For more information about children's health and nutrition, please visit our Children's Health Web . You can also visit MUSC Nutirition Services . For additional Healthcare News visit our Breaking News Archive. Children are eating too much sugar, too much fat, and drinking too many soft drinks, they say. Many children get an average of 20 percent of their daily calories from sugar, with US teens eating an average of 93 pounds of refined sugar per year.
Soft drinks are among the biggest contributor of sugar in the diet, according to experts.
Physicians should be aware of signs of rare causes of obesity and should screen for complications of obesity. Treatment evaluation should include an assessment of family readiness to engage in a weight-management program. Treatment should involve all family members and caregivers. It considers the amount of bone, muscle, and fat in the body s composition and is a good indicator of how much fat is being carried. There is a standard formula based on height and weight that calculates BMI and gives a fairly accurate assessment of the amount of fat in the body.