HOW DO DOCTORS DECIDE IF A CHILD NEEDS TO LOSE WEIGHT?

Pediatricians use a number called Body Mass Index (BMI) to determine if a child is overweight or obese.  BMI is a measure of body weight relative to height. 

BMI is a better measure of body fatness than body weight.  It is hard to determine if a child is overweight if you do not know the child’s height. 

For example, is a child who weighs 80 pounds overweight?  That depends.  Is the child three feet tall?  Four feet tall?  Five feet tall?  We must take the child’s height into account.  BMI does exactly that!

To decide if a child is overweight or obese, we compare a child’s BMI to the BMIs of all children of the same age and gender.  We then determine the child’s BMI percentile.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN IF MY CHILD IS IN THE 88TH PERCENTILE?

A child whose BMI is in the 88th percentile has a BMI that is greater than 88% of all children of the same age and gender.  This child is in the overweight category. 

WHAT BMI VALUES ARE CONSIDERED NORMAL, OVERWEIGHT, AND OBESE?