More U.S. Children Severely Obese, Study Says
Steven Reinberg HealthDay Reporter
Monday, April 7, 2014, 4:00 PM
MONDAY, April 7, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Contrary to a
recent report with encouraging figures on childhood obesity
in the United States, a new study presents a more sobering
picture of the nation's pediatric weight problem.
Severe obesity, which sets kids up for a lifetime of
health problems, has increased over the past 14
years, North Carolina researchers found. They used the same
data that researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention mined for their encouraging report in
February.
"We found that the number of extremely obese kids seems
to be increasing," said lead researcher Asheley Cockrell
Skinner, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the
University of North Carolina. "This is particularly true for
school-age girls and teenage boys."
Severely obese children are the ones most likely to have
type 2
diabetes as teens and other problems such as
heart disease later in life. They are also the children who
will require millions of dollars in
health care costs, she added.
Moreover, all obese children are likely to be obese adults,
Skinner said.
Categories of obesity are based on a child's height and
weight in relation to their peers. A 10-year-old boy who is 4
feet, 6 inches tall and weighs 95 pounds is considered obese,
according to Dr. David Katz, director of the Yale University
Prevention Research Center. At 130 pounds, that boy would be
severely obese.
For the new report, published online April 7 in the journal
JAMA Pediatrics, Skinner and a colleague used the same
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data as the CDC
researchers, but extended their research from 1999 to 2012.
In the CDC study, published Feb. 26 in the Journal of the
American Medical Association, researchers found a
significant decrease in obesity among preschoolers -- from 14
percent in 2003-04 to about 8 percent in 2011-12.
That CDC study also found that obesity rates had stabilized
among children overall, and some specialists hailed the report
as an indication of a turnaround.
But their excitement may have been premature, Skinner said.
She added: "When extending the data out to 14 years, we see
there isn't really a decline. We need to be cautious about
reports that say obesity is declining and assume things are
better."
Katz called the new findings alarming.
"This paper will come as a sobering reality check for any who
believed the recent headlines about childhood obesity rates
plummeting," he said.
Severe obesity in children is rising, he said, adding that
this is a critical piece of information.
"Severe obesity is much more likely to induce serious chronic
disease and steal years from life," Katz said. "It calls out for
clinical interventions, up to and including weight-loss
surgery."
Also, a cultural sea change is needed, Katz said. "We cannot
deny kids daily physical activity and peddle junk foods to them
and fail to reap what we are sowing," he said.
Skinner agreed. "Every kid in this country deserves access to
healthy
food and chances to be active," she said.
For the new study, Skinner's team examined data on nearly
26,700 children ages 2 to 19 years old. For the years 2011-12,
they found 32 percent of America's children were overweight and
17 percent were obese. Among obese kids, 8 percent were severely
obese, the researchers said.
When specific categories of obesity were examined, more bad
news emerged. Among girls, the researchers found obesity rates
jumped from 14.5 percent in 1999-2000 to 17.4 percent by
2011-12. And severe obesity among girls climbed from 0.9 percent
in 1999-2000 to 2.3 percent by 2011-12.
In boys, obesity rose from 14.6 percent in 1999-2000 to 17.2
percent by 2011-12, while severe obesity grew from 1 percent to
2 percent.
More research is needed to determine which public health
programs, if any, are helpful in preventing obesity, the study
authors said.
Whether public health campaigns alone will turn around rates
of severe obesity is questionable, the researchers said.
"Unfortunately, the high prevalence and upward trend of more
severe forms of obesity will likely require more intensive
interventions than can be done through widespread public health
efforts," the study said.
More information
For more on childhood obesity, visit the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
SOURCES: Asheley Cockrell Skinner, Ph.D., assistant
professor of pediatrics, University of North Carolina,
Chapel Hill; David Katz, M.D., director, Yale University
Prevention Research Center, New Haven, Conn.; April 7, 2014,
JAMA Pediatrics, online
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