Expert panel gives very heavy children a new label -- obese

Recommendations released last month also call for all kids to have their weight, diet and physical activity regularly assessed.

By Victoria Stagg Elliott, AMNews staff. July 9, 2007.

Children whose size puts them at or above the 95th percentile on the pediatric growth charts or who have a body mass index higher than 30 should be classified by physicians as obese. Those who are between the 85th and 95th percentile should be considered overweight, say recommendations from the Expert Committee on the Assessment, Prevention and Treatment of Child and Adolescent Overweight and Obesity released June 6.

"The rest of the world uses that terminology already," said Reginald Washington, MD, panel spokesman and medical director of Rocky Mountain Pediatric Cardiology in Denver. "It's not necessary to address the child or family in these terms, but as far as medical terms, a child above the 95th percentile is obese."

The committee was first convened in 2005 by the American Medical Association, the Health Resources and Service Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to figure out solutions for the growing number of children who are severely overweight. It included representatives from 15 medical societies such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Medical Assn.

"Childhood obesity is a major public health problem," said Cecil B. Wilson, MD, outgoing chair of the AMA Board of Trustees. "The Expert Committee studied this issue intently, and we thank them for their hard work and recommendations."

Previously, the word "obese" was avoided with regard to children because of concerns about stigma. Those whose size categorized them higher than the 95th percentile were referred to as overweight while those between the 85th and 95th percentile were referred to as "at risk for overweight."