Word: weighted
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...group of pediatric-obesity experts convened by the American Medical Association (AMA) and co-funded by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a report on childhood obesity, which included a strong argument that the language of weight gain had to change. A decade ago, kids whose body mass index (BMI) tracked at or above the 85th percentile for their age were dubbed "at risk of overweight." The new recommendations urge doctors to cut to the chase and simply call such children overweight. Similarly, a child with a BMI above...
...course, whether a child can--or, rather, should--diet is a more complex question. Most clinicians don't even like to use the word; instead, they talk about "lifestyle changes" and "weight-management protocols." Says nutritionist and family therapist Ellyn Satter of Madison, Wis., considered by many a pioneer in the field of child feeding: "Even the most conventional people will say, 'Don't put kids on diets,' but then they'll go on to talk about how you should reduce their sugar or fat intake. There's an awful lot of dieting in disguise...
Does dieting even work for kids? Many clinicians say no. "We actually find that children who diet gain more weight than their peers," says pediatrician Dr. Alison Field from Children's Hospital Boston, who has been following the weight-control behaviors of almost 17,000 kids. It's not just that kids who diet tend to gain back the weight later; it's that dieting brings up all sorts of unbidden psychological responses that sabotage the process. After all, self-deprivation is one thing; being told by someone else that you can't eat--even when you feel hungry...
...experts focusing on the best ways to control weight or increase activity, the job pretty much ends here. Parents, however, have it harder; they have to think about the whole child. "If dealing with my daughter's weight issues was as simple as following a few nutritional and exercise guidelines, she wouldn't be overweight," says a Southern California mom. "But the whole thing is so much bigger and messier than that. I don't just care about what she weighs; I care about her growing up healthy and happy and feeling good about herself. And that is where...
...Beth Marcus, a family physician at Verdugo Hills Hospital in Glendale, Calif., knows all about these difficulties. "I don't think there's any way in our culture to have kids feeling 100% good about themselves when you're telling them they need to lose weight," she admits...