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Obesity

My daughter is 5-years-old, is 3′ 3″ tall and she weighs 49 lbs. I’m concerned because her pediatrician feels she is overweight and wants to put her on the Atkins’ diet. Our charts on weight by years place her above the 95th percentile for children with CdLS, so she would appear to fall within normal limits for weight. Do you think her doctor’s recommendation for a diet for a child with CdLS at this height and weight is warranted?

This girl is at the 95th percentile for 5-year-old girls, let alone for CdLS girls. Her height is below the 5th percentile for typical girls. It sounds like she is overweight no matter what. I would make sure that she has a correct diagnosis. I would recommend checking thyroid function studies and think about other reasons for obesity, if diet and lack of exercise alone cannot explain this. If all is negative, she may need to have limitations on intake (I cannot comment on an Atkins diet in 5 year olds, although it would not normally be recommended in a pediatric population); typically you decrease intake and increase exercise in overweight children and wait until children grow in height. A dietician should be involved.

TK 7-13-10

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Answer Published On: October 18th, 2018 6:38 PM