Addressing Eating Disorders and Weight Control in Children and Adolescents

How often do we look at a patient's body mass index (BMI) and only make a comment if the BMI is above normal in the overweight or obese category? As pediatricians, we often do not give it a second thought when the BMI is normal, and we generally do not counsel on healthy eating practices in these cases. However, when people are overweight, obese, and sometimes even normal weight they are told by family, friends, as well as physicians that they need to either not gain any more weight, or that they need to lose weight. As clinicians, we should be aware that comments like that may trigger a disordered pattern of eating for some people, which can lead to an eating disorder. [Pediatr Ann. 2017;46(5):176-e179.].