When to Seek Medical Care

• If you or the school personnel think your child is overweight
• If your child has expressed concerns about his or her weight
• If your child has problems keeping up with peers in physical fitness or sports

Examination and Tests

Weight-to-height tables

These tables give general ranges of healthy weights and overweight for a child's height. Many health care providers define obesity in a child as weighing 20% or more over the healthy range. The tables, however, do not take into account the individual characteristics of each child. The healthcare provider must consider the child's age and growth pattern when interpreting the chart. For example, some children gain weight before a growth spurt. This doesn't mean they are becoming obese.

Body fat percentage

The percentage of body weight that is fat is a good marker of obesity. Boys over 25% fat and girls over 32% fat are considered obese.

Body fat percentage is difficult to measure accurately, however. The most accurate methods use special equipment that is not found at most medical offices. The method that measures skin fold thickness is not reliable unless it is done correctly by a trained and experienced technician.

Body mass index (BMI)

This measure is used to assess weight relative to height. It is the same as the body mass index used to identify adult obesity. BMI is defined as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared (kg/m ²). BMI is closely related to body fat percentage but is much easier to measure.

BMI is the standard for defining obesity in adults, but its use in children is not accepted universally. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests two levels of concern for children based on the BMI-for-age charts.

1. At the 85th percentile and above, children are " overweight" and,

2. At the 95th percentile or above, they are " obese ".

We define those children above the 95th percentile as "obese", which corresponds to a BMI of 30 (considered obese in adults).

Waist circumference (WC)