Saturday, January 30, 2010

Childhood Overweight and Obesity


Published: Jan. 20, 2010 at 5:38 PM

WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- First lady Michelle Obama asked U.S. mayors Wednesday not to cut the fat from their budgets but to help children overcome obesity.

Obama spoke about childhood obesity during the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Washington. Obama last week said the issue would be one of her key initiatives as she begins her second year as the first lady.

"Right now, nearly one third of children in America are overweight or obese -- one in three," Obama said. "And one third of all children today will eventually suffer from diabetes (and) in the African American and Latino communities, it goes up to almost half."

She called obesity "one of the biggest threats to the American economy."...


Obesity is a serious health concern for children and adolescents. (click title to entry - thank you) Data from NHANES surveys (1976–1980 and 2003–2006) show that the prevalence of obesity has increased: for children aged 2–5 years, prevalence increased from 5.0% to 12.4%; for those aged 6–11 years, prevalence increased from 6.5% to 17.0%; and for those aged 12–19 years, prevalence increased from 5.0% to 17.6%.1, 46...





An Overview of Childhood Obesity (click here)

The Post defines overweight children as those with BMI in the 85th to 94th percentile and obese as those in the 95th and higher. This follows the 2007 recommendations of the Expert Committee on the Assessment, Prevention and Treatment of Child and Adolescent Overweight and Obesity.