overweight.  Those 40 percent or more above their ideal weight are considered clinically obese.  Your doctor will use special charts called “Body Mass Index Percentiles” to determine overweight or obesity.

Reviewing these percentiles with your child’s doctor can also verify whether your child is slowly developing a weight problem. By observing his weight over a one-to three-year period, you can see how his condition is progressing.  A greater increase in weight percentile compared to height percentile over time suggests a potential problem.  But you also need to keep in mind that for every inch your child grows, it is normal to gain an average of three to five pounds.  This fact becomes very important after weight loss. Working with and communicating regularly with your child’s doctor ensures that your calculations are accurate, and will give you necessary assurance that your approach to weight loss is appropriate for your child’s medical history and optimum health.

In addition to the height/weight percentile charts, there are several other ways to assess how much of your child’s weight is comprised of fat, lean muscle, or bone.  They are:

·        Body Mass Index (BMI): This is a simple number that corresponds well with body fat, derived from an equation based on your child’s height and weight. As you will soon learn (page 00), the four “Levels” of the Trim Kids Program – Red, Yellow, Green, and Blue – are derived from the BMI.  You can figure your child’s BMI using the following formula:

                        Your child’s weight in pounds: _____ ¸ 2.2 = _____ kilograms.

Your child’s height in inches:   _____  X 2.54 ¸ 100 = _____ meters.

                        Weight in kilograms =____ ¸ (height in meters ____ ²  ) = ____BMI score

Example:   Paul  is 12 years old, weighs 120 pounds, and is 48 inches tall.

Step 1: Divide his weight by 2.2 (120 ¸ 2.2 = 54.5 kilograms).

Step 2: Multiply his height by 2.54 (48 X 2.54 ¸ 100 = 1.22 meters).

Step 3: Now divide his weight in kilograms by his height squared (height X height).

Weight in kilograms = 54.5 ¸ (height in meters² [1.22 X 1.22]  ) = 54.5 ¸1.49 = 36.6 BMI score.  If you compare this score with the table below for 12-year-old boys, Paul’s level would be Level 1 – Red because his score of 36.6 was more than the score of 26 listed under the Level 1 – Red column.

Now compare your child’s BMI score with the numbers below (please note: there are separate charts for boys and girls):

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Body Mass Index Charts*

Boys – 5-17 years of age   

Note: BMI scores are rounded to the nearest 1.0.

Girls – 5-17 years of age   

Note: BMI scores are rounded to the nearest 1.0.

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