How to Tell If My Child Is Overweight

In the United States, 16.9% percent of children between the ages of 2 and 19 are obese according to the 2007-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Another 21.2 to 35.5 percent of children are overweight. Excessive weight is even a problem for children under 2 with 9.5% of infants and toddlers considered to be obese. (See Reference 1, Pages 2 and 3) Because weight problems appear so frequently in children, many concerned parents want to know how to tell if if their child is considered overweight.

Things You'll Need

  • Ruler
  • Pencil
  • Metal Tape Measure
  • Digital Scale

Instructions

    • 1

      Find your child's exact height. Have your child take off, or undo, any heavy clothing, shoes, hair accessories, ponytails and braids. Measure your child on an uncarpeted floor with feet together and head, shoulders, bottom and heels touching a flat wall. Place a ruler firmly against the crown of the child's head. Tell your child to stare straight ahead. Make sure your eyes are even with the ruler while you are taking the measurement. Mark where the bottom of the ruler touches the wall with a pencil. Finally, measure the distance from the mark you made to the base of the wall with a metal tape measure, figuring your child's height to the nearest eighth of an inch. (See Reference 2)

    • 2

      Determine your child's exact weight. Have your child take off shoes and any heavy clothes. Weigh your child on a digital scale, which is more accurate than a spring-loaded one, and record the child's weight to the nearest quarter pound. (See References 2, 3)

    • 3

      Plug your child's height and weight information (along with date of birth, the current date and sex) into the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Body Mass Index (BMI) calculator for children and teens: http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/dnpabmi/ (See Reference 3). This calculator takes into account that the amount of fat a child may have for a healthy weight varies based on age, sex and height. (See Reference 4)

    • 4

      Read the results of the BMI calculator. A child from the 85th to less than the 95th percentile is considered overweight, and a child at or above the 95th percentile is considered obese. (See Reference 4)

    • 5

      Talk to your child's pediatrician if the BMI calculator suggests your child may be overweight or obese. Some children may have a high BMI but have a satisfactory percentage of fat if they have a larger bone structure or a high percentage of muscle. (See Reference 4) A pediatrician can use other methods to check for a weight problem, such as a skin-fold thickness test that uses calipers to measure the amount of fat on the back of your child's triceps. (See References 4, 5) If the pediatrician thinks your child has a weight problem, he or she can provide suggestions on diet and exercise changes for your child.

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