Weight And Appetite In Children
Overweight
Children
The nutritional requirements of a child have to be considered
carefully. Growing children require a high amount of energy intake to
help them to grow, but, just as with adults, if energy intake exceeds
energy usage, the child will put on weight.

Naturally, children should, and must, gain weight through the
natural process of growth, but many children go beyond that and put on
excess fatty tissue; i.e. they become obese
.
Obesity
is rapidly becoming a serious problem with today’s
children, partially through the wrong nutrition and eating too much of
the wrong foods, and partially through ignorance on behalf of the
parents who have a misconception that ‘puppy fat’
is a healthy and normal thing.
To a certain extent this is true, but excess ’puppy
fat’ is as dangerous to a child as excess fat is to an adult.
It is estimated that more than 15% of UK children are overweight or
obese, and this figure is rising rapidly. The Journal of the American
Medical Association reported on the 4th April that the level of
overweight American children was 33.6%.
Obese
children grow into obese
adults. They do not lose this so called ‘puppy fat’
unless positive steps are taken. They have a significantly higher risk
of developing serious health problems , both now and as an adult,
including potentially life threatening conditions such as bowel cancer,
diabetes, strokes, heart conditions and high blood pressure. The more
overweight
the child, the greater the risk.
Calculator below. Use
the table provided to see which category you fit into.
| BMI Score |
Catergory |
| BMI Less Than 18.5 |
Under Weight |
| BMI 18.5 - 25 |
Ideal |
| BMI 25
- 30 |
Over
Weight |
| BMI 30
- 40 |
Obese
- Need To Lose Weight |
| BMI
Over 40 |
Very
Obese - Need To Lose Weight Now |
|