What is your child’s ideal weight?

How do you know if your child is overweight or at an unhealthy weight?

More than ever, we are seeing a growing upward trend in the number of kids who are overweight or obese.  How do you know if your child is overweight or at an unhealthy weight? Consult with your pediatrician or clinician to consider all the components that determine one is at a healthy weight range. 

Generally speaking, try to stay away from focusing on a number or “ideal weight” for your child. This is because everyone’s “ideal healthy weight” depends on many factors such as their age, gender, activity level, height, and genetics. 

As a guideline, the American Academy of Pediatrics defines childhood obesity to be at a Body Mass Index (BMI) percentile of 95^th and above; overweight is 85^th and above but below 95^th percentile.

To track your child’s weight gain, it is important to consider their growth and development in relation to their age.

Ages 1-8: In this age group, your child should not be losing weight because they are growing. Their weight can increase 3-5 pounds a year or stay around the same with short bursts of growth spurts and weight gain.  Kids at this age should be active for at least 60 mins inside or outside.

Ages 9-18: In this group, your child may gain 3 pounds or more depending on puberty and growth spurts. Due to their growth and activity level at this age, some children can lose weight at times as well.  However, they should not continue to gain weight yearly once they have reached their adult height. 

If you and your child have noticed successive weight gain that seems outside of normal range, Dr. Eileen has over 12 years of experience and has helped hundreds of families to help their children obtain healthy weight with diet counseling, nutrition education, and activity planning.