Expert: Jacqueline Jacques, ND - 3/14/2008

Question
QUESTION: hello
i have a 15 yr old son, and he weighs around 78 kg and is greatly obese. he is only about 5,4" tall aswell. do you have any ideas on what i could do to get him down to a healthy weight? do those weight loss milkshakes work and if so is my son too young to take them, or do they stunt growth or something?

ANSWER: Dear Helen,

At his current size, your son is significantly overweight, but not yet at the level of being obese.  As a mother, you are right to be concerned because this extra weight can both affect him now (physically and socially) as well as in adulthood.

Weight loss in a child should always be medically supervised because of issues related to growth and development.  For a boy of 15, it is likely that your son is not yet done growing and this needs to be taken into consideration as he loses weight - especially to make sure that he gets enough and the right kinds of nutrition to be healthy as he drops weight.  This can be an issue with some kinds of weight loss shakes depending on how they are formulated and what nutrition they contain.

I would like to be able to point you in the direction of some good health resources for you and your son, but I am suspecting since you gave his weight in kilogrmas that you are outside of the United States.  If you let me know where you are, I might be able to point you in the right direction.  Regardless, you might first start by giving a call to your family physician and asking what local resources they have for medical weight loss programs.

PLease let me know if I can provide any additional information - again, I think I can give you some better resources if I know what country you are in.

In Health,

Dr. Jacques

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: hello dr jacques, i live in Australia, if you can, could you please let me know of some resources around Australia? Thank you very much for your help.

Answer
Helen,

Let me talk to a few of my colleagues in Australia and get back to you.  It might take me a few days to do this.  If you can tell me what state you are in or what major city that would also be very helpful.  I would like to point you to people who are close by.

In Health,

Dr. Jacques