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Has Childhood Obesity Been Declined in America? Earlier studies have suggested childhood obesity in the United States was beginning to turn around and kids in some places are becoming thinner. In fact, earlier this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported obesity was starting to decline among preschoolers. But data from very large surveys showed that all types of obesity are on the rise across the country, and the very fattest children might be getting worse. In a paper published on April 7, 2014 in the journal ëJAMA Pediatricsí, researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Wake Forest School of Medicine found extreme obesity is worsening in some groups. Data was examined on nearly 27,000 children and teens from 1999 to 2012 and it was found that 32 percent were overweight. From 2011 to 2012, 17.3 percent of children in the United States aged between 2 and 19 years were obese, and 5.9 percent of children met criteria for Class 2 obesity and 2.1 percent met criteria for Class 3 obesity. Overweight refers to an excess amount of body weight that may come from muscles, bone, fat, and water, and obesity refers to an excess amount of body fat. Body mass index (BMI) is commonly used to measure overweight and obesity, it is arrived by dividing the square of body weight (in kilos) by the height (in cm).
Measurement of obesity in kids is not the same as that in adults. Children aged between 2 and 19 are considered overweight if they are in the 85th to 95th percentile of BMI, for children of the same age and sex. Anything over the 95th percentile is obese, and Class 2 severe obesity is at 120 percent. Morbid obesity or Class 3 is defined as 140 percent. According to researchers, there was a surge in obesity in some kids in 2003, and after that rates appeared to fall. Meanwhile, there were reports indicating that programs in certain cities might have worked to help fight obesity in their population. As such, popular media have used these reports as evidence of progress in fighting childhood obesity. In reality, this might just be an illusion. The new findings, as a matter of fact, indicated that class 2 obesity and class 3 obesity have increased significantly over time for females of all ages combined, and in contrast to females, the prevalence rates of obesity and class 3 obesity have increased among adolescent boys aged between 12 and 19. It is known that obese children are more likely to have high blood pressure and high cholesterol that are risk factors for heart disease and stroke, and higher risk of getting various medical disorders including Type-2 diabetes, sleep apnea and asthma. Obese children and adolescents also have a greater risk of social and psychological problems like discrimination and poor self-esteem that can continue into adulthood. More importantly, obese children have a higher likelihood of becoming obese adults who are at increased risk of developing with a number of serious health conditions including heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers. Reasons for childhood overweight and obesity in the United States are rather complex, and there has not been much change in the overall environment. As indicated in the new findings, there has not been any declines in obesity. So childhood obesity is still an urgent public health issue, which requires public dialogue to continue. Doctors and health professionals should encourage activity, ensure access to healthy foods and help families be healthy overall for overweight kids. While most kids are very healthy even if they are obese, those who are extreme obese could be problematic. Future research should focus on ways and means to alter the overall environment as there has been little change despite many efforts to reduce obesity in the past. Perhaps, a broader environmental changes are required to ensure all children have opportunities for activity and access to health foods, regardless of their weight.
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