Every day, a new study suggests that obesity is on the rise and is affecting children at younger ages. In fact, earlier, we shared a story from The NY Times, suggesting that prevention needs to happen at earlier ages-- maybe even during infancy.  Today, Dr. Guy Efron, a Los Angeles based Pediatrician answers two very common questions regarding weight:

Q:  Does it matter what percentile (weight/height) my child is in? When does it matter? What is it based on?



A:   I dont care what percentile the child is in as long as he/she is growing appropriately (foolowing their growth curve) and they are relatively proportional (ie not 95th% weight and 5th percent height).  In fact, I do not often volunteer percentiles to parents at well child visits simply because many people do what I call "percentile shopping" with other parents (ie "my child is 95th% in height etc etc etc" making other parents feel bad).  Again, as long as they are following their OWN growth curves and otherwise developing appropriately that is what matters!!

Q: My 18 Month old daughter  has a ton of rolls around her arms and legs. It's cute but people tell me how chubby she is all the time. How can I tell if my baby just has a lot of "baby fat" or is actually "obese?" Should she lose it by a certain age? Should she be a certain weight?



Baby fat is very cute and VERY variable...the best person to answer this question would be the childs pediatrician who has his/her growth curve in front of them...as  long as the toddler is gaining weight appropriately and not rising in percentiles, I usually give them at least through the age of 2 to see if they can lose their "baby fat"...Although if the child is at risk for being overweight I will go over their normal diet with the parents to make sure there is nothing out of the ordinary (ie 40 ounces of whole fat dairy per day etc)..