Obesity

Shaping Healthier Lives. 

Obesity is a buildup of body fat. It is measured by the height and weight of a child. A child is considered overweight if they have a BMI greater than 85^thpercentile and less than the 95^th percentile of their weight. The treatment for obesity in a child involves a change in diet and exercise.  

The following are some of the factors that may contribute to overweight adolescents: 

• Easy availability of food, especially high-calorie snack food 
• Parents’ attitudes toward food 
• An increase in the eating of fast food 
• Using food as a reward or punishment to change behavior 
• Lack of exercise 
• Television watching and snacking 
• Not knowing how to eat healthy 
• Heredity (parents and family members weight) 

Helpful Links:

• Information on Weight Management 
• Information on Obesity from the Mayo Clinic 
• Information from Nemours Children’s Hospital 
• Information from the CDC 
• Get Healthy, Eat Healthy! 

Videos:

• Information from Driscoll Children’s Hospital 
• CDC Video on “The Obesity Epidemic”