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Preparing for your appointment
By Mayo Clinic staffYour child's family doctor or pediatrician will probably make the initial diagnosis of childhood obesity. If your child has complications from being obese, you'll likely be referred to additional specialists to help manage all your child's conditions.
Because appointments can be brief, and there's often a lot of ground to cover, it's a good idea to be well prepared for any appointments you have with your child's health care team. Here's some information to help you get ready for your appointment, and know what you can expect from your doctor.
What you can do
- Be aware of any pre-appointment restrictions. If your doctor is going to test your child's blood sugar or cholesterol, your child may need to fast for four to eight hours. When you're making an appointment, ask if any type of fasting is necessary.
- Write down any symptoms your child is experiencing, including any that may seem unrelated.
- Ask a family member or friend to join you, if possible. Managing childhood obesity requires you to retain a lot of information, and it can sometimes be difficult to soak up all the information provided during an appointment. Someone who accompanies you may remember something that you missed or forgot.
- Bring a notebook and a pen or pencil, to write down important information.
- Write down questions to ask your doctor.
- Bring any growth measurements you may have recorded at home to show your child's doctor.
- Record a typical week of meals that your child eats to show your child's doctor.
Your time with your doctor is limited, so preparing a list of questions can help you make the most of your time together. List your questions from most important to least important in case time runs out. For childhood obesity, some basic questions to ask your doctor include:
- What other health problems might my child have?
- What are the treatment options for my child?
- Are there medications that might help manage my child's weight and other health conditions?
- How long will treatment take?
- What can I do to help my child lose weight?
- Are there any brochures or other printed material that I can take home with me?
- What websites do you recommend visiting?
In addition to your prepared questions, don't hesitate to ask questions during your child's appointment.
What to expect from your doctor
During your appointment, your doctor or other health provider is likely to ask you a number of questions about your child's eating, activity, mood and thoughts, and any symptoms your child might have. You may be asked such questions as:
- What does your child eat in a typical day?
- How much activity does your child get in a typical day?
- What are the factors that you believe affect your child's weight?
- What diets or treatments, if any, have you tried to help your child lose weight?
- What other medical conditions, if any, does your child have?
- Do you have any family members with weight problems?
- Are you ready to make changes in your family's lifestyle to help your child lose weight?
- What do you think might prevent your child from losing weight?
- What medications does your child take?
- How often does the family have meals together? Does the child help prepare the food?
- Does the child, or family, eat while watching TV or using a computer?
What you can do in the meantime
If you have several days or weeks before your child's scheduled appointment, you can start making some changes on your own to your family's eating and activity levels as you begin the journey to lose weight. Start preparing healthier meals for your family, and encourage your child to be active by taking walks, going for bike rides or playing sports.
- About BMI for children and teens. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/childrens_BMI/about_childrens_BMI.html. Accessed March 28, 2012.
- Flegal KM, et al. Characterizing extreme values of body mass index-for-age by using the 2000 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention growth charts. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2009;90:1314.
- Ford ES, et al. Concentrations of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and total cholesterol among children and adolescents in the United States. Circulation. 2009;119:1108.
- The fourth report on the diagnosis, evaluation and treatment of high blood pressure in children and adolescents. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/hypertension/hbp_ped.htm. Accessed March 28, 2012.
- Barlow SE, et al. Expert committee recommendations regarding the prevention, assessment and treatment of child and adolescent overweight and obesity: Summary report. Pediatrics. 2007;120:S164.
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- Meridia (prescribing information). Abbott Park, Ill.: Abbott Laboratories; 2010. http://www.meridia.net/. Accessed March 28, 2012.
- Xenical (prescribing information). Nutley, NJ.: Genentech, Inc.; 2012. http://www.gene.com/gene/products/information/xenical/. Accessed March 28, 2012.
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