Weight Loss Recommendations for Children
Weight Loss Recommendations for Children: Do you have an Obese Child?

Weight loss recommendations for children are not the same as those of adults. Children are still in the process of growth and development.
To begin with losing weight is healthy for everybody irrespective of the age or status. However, the approach given is completely different when it comes to adults and children. Like for instance, the weight loss recommendations for children are not the same with those of adults. Why is this so? Doctor Dalal Akoury explains that children are still in the process of growth and development unlike adults and therefore they need calories to achieve this besides the calories that their body requires for daily metabolism and physical activity. It is believed that children who eat too little may not have enough calories to grow in height. Guided by these reasons, it is only fair that a child’s calories should not be interfered with too much and weight loss recommendations for children should be quite modest. In view of this the current recommendations for weight loss in children have two main objectives:
- To ensure that the child grows and develops normally and
- To help the child reach a healthy weight
Experts in the field of pediatric weight management have developed broad treatment recommendations with these two objectives as the guiding factors.
Weight Loss Recommendations for Children: When to Maintain Weight
Maintaining weight allows children to “grow into” a healthy weight as they get taller. Children who are encouraged to develop healthy eating and activity patterns without “dieting” can stop excess weight gain and maintain their weight while growing taller. Specific recommendations for maintaining weight in a healthy range include:
- Eating at least five daily servings of vegetables and fruits
- Eating breakfast daily
- Limiting portion sizes
- Minimizing or eliminating sugar-sweetened beverages
- Limiting screen time to no more than two hours per day
- Not putting a television in the child’s bedroom and
- Getting at least one hour of daily physical activity.
Weight maintenance strategies can be used with children as young as two years of age. For children whose height is increasing, weight should be held steady as the child grows and until the child’s Body Mass Index (BMI) drops down into the normal range, that is, below the 85th percentile. Under these circumstances you can choose to maintain the weight
Weight Loss Recommendations for Children: When to Lose Weight
Weight loss may be recommended for children over two years of age if their BMI progressively continues to increase after three to six months of weight maintenance efforts and if medical conditions associated with weight gain like hypertension, high blood cholesterol, or high blood glucose, as well as sleep apnea, asthma, and gastrointestinal problems, persist. Children at or above the 99th percentile for weight may require a comprehensive, multidisciplinary weight management program that is designed specifically for children and has a track record of lasting results. Emphasis should be made that children will always be children and adult-based weight-loss programs are not appropriate for them.
It is important to appreciate that before a child is 12 years, children’s weight loss should be at an average of 1 pound per month. This gradual weight gain will allow them (the children) to continue growing in height (taller) and building their muscle. Children can be successful at losing weight gradually, a goal that rewards parents and children with a sense of accomplishment. In addition, the type of healthy eating that promotes slow weight loss is easy to sustain over time.
Weight Loss Recommendations for Children: Weight loss options
Parents have a seemingly endless number of options when it comes to deciding their child’s summer plans. With so many traditional summer camps and “fat camps” to choose from (not to mention the temptation of simply hoping your child’s weight issue will resolve itself, continuing along the same path of diets, gyms and personal trainers), it’s important to choose your child’s summer plans carefully. And because of the many options at your disposal, you are likely to get confused in the process. Just for the avoidance of doubt, seeking for professional help will not harm in anyway. The good health of our children should come first and therefore, we must not gamble with the lives of our children. I want to encourage you to schedule for an appointment with the experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under Doctor Akoury’s care. Up on doing so, doctor Akoury who is also the founder of the facility will help you shed off any doubt or concerns you may be having.
“Fat camp” is a term used in popular culture to describe a camp where a child is sent to lose weight. The term ‘fat camp’ is one that we don’t use at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center because it is the antithesis of what we represent. In fact, we wish the term ‘fat camp’ would go away altogether from the vocabularies of weight and weight related concerns. But given the popularity of ‘fat camps’ as a descriptor, and the reality that there are many traditional fat camps in existence still, we want you to understand what makes AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center different.
Weight Loss Recommendations for Children: Fat Camps Do Not Promote Long Term Weight Loss
AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center is renowned for equipping both young and old clients with the skills they need to make healthy choices for the rest of their lives. Unlike fat camps which restrict food, boot camps that demand activity, or diet camps which simply put clients on a short-term diet, AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center exposes clients to a range of exciting activities and provides them with a safe environment in which to learn to regulate their food intake and activity levels. This is actually guided by the vision of Dr. Akoury which made her to create this medical center whose main objective is to transform each individual’s life through increasing awareness about health and wellness and by empowering individuals to find their own inner healing power. The motivation of Dr. Akoury is seeing people both young and old have their lives back. That is why her practice focuses on personalized medicine through healthy lifestyle choices that deal with primary prevention and underlying causes instead of patching up symptoms. The health of your children will be safe with her and all you need to do on your part is to schedule for an appointment with her today and start the worthy journey of hoe and good healthy weight for you and your children.
Weight Loss Recommendations for Children: Do you have an Obese Child?



