DEFINITION OF NUTRITIONAL ASSESSMENT OF THE AT-RISK FOR OVERWEIGHT AND OVERWEIGHT CHILD AND ADOLESCENT

In the mid 1900s, pediatric health professionals would screen and treat children and adolescents
for issues related to growth and development, but obesity was not a prevalent nutritional concern.
Recommending and assessing adequate caloric and nutrient intakes for infants, toddlers, schoolaged
children, and adolescents in relation to their growth and development was within the routine
clinical training and practice of pediatric health professionals. However, in the 21st century,
American children and adolescents are plagued with an obesity epidemic. One out of every five
children in the United States is classified as overweight [1]. Obesity is now the most prevalent
nutritional disease in the pediatric population, and pediatric health professionals are now faced
with a disease that has no effective surgical or pharmacological interventions but that, if left
untreated, results in signs and symptoms of chronic disease in adolescence [2].
Therefore, health professionals must enhance their clinical skills to become proficient in
screening, identifying, and treating at risk for overweight and overweight children and adolescents.
They need to be able to identify environmental and genetic promoters of obesity, assess their effect
on the child and family, and enable the child and family to make lifestyle changes. The following
sections describe various components of the nutritional assessment of children and adolescents that
will enable to practitioner to develop a treatment plan that addresses the needs of the child or
adolescent and his or her family.