How to Keep Your Kids
Trim and Healthy

As your child grows out of the toddler years, excess weight can become a serious concern—perhaps putting them at risk for some very grown-up health problems.

When Should You Be Concerned About Your Child?

At your child’s regular checkups, the doctor will look at body mass index (BMI) and growth charts to determine if he is within healthy weight limits. Children are usually considered overweight if their BMI is at or above the 95th percentile.

No Laughing Matter

If your child is overweight, it’s important for you to address the problem. That’s because overweight kids are at risk for developing typically adult health problems, including:

• type 2 diabetes
• high cholesterol
• high blood pressure.

Plus, unlike their slimmer peers, they’re much more likely to develop serious health problems down the road, such as heart disease.

The Skinny on Childhood Obesity

Just how serious a problem is childhood obesity? Consider these facts and figures:

• Over the past three decades, the childhood obesity rate has more than tripled.
• Today, about 16% of children and teens are overweight and another 30% are at risk for becoming overweight.
• Children with a high BMI are more likely to have enlarged hearts, putting them at risk for heart disease later in life.
• According to one study, 60% of obese children have at least one heart disease risk factor, such as high cholesterol or blood pressure, and 25% have two or more risk factors.
• Type 2 diabetes, previously seen mostly in adults, is increasingly common among children. Experts believe childhood obesity is the cause.
• Overweight children are more likely to develop metabolic syndrome, which is really a group of health problems, including high blood sugar, high blood pressure, and low levels of “good” cholesterol, which put kids at risk for diabetes and heart disease.

Eating Right

Focus on providing nutritious meals and snacks and teaching healthy food choices.

That means:

• cutting out snacks with little nutritional value, like potato chips
• offering whole-grain crackers, low-fat cheese, yogurt, fruits, and vegetables
• limiting soda and sugary fruit drinks and giving them skim milk or water instead.

Get Them Moving

Doctors recommend children exercise 60 minutes a day most days of the week, but that doesn’t necessarily mean 60 minutes in organized sports.