Hi, my
name is Dr. Chu, I am father of
two lovely children, husband to an awesome wife, and board certified
pediatrician practicing medicine for over 10 years.
I use this clinical growth chart in my practice everyday and now it is
ready for home use. I have spent the past 5 years designing and
producing a wall-sized version of the medical growth chart developed by
the CDC. I want to
share what I consider to be the most important tool used by
pediatricians everyday, to every parent who wants to get involved in
their
child's health.
We
Americans, lead the rest of the world in OBESITY. In fact, obesity is
already the #1
health problem that can result in everything from diabetes to heart
attacks including in children. The problem starts at a very early age,
during childhood. These
days children are not getting enough rigorous activities and the
abundance of food fortified with corn starch, excess fat and sugar give
rise to excess weight retention that eventually leads to childhood
obesity.
Often parents are surprised and shocked when I mention that their
child is already overweight at their well check ups. Sometimes there is anger, frustration, guilt but mostly they feel
helpless and hopeless and wonder what they can do to monitor their child's weight.
In the past we (doctors) use growth charts on children to make
sure that every child can grow to their maximum potential and prevent them from
"falling" off the curve that can be caused from malnutrition and
chronic diseases. These days, we use it to detect, educate and prevent
obesity. More and more boys and girls starting at a very early age
are gaining too much weight out of proportion to their height gain. Unfortunately,
as our nation gets larger especially in the southern states where I use
to live and practice medicine; an overweight child may be now be the norm
amongst his peers and appear "healthy" to their parents. Often, a young
child in my clinic that is already overweight has end-organ damage, like
having diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, elevated cholesterol,
etc.
How
can a parent help prevent obesity if they don't even know that
their child is already overweight? There is a huge lack the practical
tools
and resources to monitor to help parents understand and monitor their
child's growth and to prevent obesity. In fact studies have shown that
prevention visits at doctors offices does very little to prevent risk of
obesity.
In adult medicine, BMI is often used to track obesity and some of
the pediatric clinics I have worked at have tried using that as well for tracking. But BMI is such a very
abstract concept, and often parents walk away more confused when we try
to explain and monitor their children's weight with BMI #s.
That is why I have devoted much of the past 5 years in
developing a home version of our clinical growth chart for every parent who wants their
child to grow healthy. These growth charts are exactly like the ones
you may find behind every child's chart at the doctor's office, which
is based on large amount of compiled data collected by the CDC (Center
for Disease Control). Our medical growth charts are large enough
(58" x
30") like the commercial ones, that you can hang on walls or doors
in your own home. It is also very durable, and you can directly plot
your child's height and weight on
it. Unlike commercial growth charts, which is essentially a very well
decorated large ruler, our clinical growth chart, can tell you what
your child's ideal weight should be based on his or her height
percentile receptively. For example, using our growth chart, if your
child's height
is at 50%, his weight should be near 50% as well, thus being
proportional. If his weight is at
75% while his height is only at 50%, he may already be overweight,
because his weight is at a greater percentile than his height
percentile. This I think is simpler way to understand ideal body weight
and height. More information and explanation are under our FAQs.
I
personally believe that every parent who are better informed and
have the necessary tools can help prevent their child from becoming
overweight and ultimately prevent obesity. Having our growth chart does
not replace an actual visit with your pediatrician or doctor, but you
will be better involved and informed in your child's growth.
I am very confident that you will love our clinical growth chart for
your home use, that if you are not completely satisfied, just send it
back to me in its original unused condition within the first 30 days and I will refund your
original purchase price. |