Assessment

Evaluation of child and adolescent overweight and obesity is difficult because there is a wide variation in normal rates of growth, and using simple height/weight cut-offs would therefore be meaningless. Growth charts have therefore been constructed to represent the median and various centiles for height/weight/body mass index (BMI) at various ages. An outline of the definitions is presented on the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network website

http://www.sign.ac.uk/guidelines/fulltext/69/section2.html

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) recommends the use of WHO-UK growth charts for the ages 0 to 4 years, and various charts specific to age and gender are available for download at http://www.rcpch.ac.uk/Research/UK-WHO-Growth-Charts.

Alternatively, online calculators are available from Harlow Publishing and the NHS:

http://www.healthforallchildren.co.uk/?SHOP=HFAC4&DO=USERPAGE&PAGE=calculator

http://www.nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/Healthyweightcalculator.aspx

The RCPCH have also provided extensive training materials regarding the actual measurement processes, with resources available online

http://www.rcpch.ac.uk/Research/Growth_Charts_Education_Training_Resources

They have also created demonstration videos for measuring height and weight.