By Mark Damberg

I hope your kids had a fun, healthy and active summer. Now that they are headed back to school it’s a good time to assess their health and weight. Without regular schedules summertime can often mean more screen time, less activity, and less attention to diet.

Childhood obesity continues to be a problem across the country, and it is estimated that nearly 15 percent of children in Washington state are obese. This is important because childhood obesity can lead to lifelong physical, social and emotional issues, including Type 2 diabetes, asthma, early puberty low self-esteem, behavior and learning problems and more.

Childhood obesity is measured by BMI – body mass index. It does not measure body fat directly. Rather, it is calculated using a child’s weight and height. Because healthy weight ranges change with each month of age for each sex, and as height increases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommend the use of BMI to screen for overweight and obesity in children beginning at 2 years of age.

The CDC offers an online BMI calculator at http://nccd.cdc.gov/dnpabmi/Calculator.aspx. However, BMI is not a diagnostic tool. To determine if excess fat is a problem, a health care provider needs to perform further assessments.

If your child gained weight over the summer here are some easy tips to get him or her back on track:

· Drink water instead of juice. Apple juice contains similar calories to soda.

· Keep health snacks readily available. Pre-cut apples and carrots and offer those instead of cookies or chips.

· Reduce the number of times per week your child eats fast food.

· As much as possible supervise your child during meals to ensure they are eating an appropriate amount of healthy foods. This can reduce the need to snack shortly after eating.

· Reduce the amount of screen time. The AAP recommends no more than 1 to 2 hours of media time each day.

· Make sure your child is active for at least 60 minutes per day.

· Model healthy behaviors for your child and involve the whole family in making healthy eating choices and staying physically active.

Mark Damberg is on the clinical staff at the UW Neighborhood Clinic in Factoria.