Free
E-newsletter
Subscribe to Housecall
Our weekly general interest
e-newsletter keeps you up to date
on a wide variety of health topics.
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Symptoms
By Mayo Clinic staffNot all children carrying extra pounds are overweight or obese. Some children have larger than average body frames. And children normally carry different amounts of body fat at the various stages of development. So you might not know just by looking at your child if his or her weight is a health concern.
Your child's doctor can help you figure out if your child's weight could pose health problems, using growth charts and if necessary, other tests.
When to see a doctor
If you're worried that your child is putting on too much weight, talk to his or her doctor or health care provider. He or she will consider your child's individual history of growth and development, your family's weight-for-height history, and where your child lands on the growth charts. This can help determine if your child's weight is in an unhealthy range.
- 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.
- Shrewsbury VA, et al. The role of parents in pre-adolescent and adolescent overweight and obesity treatment: A systematic review of clinical recommendations. Obesity Reviews. 2011;12:759.
- Baur LA, et al. Assessment and management of obesity in childhood and adolescence. Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology. 2011;8:635.
- Ibele AR, et al. Adolescent bariatric surgery. Surgical Clinics of North America. 2011;91:1339.
- 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.
- 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.
Find Mayo Clinic on