But she knew she had to do something.
"When I saw that all my friends were smaller than me, and they could do other things that I wasn't able to do..."
Sherbert started playing basketball and laid off the junk and big meal portions.
"The doctor he said, he didn't really say that I was overweight, but just my asthma and stuff he was kind of concerned about," she explained.
That's right-- even near 200 pounds, she says her doctor was evidently too scared, or too something to tell her she needed to lose weight.
Doctor Jean Moore is not surprised to hear that.
"I think sometimes doctors are afraid they are going to hurt somebody's feelings, I think they're afraid they are going to press girls into an eating disorder," Dr. Moore said.
Those are valid concerns. But the bigger concern, according to Dr. Moore, is the weight.
"Diabetes, asthma, kidney disease, kidney and liver disease, sleep apnea, are but a few…"
"So, at what point is baby fat no longer baby fat," I asked?
"It's interesting you say that… it's in utero now, they're starting to look at what happens with a pregnant mom and if the baby is large for gestational age, small for gestational age.. the small for gestational age babies, after they are born and they try to gain their weight back and get up higher, those kids are actually at risk for obesity," Moore said.
Furthermore, a recent report revealed many infant formulas have super high sugar content, NOT listed on the label. Some doctors have called it a baby milkshake... and say it sets up countless kids to be conditioned to crave sweets.
"When I talk to kids and their families, I would say maybe about 10-percent really make changes and those 10-percent I'm very proud of," Moore said.
Tyrae fits the bill.
"It's encouraging for me even to see that she can do it, it's like okay, I need to do it, too," said Katina Sherbert, Tyrae's mom.
She is one proud, and now motivated mama.
"It is, it's awesome!" Katina said.
"She (Tyrae) is the exception," Dr. Moore said.
"This is the first generation that is predicted not to live as long as their parents and it's because of obesity."
Dr. Moore, for one, is on a mission to inspire life.
"You have to address it, but you don't want to turn people off and have them never come back again, that doesn't do the child any good. So I try to guage how aggressive I should be in trying to treat them," Moore explained.
Dr. Moore and Tyrae agree: treatment starts with the parents.
"To be able to work out with your kids and encourage them to get out and play more instead of just encouraging them to stay in and play video games.. and just sit on the couch and eat potato chips," Tyrae said.
Dr. Moore is with Mercy, she says recently Mercy actually tried to do an obesity project, and they were going to pay for everything, dietician, exercise, getting kids together and it was going to be for Mercy employees-- it went no where, nobody would participate.
She says often times, parents will say it's about the money. Well, the program took care of the money factor and that didn't change anything.
She says much of it is about denial.
Best thing you can do, be open to talking to your child's doctor, have the doc check your kids body mass index. You cannot go by what he/she looks like.
