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General health information

A child with overweight

A child can have excess weight without this reflecting willpower or parenting. Growth, inherited traits, sleep, food, stress, medicines and environment all contribute. Assess growth charts and behaviour rather than blame. Young children and those gaining weight quickly need a low threshold for medical assessment.

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  • Excess weight in a child almost never has one simple cause.
  • Assess growth over time, preferably using growth charts.
  • Helping a child works better without shame, blame or punitive diets.
  • An approach works best when the whole family adopts manageable habits.
  • Rapid weight gain, little height growth or eating-disorder signs need medical assessment.

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Further reading

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A
A child with low weightA child with low weight or poor growth needs careful assessment. Some children are naturally small, but inadequate intake, feeding problems, illness, psychosocial stress or neglect may be involved. Children under 3 years particularly need prompt medical assessment.
E
Eating problemsAn eating problem means that eating, appetite or food choices are difficult, without the reason yet being clear. Physical illness, swallowing problems, pain, stress, sensory sensitivity, food shortages or an emerging eating disorder may contribute. Have persistent symptoms, growth or weight changes and warning signs assessed.
O
Obesity in adultsObesity is a chronic condition in which excess body fat can harm health. It usually develops through a combination of genetic predisposition, environment, health, medicines, sleep and lifestyle. It is not a lack of willpower.