Healthy weight in children

A parent’s guide to check if your child is a healthy

weight.

A hot media topic

Why is this a concern?

There are two primary stumbling blocks1. Parents simply don’t see or acknowledge that

their child is overweight2. Parents may recognise that their child is

overweight but don’t see this as problematic

However child obesity can and does lead to very real difficulties for children and young people:• Serious health conditions such as diabetes and

cardio-vascular complications may occur• Psychological problems such as low self-esteem,

sadness and body dissatisfaction, loss of confidence and social isolation

• Disengagement in physical activity

The Foresight report, predicts that by 2050, if no action is taken, 60% of adults and 25% of children will be obese.

Assessing weight status in children

Establishing the weight status of children is more tricky than with adults. This is because Adults have stopped developing. However children continue to grow.

In children, growth charts are used to plot age and height against weight to determine what is known as the body mass index (BMI) percentile

This provides a clear indicator of the child’s weight in relation to a standard UK population

9 Years old

Is Chris:

Normal weight

Overweight

Obese

Severely Obese

7 years Old

Is Sarah:

Normal weight

Overweight

Obese

Severely Obese

P0.10 years Old

Is Steven:

Normal weight

Overweight

Obese

Severely Obese

9 year old Chris

Chris BMI

23.8

under

weight

Seriously

obese obese

Over weight

Normal weight

.BMI 28.6

Sarah

7 year old Sarah

Severely

obese

BMI 34.4Steven

.10 year old

Steven

Severely

obese

Normal Weight

10 year old girl, 50th

centile

8 year old boy, 50th centile

Obesity tracking -Childhood to Adulthood

Most obese children remain obese as adults

Most parents wrongly believe that their children will grow out of their weight

The strength of association grows with age. The longer a child is overweight, the more established and extreme this weight becomes.

Childhood Obesity Risk Factors

More than 8 hours of television a week

Sleeping fewer than 10.5 hours each night

Above average birth weight

One or both parents are obese

Size in early life & big weight gain 1st year

Excess body fat in pre-school years (3 – 5)

Low levels of physical activity

Signs that the child may need support

Child is being bullied or teased at school

Child is dropping out of games or PE or is always out of breath or struggles to keep up

Child is consuming a very poor quality diet or inordinate amounts of food

National Child Measurement Programme data identifies child as very overweight

Child seems very unhappy or withdrawn or upset

The child or family have raised concerns

The child has other illnesses such as asthma, diabetes etc.

How you can make a differenceCommit to working together as a family – losing

weight for children is just as challenging as it is for adults – they will need your support.

Set some goals and targets around the things that you think will make the greatest difference, this could include: snacking, portion size, takeaways and junk food, sugary drinks

Think about physical activity. How can you plan as a family to become more active. Think also about how to reduce time sitting (TV viewing and computer games)

As a family agree to self monitor your weight each week and plot this over time

How can you get further help

Contact your local Alive ’N’ Kicking child weight management service

Find your local service on www.ank.uk.com (locations)

Or call:Sheffield 0114 321 1253

West Sussex 0300 123 0892

Barnet 0208 102 0530

Croydon 0203 757 6598

Bristol 0117 942 2602

Swindon 01793 465412

Enfield 020 8804 4255

Northamptonshire 01604 745084