Obesity in Children?

According to news reports on Yahoo, obesity in children could now become a child protection issue (see link below)

So answer me this, how much would a child need to weigh to be classed as obese? I am worried about a relatives daughter who is only 9 and has to wear size 12 (yes thats an adults size 12 not AGE 12) clothes.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/pressass/200706...

Man Hands: she is 9 not 12 wears a ladies size 12 not age 12!

It sounds like your friend's daughter's BMI is way over what is healthy for a child of her age.
Parents are at fault if they have fat children. It starts with overfeeding in infancy, way before the child is old enough to choose when and what to eat.

Call cps. Then again she's 12 and I'm sure she's the one putting the food in her mouth by now.

Its really a good question. I would just look at their appearance you can pretty much tell. Other than that, I would work in person to person relationship with a physician for the concern. Not everyone should try to fit into CATEGORY, everyone's genetic make up is also different. I think these list are just for guidance.

any one who has a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more. and unless the girl is also very tall for a 9 year old then she is most likely obese.

I wouldnt read to much into the BMI scale because it tells me i'm severly over weight when i am not at all fat, but i am tall and broad. So i dont think it is a very definate definition

OMG what a fat little girl, maybe it's not about drawing the line at a certain weight, as long as you can make sure your children eat a stable diet and turn out well rounded and healthy, those are the main attributes to give them a bright future.

People who constantly feed their children fried **** food, should be hung, for ruining their childrens health and possibly their future happines as well.

Um... im only 11 and im not even a size 12 in childrens! im really a size 10. but if they had nines i wood be a 9. but i think it is pretty bad to be only 9 and a size 12 in womens. when i was nine i was a size 6!

Tell her to go on a low calorie diet!

Sorry to tell you!

when they're kids, keeping them fit isn't about controlling what they eat, it's about giving them more excercise... the last thing we need is a playground full of nicole richie wannabes

more often than not the children are a direct reflection of the parents...fat parents, fat kids...look around and notice. Its sad but usually true. I remember growing up and I was bit overweight and I was the oddity...now, the healthy lean kid is the oddity. I have since turned the tables and teach a lifestyle of health. Its all about education and putting that into action. I could vent about this all day! Good luck fat people.

My children's doctor always told me not to force a child to eat, and that they will eat what they need when they are hungry. I think a lot of the problem is parents worrying about how much a child eats when they are infants, forcing them to eat all their vegetables, cleaning their plates, drinking a whole glass of milk, etc. I went by the Dr. rule and my now teenage daughters are fit and healthy. They lay around, play video games, computer, TV, like other teenagers, but I think learning the eating process from an early age has helped them. It's very sad to see a young child obese, and by grade school time it is sometimes too late to reverse it.

I work in a hospital where obesity is at epidemic proportions, and the interventions that the hospital are putting into place to beat this arnt working!! And the children of this community are suffering because of it. Obesity related problems are clogging up our hospitals, and there isnt alot we can do about it.
I like the idea that if a child if very obese, then something will be done about it, because their quality of life decreases as their size increases. It also increases their chance of suffering respiratory, cardiac problems as well as cellulitis, and mobility problems.
Obese is measured by BMI, which would involve her height, weight and waist ratio all factored in, then that could classify... but realistically if she is wearing the same size clothes as me, and she is 9, then she is large for her age.

It goes by weight not size as she may be really tall for her age. However, size 12 for a 9 year old does seem a tad large. There's no way of knowing if she's clinically obese without weighing her. In an adult female if the body fat is over 25% then they're classed as obese, but not sure if the same applies for a child.

Firstly, a lot of children have large portions and do not become obese. I am not saying it's right but some kids can eat portions that are the same as their peers and they don't end up fat. Does the child take an inhaler or nasal spray for allergys? These individuals can end up having Cushingoid features, that is a fat moon shaped face, enormous abdomen, are lethargic, have little muscle etc, and end up wearing adult-sized clothes (see Wikipaedia). So before anyone starts to take a swipe, shouldn't the child have their medication looked at. The people who make codemnatory remarks need to look at the inside issues they are not aware of. People will look at an overweight person, and immediately make a judgemental comment about their huge diet and lack of exercise. Sometimes it's not the case of slovenly life habits, but its a medical problem. So it's important to maybe medically checkout a child first and their medication, to ensure the side effects of a drug aren't harming them. Once this has been eliminated then obviously look at a child's activity level and diet. I have also read up that depression can cause excess hormones to be present, that encourage the deposition of fat round the abdomen. I hope your relative's child resolves this issue and there is a happy outcome.

she is your daughter and i bet she is a beautiful little girl try to understand if she is depressed she will comfort eat I'm 13 years old and i comfort eat school is VERY stressful and food is how some people cope as for adults it is alchol.
she might be a little bit over weight but dont stress her out by telling her to lose weight try getting her to eat some salad and be as supportive as possible
good luck
sarah x