During the medical risk assessment for childhood obesity, which factor is considered a risk factor?

• A. Eye color
• B. Day of birth
• C. Growth velocity percentile
• D. Parental obesity

Answer: (D)

Parental obesity is a key risk factor in childhood obesity because it reflects both genetic predisposition and the family environment that shapes diet and activity patterns. When a parent is obese, a child is more likely to inherit traits that influence energy balance and to live in a household with eating and activity habits that promote weight gain, increasing the likelihood of obesity as the child grows.

Eye color and day of birth have no established link to obesity risk, so they don’t inform risk in this context. Growth velocity percentile measures how quickly a child is gaining height or weight over time; while tracking growth is important for monitoring health, this metric by itself isn’t considered a risk factor for obesity in the standard risk assessment.