Weight is a touchy topic no matter how you slice it, but with kids, the sensitivity – and the stakes – can be especially high.
According to the American Heart Association, about one in three American kids and teens is overweight or obese, with the prevalence of obesity in children more than tripling between 1971 and 2011.
Obesity in children can cause a broad range of health problems, such as high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol levels. It also can cause psychological problems, such as low self-esteem, negative body image and depression.
Most people know the dangers associated with a high body weight in children, but they don’t necessarily know what’s causing it.
In some cases, children’s weight issues are caused by a syndrome or genetic condition that causes them to have an increased propensity to gain weight quickly.
In most cases, though, weight gain results from more than one cause. And parents’ behaviors can contribute to the problem or make it worse, said Dr. John LaCount, a pediatrician with St. Elizabeth Physicians’ Florence office.
“Many families don’t realize that they’re pushing food when, in most cases, if you leave kids alone and do nothing but provide the food, they’re going to eat as much as they need,” he said. “Eating is a learning time for children. Letting them ‘play’ with food provides an opportunity for them to learn about the world.”
Generally, LaCount said, children will consume the appropriate number of calories for their growth and development. But, in many instances, the cycle of overeating starts as early as infancy, with some parents feeding their babies whenever they start crying.
Instead, parents should allow the baby to learn to self-soothe to help prevent the cycle of overeating and help with future self-regulation, LaCount said.
“You shouldn’t stick a bottle in your baby’s mouth every time he cries,” he said. “Crying is not necessarily an indication of hunger. As their brains mature, that’s just one of the things they have to do. Children need to learn to deal with stress and frustration without food turning into a lifelong habit of eating for comfort.”
And childhood weight issues are hard to turn around, so the sooner you intervene, the better.
In fact, pediatricians start counseling parents from the time babies are infants if there are signs of overfeeding.
Some parents are focused on increasing their child’s percentages on the growth chart, LaCount said, when the real goal is to follow one consistent percentage for both height and weight.
In general, trust your child. Unless your doctor directs you to feed more, most children are able to grow without your intervention.
