Growing Childhood Obesity Problem

Childhood obesity is a problem that's on the increase in the country. Now, there's a new strategy to help doctors and parents tackle the problem before it gets out of control.

The Early Show Medical Correspondent Dr. Emily Senay says the latest number shows that the number of overweight and obese children has doubled in the past two decades.

It has been declared a national epidemic, which is bringing ailments that we normally think of as adult problems to children, such as elevated insulin levels that are a warning sign for diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure.

And, Senay says, obesity dramatically increases the risk to children of developing serious health problems such as heart disease later in life.

A new policy statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics says that pediatricians need to start trying to identify children at risk of being overweight and obese at the earliest stage possible, because intervention before obesity becomes severe will most likely be more successful.

Part of that strategy involves identifying and tracking kids who are at risk from a family history of obesity, a higher than normal birth weight, or because they are more likely to become obese for other reasons such as socioeconomic, ethnic, cultural or environmental factors.

The statement also says that all children should have their Body Mass Index (BMI) evaluated every year to prevent obesity.

Senay says the policy urges pediatricians to think about obesity problems when evaluating children's growth, and outlines a number of other efforts that pediatricians can make such as promoting healthy eating patterns and regular physical activity for kids. Good habits are much more likely to be adhered to before bad habits set in.

The BMI, explains Senay, is a ratio of weight to height used to define overweight and obesity. She says there is a special chart for children that doctors can use to keep track of weight gain as a child grows. The BMI allows doctors to identify significant increases before a child becomes severely overweight.

Senay explains the new policy also encourages doctors to educate parents and teaches to do their part in tackling childhood weight gain.

Senay recommends parents limit television and video time to a maximum of two hours per day. Mothers should breast-feed because studies have shown that may reduce the risk of obesity. And, she says, it's important for doctors to start talking with parents and children about nutrition and healthy habits because some parents may not recognize or accept the potential risk of their child being overweight.