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Risk factors
By Mayo Clinic staffMany factors — usually working in combination — increase your child's risk of becoming overweight:
- Diet. Regularly eating high-calorie foods, such as fast foods, baked goods and vending machine snacks, can easily cause your child to gain weight. Loading up on soft drinks, candy and desserts also can cause weight gain. Foods and beverages like these are high in sugar, fat and calories.
- Lack of exercise. Children who don't exercise much are more likely to gain weight because they don't burn calories through physical activity. Inactive leisure activities, such as watching television or playing video games, contribute to the problem.
- Family history. If your child comes from a family of overweight people, he or she may be more likely to put on excess weight, especially in an environment where high-calorie food is always available, and physical activity isn't encouraged.
- Psychological factors. Some children overeat to cope with problems or to deal with emotions, such as stress, or to fight boredom. Their parents may have similar tendencies.
- Family factors. If many of the groceries you buy are convenience foods, such as cookies, chips and other high-calorie items, this can contribute to your child's weight gain. If you can control your child's access to high-calorie foods, you may be able to help your child lose weight.
- Socioeconomic factors. Children from low-income backgrounds are at greater risk of becoming obese. It takes both time and resources to make healthy eating and exercise a family priority.
References
- 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 Feb. 2, 2010.
- 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/health/prof/heart/hbp/hbp_ped.pdf. Accessed Feb. 2, 2010.
- Barlow SE, et al. Expert committee recommendations regarding the prevention, assessment and treatment of child and adolescent overweight and obesity: Summary report. Pediatics 2007;120:S164.
- Spear BA, et al. Recommendations for treatment of child and adolescent overweight and obesity. Pediatrics. 2007;120:S254.
- Expert committee recommendations on the assessment, prevention, and treatment of child and adolescent overweight and obesity. American Medical Association. http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/433/ped_obesity_recs.pdf. Accessed Feb. 2, 2010.
- Schilling PL, et al. National trends in adolescent bariatric surgical procedures and implications for surgical centers of excellence. Journal of the American College of Surgeons. 2008;206:1.
- Dunican KC, et al. Pharmacotherapeutic options for overweight adolescents. Annals of Pharmacotherapy. 2007;41:1445.
- Woo T. Pharmacotherapy and surgery treatment for the severely obese adolescent. Journal of Pediatric Health Care. 2009;23:206.
- Xenical (prescribing information). Nutley, NJ.: Roche Pharmaceuticals; 2008. http://www.gene.com/gene/products/information/xenical/pdf/pi.pdf. Accessed Feb. 5, 2010.
- Meridia (sibutramine): Market withdrawal due to risk of serious cardiovascular events. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/SafetyInformation/SafetyAlertsforHumanMedicalProducts/ucm228830.htm. Accessed Oct. 8, 2010.
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