Childhood obesity is the condition of being overweight
or severely overweight which causes risks to
health between the ages of 2 and 19.
Childhood obesity is of increasing concern as a
public health problem in the United States. Overweight
and obesity are defined by most healthcare
professionals using the Body Mass Index (BMI).
BMI is a calculation that compares a person’s weight
and height to arrive at a specific number. For details of
how to calculate BMI see the body mass index entry.
Children between the ages of 2 and 19 are assigned
a percentile based on their BMI number. The percentile
tells them how their weight compares to that of
other children who are their same age and gender. For
example, if a boy is in the 65th percentile for his age
group, 65 of every 100 children who are his age weigh
less than he does and 35 of every 100 weigh more than
he does. Adult BMI is interpreted differently.
The BMI weight categories for children are:
-Below the 5th percentile: Underweight
-5th percentile to less than the 85th percentile:
Healthy weight
-85th percentile to less than the 95th percentile: At
risk of overweight
-95th percentile and above: Overweight
There is some debate about what to call children
who are in the at risk for overweight and overweight
categories. Some healthcare organizations such as the
American Obesity Association use the term overweight
for those at or above the 85th percentile and
obese for those at or above the 95th percentile. The
National Institutes of Health prefers to avoid applying
the term obese to children, in part because of the
social stigma the word carries.Whatever term is used
to describe children in the top 15th percentile, these
children are at risk of developing health problems
because of their weight.
