A surprising number of our children are at an unhealthy weight, leading to an increased risk for physical and emotional health problems as they grow. Learn how to tell if your child is overweight or at risk for being overweight.

By now, most of us are aware that there is a national obesity epidemic. We are so inundated with news on this topic that hardly a day goes by when we don't encounter stories about obesity in the newspaper, magazines, and on the radio, television, and the Internet. The magnitude of the news coverage in this case is justified: the obesity epidemic truly is a national health crisis. The physical, emotional, and economic costs to society are staggering.

This crisis is at its most acute when it impacts the most vulnerable citizens of our society—our children. According to the 1999–2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, fully 16 percent of all children between ages six and 19 are overweight. That's nearly one in six kids. Being overweight as a child greatly increases that person's risk of becoming obese as an adult and brings with it a host of health problems and risks, including diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, liver disease, joint disorders, depression, and poor self-esteem.

While there are consequences of this crisis to both individuals and to society, let's focus on a more practical question: How can you tell if your child is overweight or at risk for being overweight?

The scale only tells part of the story, especially for children, whose bodies grow so quickly it is difficult to define a healthy weight range for a given age. Your two-year-old child might grow from 32 inches to 35 inches in a year, and a weight that is healthy at 35 inches might not be healthy at 32 inches, because the same amount of weight is spread over a smaller frame. So how can you tell?