SALT LAKE CITY — Roly-poly babies are delicious. Most people can't resist that cherubic, butterball of a face — drool and all — or those pudgy little legs with their numerous creases and rolls.

Chubby babies are adorable. Plump toddlers are cute. But as a parent, how do you know if your child is just sporting baby fat or something more dangerous?

According to Dr. Claire McCarthy, a pediatrician at Boston Children's Hospital, baby fat may not have been an issue in previous years when children were more active.

"These days, baby fat turns into kid fat, which turns into teen fat, which turns into adult fat — with all the health consequences adult fat brings," McCarthy said.

In 2014, the New England Journal of Medicine published the results of a study on childhood obesity last year, showing that brand new kindergarteners who were overweight, or near overweight, were four times as likely as their counterparts with a normal weight to be obese in the eighth-grade.

Determining when a child is overweight

Some kids might just seem "big boned" or larger than their peers, but their stature could be an indication of a bigger problem.

For starters, you should keep on top of well-child medical exams for your children. At these appointments, your medical provider will weigh your child and measure his or her height. They will likely show you where your child lies on a growth chart. As your child gets older, his or her BMI will be calculated.

But your child's measurements are only a small part of the equation when considering what his or her risks of becoming an obese adult are.

"There is no 'magic number' indicating when a child's weight goes from an afterthought to a serious concern," says Henry Anhalt, DO, director of pediatric endocrinology at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, New Jersey.

Doctors will also take into consideration any history of diabetes or heart disease.

Helping children achieve a healthy weight

Most doctors will agree, losing weight should not be a goal for small children. Rather, maintaining weight and catching up with height is a better approach. Making small lifestyle choices like switching out processed foods for meals made from scratch, adding more physical activity to the daily routine, and cutting screen time can help. If these changes don't yield the results you'd hoped for, perhaps it's time to see a nutritionist.

Traffic Light Eating

A great plan that a nutritionist may suggest is called Traffic Light Eating, a simple way to know what kids should be eating, and how much of it they should be eating. Most children are familiar with a traffic light and what its different colors mean — red means stop, yellow means slow down, and green means go. Applying these colors to different foods is helpful for the entire family to know what foods are good, which ones should be eaten less frequently, and which ones should be eaten sparingly. You don't have to entirely avoid foods in this plan, because realistically, everybody runs a red light on occasion.

Primary care physician Anne Thorndike helped to implement a Traffic Light Eating set up for the employee cafeteria at Massachusetts General Hospital. By labeling the foods in the cafeteria with colors, employees were making better choices by avoiding the sugary drinks and fattening entrees. These better choices lasted the entirety of the program, instead of fizzling out after a few weeks. Parents can do this in their homes, and also place healthier choices at a child's eye level in the refrigerator.

Lifestyle changes

In addition to Traffic Light Eating, make sure children are getting at least 60 minutes of physical activity per day and the proper amount of sleep for his or her age. It's also important to remember that when the entire family is involved, eating better and exercising more doesn't seem like a punishment — it seems like fun.

If lifestyle and diet choices are not working for your child, there may be additional medical problems causing weight gain, and you will need to consult a physician.

Jennifer Lambert is a mother of two and a freelance writer and editor in Provo, Utah. Email her at jmaddenorama@gmail.com

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