ABSTRACT
According to the U.S. Surgeon General, physicians are the best source for the diagnosis of pediatric obesity. Doctors and other health care professionals are the best source in determining whether a child or adolescent’s weight is healthy, and they can help rule out rare medical problems as the cause of unhealthy weight (Gordon & Sothern, 2006). BMI can be calculated from measurements of height and weight. Health professionals oen use a BMI “growth chart” to help them assess whether a child or adolescent is overweight (Eisenmann, for the Subcommittee on Assessment in Pediatric Obesity Management Programs, National Association of Children’s Hospital and Related Institutions, 2011; Ganley et al., 2011) (Table 7.1). A physician also will consider a child or adolescent’s age and growth patterns to determine whether his or her weight is healthy (Barlow, 2007; Krebs et al., 2007). Only providers trained in pediatric medicine possess the level of expertise required to provide an accurate assessment of pediatric obesity. Regardless, studies indicate that pediatric health care providers diagnosed overweight in less than one-half of overweight children (Carlisle, Gordon, & Sothern, 2005; O’Brien, Holubkov, & Reis, 2004). Physicians also provide guidance to parents so that they may best understand the denition of overweight or at risk for overweight in children. en, with the parents’ input, they can decide on the best plan of action for the overweight child. Research suggests that at this point about 75% of physicians will refer patients initially to registered dieticians (Barlow et al., 2002) and only about 20% of patients to weight management programs. In a recent survey of pediatric obesity-weight management programs, Eisenmann and colleagues (2011) reported that most programs followed the 2007 Expert Committee assessment recommendations
(Barlow, 2007), which included using the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2010) BMI reference values to determine weight status or obesity level.
