Health Matters: Obesity

Obesity is easily classified in adults based on the body mass index scale, but it’s a bit more complicated for children, said University Medical Center pediatrician Dr. Shawn Cecil.

In adults, you’re considered obese is your BMI is higher than 30 and overweight if it’s higher than 25.

“But kids are always growing,” Cecil said. “They’re getting taller, muscle mass is changing, their body is growing.”

That’s why for children, doctors track potential obesity by looking at the percentile in correlation to their BMI, he said.

“Anything over the 85th percentile is going to be overweight, and anything higher than the 95th percentile is going to be considered obese,” Cecil said.

Watch the full interview below:

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