Body Mass Index calculator is a screening tool used to identify any weight problems in children. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommended the use of BMI to screen the weight-related issues in children and teens between the age of 2 and 19 years. The classification is made differently for different ages and sex.
BMI Childhood Obesity Percentile
In the United States, percentiles are most commonly used as indicators for assessing the growth and size patterns of individual children. BMI calculation is different for adults and children. In children and teens, amounts of body fat changes according to age and sex. So, CDC uses BMI percentile to calculate the exact index. Once the BMI is calculated, it is plotted on BMI-for-age growth charts for percentile ranking. These charts are given by CDC and they are different for girls and boys. The percentile tells the relative position of any given child, among the children of same sex and age.
BMI Childhood Obesity Classification
The CDC growth charts show weight status classification used with the children.
- If the percentile range is less than 5th percentile, the child is considered as underweight.
- If the percentile ranges any where between 5th percentile and 85th percentile, then the kid has a healthy weight.
- If the percentile ranges between 85th percentile and below 95th percentile, they are called overweight kids.
- If the percentile is greater than or equal to 95th percentile, they are considered as obese.
Primary Causes for Childhood Obesity:
Poor Eating Habits:
Parents these days are too involved in their work. They have made improving the standard of living as their priority. In this process, they neglect their own health and fail to ensure healthy upbringing of their children. Due to erratic work schedule of the corporate, they hardly get any quality time to interact with their children, leave aside enquiring about the food habits. In the absence of the guidance of the parents, children develop poor eating habits and become obese.
Lack of Exercise:
Children imitate their parents in more than one ways. They observe their parents leading a sedentary life style. In this way, they too become physical inactivity. Spending more time watching the television, playing computer games or chatting with friends on computer are very prevalent among them.
Psychological Problems:
According to research studies, obesity is also called by stress and other psychological disorders like depression.
