5. Management of Overweight Children and Adolescents

Example 2: Weight loss

This chart shows the growth pattern of Sasha who became overweight very early in her life. At age 2, her BMI-for-age was at the 95th percentile and continued to accelerate until age 7. At that point, her parents expressed concern about her eating habits and large body size. Her stature-for-age indicated that she was tall, roughly at the 75th percentile. Her weight continued to increase more rapidly than her height. A medical assessment revealed a family history of diabetes and obesity in both parents. Based on these findings and the parents' readiness to participate in the child's weight management, she was placed on a weight loss program. By age 8, she had averaged 1 pound weight loss per month (a 12-pound loss in one year) and her stature-for-age remained at about the 75th percentile. The dramatic change in the BMI-for-age percentile reflects continued increase in stature, combined with slow steady weight loss that lowered BMI-for-age to the 90th percentile. Notice that the weight-for-age pattern is similar to that of BMI-for-age but the change in BMI-for-age pattern is more dramatic.