Perhaps we need to rethink how we talk to our teenagers who have a weight issue. At the Nemours Eating Disorders Evaluation and Management Program, we see teenagers who pinpoint the onset of their eating disorder to comments made by well-intentioned doctors, coaches, or health teachers.
It can be a challenge to talk to your teen about reaching a healthy weight. It’s all too easy to imagine the ways in which the subject can backfire. But it’s more important than ever to get this discussion started. Because even as more American teens are carrying extra pounds, fewer are trying to lose weight. A recent study in JAMA Pediatrics found the percentage of teens aged 16-19 who are overweight or obese sharply increased in recent decades, to 34 percent. Meanwhile, the percentage of overweight teens trying to lose weight fell to 23 percent for boys and 54 percent for girls. As teens see more people who are overweight, their ideas about what’s a healthy weight might be changing. Emotionally, it’s a positive when teens accept their body — but there are health risks to having extra weight. Overweight teens are at higher risk for: diabetes high blood […]
A recent survey by Nemours Children’s Health System, the Delaware Survey of Children’s Health (DSCH), showed that 36 percent of children in Delaware are overweight or obese. From the survey, we also learned that there’s a gap between how parents perceive their children’s weight and the reality of their actual weight. According to the DSCH findings, 80 percent of all overweight children and 53 percent of all obese children are considered by their parents to be “normal weight.” A key first step in helping children achieve and maintain a healthy weight is to understand exactly what that means and why it’s so important to their overall health. How Do I Know if My Child’s at a Healthy Weight? Calculate your child’s body mass index (BMI). BMI is a measure of your weight compared to your height. Calculating BMI on your own can be complicated, so the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) created an easy […]
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