behaviors and any “food sneaking and/
or hiding behaviors.” The physician may
also assess the family’s mental health
and social history, Taylor adds.
A treatment plan
Taylor says treatment plans provide
a road map for making changes (see
“What to ask the doctor”). Behavioral
changes and developing healthy habits
are as important as diet. “Treatment
plans are more than the number on the
scale, and include strategies for improving day-to-day functioning,” she says.
An effective treatment need not
be complex. “Several simple changes
incorporated over time will help most
families,” Taylor says. These changes
Body mass index
The words “overweight” and
“obese” depend on the body
mass index (BMI), a percentile
growth curve that measures
weight over height squared for
Get involved
Ask your doctor for help with specific goals and behaviors.
“Eat less and exercise more is not a
specific plan,” Taylor says. “If your child
‘hates vegetables,’ a goal can be trying
two new vegetables per week for four
weeks or trying one new vegetable three
different ways in the next two weeks.
New habits take several months to
develop, but reassessing progress every
few weeks builds momentum.”
Prout suggests parents examine
the child’s social environments to see
if there are areas in eating, exercise,
screen time or sleep that can be modified. Work on developing a regular sleep
schedule for your child without screens,
and make time for daily active play for
younger children and weekly exercise
as a family.
“Obesity management is a marathon,” Taylor cautions. “It can take
months to establish new habits. Focus
on building healthy habits that can be
maintained and praise those efforts.”
© RUSLANA / STOCK.ADOBE.COM
It’s important to get
your child to a doctor,
who can evaluate
what steps to take,
whether dietary,
physical or even
psychological.
© KLEBERPICUI / STOCK.ADOBE.COM
may include limiting calorie-containing
beverages, limiting the second or third
helping of food to vegetables only or
getting more physical activity.
“A treatment plan driven by the
family with small, specific, measurable,
attainable, realistic and timely goals
is critical,” Prout adds. If you, your
child and the rest of the family drive
the goals, everyone is more likely to
stay motivated.
W H AT T O A S K
THE DOC TOR
Ask your doctor these
questions to lay the
groundwork for a plan:
Support. How can I
support my child and be
a better role model of
health? How can our family
support the changes?
Medical concerns. Is my
child experiencing medical
or mental health problems
that may be weight
related? Do we need any
additional screening tests?
Treatment plan. How do
we start? Do we need to
see other specialists? How
often should we follow up
with you?
Treatment goals. Should
my still-growing child be
gaining, maintaining or
losing weight?—DLM
Debbie L. Miller is a health writer in
Brooklyn, New York.
the child’s age and sex. A BMI
between the 5th and the 85th
percentile is considered healthy;
greater than the 85th but less than
the 95th percentile is overweight;
and the 95th percentile or greater
is considered obese. Experts
caution that it’s important to
rephrase how we describe weight
so people feel respected rather
than criticized or judged. For
this reason, they suggest saying,
“a child with obesity” rather than
“an obese child.”—DLM
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