Childhood obesity is a hot topic in today’s health field. Parenting publications and news media contain many stories about the causes, effects, and solutions for this epidemic.

Preventing obesity is far easier than remedying the effects of childhood obesity. What information do parents need to understand this problem and how to avoid it?

United States Surgeon General Richard Carmona, M. D., in the American Medical Association’s press release on obesity, calls obesity the “greatest threat to public health today” and states that it “kills more Americans every year than AIDS, all cancers, and accidents combined.” Clearly, this is a dangerous condition, but what defines childhood obesity?

A child’s body mass index (BMI), or his weight divided by height, determines his obesity. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) classifies “children and youthwith a BMI greater than the 95th percentile are classified asoverweight or obese, and those between the 85th and 95th percentilesare designated at risk of overweight.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s growth charts are located at http://www.cdc.gov/growthcharts/.

The health implications of obesity in children are similar to those in adults. The AAP reports that "Overweight children tend to have health problems more commonly found in adults like diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure.”

Pediatrician William Sears reports that there are other implications for overweight children, including psychological and emotional problems, development of poor self-image, sleep disturbances such as sleep apnea, orthopedic problems, increased infections, and an increase in nearly all other diseases.

Dr. Sears recommends a basic, from-the-start approach to fighting obesity through breastfeeding. Breast fed babies are less likely to overeat or be overfed than are formula-fed babies.

Breastfed babies are in control of the feedings, stopping when they are full, and the fat content of mother’s milk varies to meet the demands of the growing child.

Healthy eating habits are not limited to babies, though. Limiting sweets, sugars, juices, and soft drinks will keep your child from filling up on “empty calories.” Encouraging your child to eat healthy portions versus making him have a clean plate will discourage over-eating, as will avoiding using food as a reward or bribe.

Teaching children to delay their gratification and to curb impulse eating will help them avoid obesity, as will setting a positive example by modeling moderate eating.

Both Dr. Sears and the AAP recommend turning off the television and moving. Watching television means you’re tuning out your body’s signals that it is full, making it easy to overeat. Children are sedentary while watching television, and not burning any calories.

To burn calories, the AAP suggests the goal of sixty minutes of physical activity per day, which does not need to be achieved in one continuous hour. Plan for events of moderate activity, and remember that the more fun they are, the more likely your child is to participate.

Become an advocate for recess and physical education time in your child’s school, and be sure to set a good example of participating in physical activity with your child.