any of the chronic health problems on the rise in the United States and the related escalating health care expenditures can be directly linked to overweight and obesity. This is true for people in all stages of life, but recently childhood obesity in the United States has become a pressing issue. Chronic disease is no longer a concern for only middle-aged or older individuals; children now face lifetime challenges from chronic conditions because of obesity. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently reports adult obesity rates of 35.7% and childhood obesity rates of 17%. The number of states reporting obesity rates of more than 30% has increased each year since 2000. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that medical expenditures related to obesity totaled more than $147 billion in 2008, with third-party payers spending $1,400 ormore per person to care for people who were obese than for those of normal weight. Body weight status is determined using the body mass index (BMI), which is calculated by dividing a person’s weight in kilograms by his or her height in meters squared (ie, kg/m). This method replaced formerly accepted methods of determining weight status in 1998 when the National Institutes of Health and the World Health Organization adopted it. Currently, overweight is defined as a BMI of 25.0 to 29.9, and obesity is defined as a BMI of more than 30. The classifications for children (ie, ages two