Part 4: Using BMI growth charts to determine a child's weight, and considering genetic factors.

[Use a body growth chart]

The next step is to apply the guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to the child's gender.

The child's BMI is marked on the growth chart. If it's a daughter, please see section 21.

The page contains a blank BMI chart. Find her age at the bottom of that page; these ages are either whole years or half-years.

BMI numbers are displayed on the left and right sides of the table. Therefore, if a 12-year-old girl...

If your BMI is 18, first find the straight line from the bottom number 12, then find the line to the left or...

Find the horizontal line of the number 18 on the right, and then find the intersection of these two lines.

Each chart contains a set of percentile curves, labeled with the 5th, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 85th, 90th, and 95th percentiles.

These percentiles are based on the average development of children across the United States, therefore they are indicated by an "X".

Follow the curve to the right side of this page, and you'll see her BMI.

It is number 50, which means that 50% of children her age have a higher BMI than her, and 50% have a lower BMI than her.

What do these numbers mean?

Most children have a BMI between 25 and 75, however, a BMI of...

Children whose numbers fall outside this range may also be perfectly normal. For example, those in the hundred...

The child ranked 20th may not be getting enough nutrition to support proper growth.

Yes. Or perhaps he was born naturally thin and bony. Similarly, he is at the 80th percentile.

The child may be overweight, but he may simply be preparing for a rapid growth spurt.

Long-term. This is why we say that growth charts cannot be used alone; they must be used in conjunction with other methods.

Consider the child's lifestyle, as well as factors such as diet, exercise, and family history.

However, health experts point out that a BMI of 85% or higher indicates that the child may be underweight.

Too heavy. The higher the BMI, the more likely there is a weight problem. Although a single assessment of the child...

A child's BMI can indicate whether the child has potential weight problems, but another method using body composition analysis...

The method of using a growth chart involves marking a child's BMI on the chart over a long period of time.

This allows us to see clear patterns and objectively observe the reasons for a particularly high BMI.

For example, if a child's BMI at age 3 is in the 60th, 4th percentile...

By age 75, parents may already be worried about their child gaining weight too quickly. However, wait...

When he reaches age 5 and his BMI returns to 65, his parents can see that his development has already progressed.

Self-regulation. Conversely, if his 5-year-old percentile is 85, you've discovered a...

Patterns that may require attention.

Connect the numbers.

If you or your child's doctor have records of your child's height and weight over the past few years...

You can then calculate the BMI for each stage, and based on the child's age at the time of measurement.

Mark it. Looking at this table again now, you might see your son's BMI up to last year.

The percentiles remained the same until last year when they suddenly spiked. (Regarding weight)

A growth spurt could be the start of a new pattern, or it could be a normal part of a developmental curve.

An anomaly that occurred only once.

In any case, if a child is experiencing a developmental pattern different from their previous one...

If a person's appearance changes, and their weight increases faster than their height, it's important to consider whether they have recently experienced a growth spurt.

There's nothing unusual about it. Perhaps the weight gain is simply due to reduced physical activity.

Or perhaps he's eating more to cope with new stress in his life. Is he...?

He quit the baseball team? Does he spend all his time sitting in front of the computer? Is it because of family reasons?

Are you unhappy because of something that happened at home or school recently? If you can't find a reason to be unhappy about something...

To explain this "disproportionate" weight gain, it might simply be because he was preparing...

It has entered a period of rapid growth.

Regardless, the advice provided in this book will help you teach your children how to maintain health throughout their lives.

Maintaining a healthy weight. Learning good eating habits from a young age is the best way to prevent obesity.

Weight is also the most reliable indicator for maintaining a normal weight in the long term.

Are the parents overweight?

A child is a replica of her parents or other family members; for example, she may have her father's red hair, her mother's red hair, etc.

Mom's brown eyes, Grandpa's personality, Grandma's love of sweets. Similarly, the child...

She also inherited various factors from her family that could affect her height, weight, and body shape.

Therefore, when determining whether a child has a weight problem, her genetic factors must be considered.

Genetics has a significant impact on a child's weight. Although this impact varies from person to person.

It's not certain, but many scientific studies show that if both parents are obese, their child has an 80% chance of being obese.

They will gain weight; if only one child is overweight, the child's risk of obesity is nearly 40%;

If both parents are slim, the child's chance of being obese is only 10%. These studies have shown...

The physical resemblance between adopted sons/daughters and their biological parents is greater than that between adopted parents.

This tendency to gain weight may be influenced by genetic factors, including metabolism and body composition.

● Metabolism: People with a slower metabolism burn more calories than those with a slower metabolism.

People with fast metabolisms have fewer weight gain. Therefore, if a child has a slower metabolism due to genetics, they are more likely to gain weight and find it harder to lose it.

● Body composition: Some people tend to gain fat easily when they have too much internal heat.

Some people are more prone to gaining muscle. Others, however, are more likely to inherit a genetic predisposition to gaining fat.

Children who are not muscular are more likely to become overweight.

However, this does not mean that if parents are overweight, their children are destined to be overweight.

However, when influenced by certain environmental factors, children with a genetic predisposition to obesity may have a higher risk of developing this condition compared to those without.

Children with this genetic predisposition are more prone to obesity.

How does genetics affect a child's weight?

It's like two children in a family inheriting different constitutions. One has red hair, the other has fair skin.

Girls with darker skin tones are more likely to get burned than their dark-skinned, black-haired brothers, but only when she is exposed to...

She only got sunburned from excessive sun exposure. Strangely, the amount of sunlight that caused her severe sunburn was...

It's unlikely her brother will get sunburned; he'd need much longer sun exposure to get burned. The girl...

She applied sunscreen and wore a hat to avoid sunburn, but her brother didn't need to go through all that trouble.

Let's assume their body types are opposite in that they tend to gain weight. If the older brother inherited the tendency to gain weight...

The older brother has a certain constitution, but his younger sister doesn't, making it much more difficult for him to avoid gaining weight. He might not...

Weight gain largely depends on the family's eating and activity habits. Like my younger sister, who must...

To avoid sunburn, my brother probably needs to eat less junk food and exercise more to prevent gaining weight.

This is not a hypothetical situation, but a very sad fact. The same

Two children in a family eat the same amount of food, but one gets fat while the other...

The other remains slim. Unless they are identical twins, the genetic combination of brothers and sisters can...

They could be completely different.