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What Defines Childhood Obesity??

Most scientists use the term overweight, rather than obesity, for children. But the two terms are synonymous.

The most widely used definition for overweight among children is based on the 2000 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention growth charts for the US for each age group.1 Overweight is defined as at or exceeding the 95th percentile of Body Mass Index (BMI). BMI is a person's weight (in kilograms) divided by the square of their height (in meters). Children considered at risk for overweight are typically defined as at or above the 85th percentile of BMI, but below the 95th percentile. But the definitions of obesity and overweight among children differ in epidemiological studies.

If you know you child's height and weight, you can calculate their BMI at the website www.keepkidshealthy.com/welcome/bmicalculator.html.

NOTE
1. 2000 CDC Growth Charts: United States. www.cdc.gov/growthcharts/. See also Cynthia Ogden et al., "Prevalence and Trends in Overweight among US Children and Adolescents, 1999-2000," Journal of the American Medical Association 288 (October 9, 2002): 1728-1732.