Battling Childhood Obesity: How to Keep Your Kids Trim and Healthy

Healthy eating and physical activity habits are key to your child’s well being. Eating too much and exercising too little may lead to being overweight and related health problems that may follow children into their adult years. You can take an active role to help your child — and your whole family — learn healthy eating and physical activity habits that last a lifetime.

Children grow at different rates, so it’s not always easy to tell if your child is at a healthy weight. Overweight is defined differently for children and teens than it is for adults. Ask your child’s doctor to tell you whether your child is at a healthy weight. 

At your child’s regular checkups, the doctor will look at body mass index (BMI) and growth charts to determine if he or she is within healthy weight limits. Children are usually considered overweight if their BMI is at or above the 85th percentile. Children with a BMI in the 95th percentile or higher are considered obese.

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

Plus, unlike their slimmer peers, they’re 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:

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

Diet and Exercise
Focus on providing nutritious meals and snacks and teaching healthy food choices. You can do this by:

  • Avoiding soda and sugary fruit drinks, and offering skim milk or water instead
  • Cutting out snacks with little nutritional value, like potato chips
  • Offering whole-grain crackers, low-fat cheese, yogurt, fruits and vegetables
  • And get your kids moving: Put one hour of physical activity into your child’s day. That doesn’t necessarily mean 60 minutes in organized sports or all at one time. Fun activities that children do on their own are best. Be sure your child is doing different types of activity, including:
    • Aerobic activities, like running, skipping or dancing
    • Bone-strengthening activities, like jumping rope or playing basketball
    • Muscle-strengthening activities, like climbing trees or playground equipment

For More Information
To learn more about Sharp's nutrition services or to find a Sharp-affiliated physician, search for San Diego doctors or call 1-800-82-SHARP (1-800-827-4277), Monday through Friday, 8 am to 6 pm. To find general information about nutrition, read the Nutrition News archive.