NEDA’s Parent Guide was developed in response to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) updated publication entitled “Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Evaluation and Treatment of Children and Adolescents with Obesity.”
It is important to recognize that despite the widespread use of weight (and, by extension, labels like being “overweight” or “obese” which are based in problematic and subjective criteria that are not scientifically valid or supported) as a marker of health, there is very little evidence to indicate that, by itself, weight is a useful indicator of health status. Standards that are most widely used, like the Body Mass Index (BMI), are biased, outdated, and are not independently valid measures of health. We would encourage any parent to ask for clarification of any medical recommendations from their pediatrician that are based on these weight measures.
The Parent Guide was written in response to these concerns by our eight member NEDA Clinical Advisory Council, a diverse, multidisciplinary group of specialists that have significant experience in the treatment of eating disorders.
Our Parent Guide lists a series of questions that you can pose to your child’s pediatrician if they make any recommendations for weight loss interventions for your child. It also provides you with ways to ask for clarification of any medical recommendations from your pediatrician that are based on these weight measures. Any medical recommendations of treatment approaches or interventions should be directly tied to specific physiologic markers, not weight. This Parent Guide can be printed to be taken directly into your doctor’s office.
NEDA offers additional downloadable resources for parents, guardians, family and friends. Please CLICK HERE for more guides and brochures.