In the United States, 16% of children ages 6 to 19 are between the 85th and 95th percentiles
of body mass index (BMI) for age and 18.7% are at or above the 95th percentile. 1 Rates of
extreme pediatric obesity, defined as a BMI percentile at or above the 99th percentile, are
increasing disproportionately faster than rates of obesity. 2, 3 The projected annual health
care costs associated with increases in pediatric BMI are $14.1 billion annually. 4
Psychological complications faced by overweight and obese youth are gaining increased …