Childhood obesity on the rise requires new category - severe obesity

New research that will be published in September has more compelling data about the need for early nutrition education.

Researchers looked at the data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) ov over 12, 384 children. Their study showed that not only are kids becoming obese but they are becoming severely obese.

This is very sad and disturbing news. A new category has now been added for children whose body mass index (BMI) score is in the 99th percentile- severe obesity.

We now have 5 ratings for kids:

• underweight - less than 5 percentile
• normal weight - 5 to 84 percentile
• overweight - 85 to 94% percentile
• obese - 95 to 98 percentile
• severe obesity - 99 or greater percentile

I can say as a nurse, this is not just about being overweight. This is not about body image. These kids are at a much greater risk for heart disease, diabetes, amputations, joint disease, to mention just a few conditions. What kind of quality of life will they have when they become severely limited in their activities not just from weight but from these diseases.- and at a much younger age.

These were the facts, the statistics that made we want to do something to be part of the solution. The long term solution is educating children while they are young to have healthy habits, eat a balanced meal filled with healthy fruits and vegetables and to be active every day.

It is so much easier to keep a healthy weight than it is to try to lose weight (I speak from experience!)

But kids are growing which makes it a little easier for them. You can start with small, easy goals for the whole family. All kids need nutrition education, not just kids who are overweight.

Resources:

Find out your child's BMI score.

Learn more about BMI scores for kids.

Set nutrition goals for the family to improve your nutrition and eating habits.

Track your nutrition and lifestyle goals with these cute kid-friendly tracking sheets so it is fun for the kids.