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Obesity rates climbing among preschoolers, older children
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Despite previous reports of a decline in childhood obesity, new study data suggest there is no decline in obesity in children aged 2 to 19 years, and prevalence of severe obesity in children aged 2 to 5 years has actually increased.
“About 4 years ago, there was evidence of a decline in obesity in preschoolers,” Asheley Cockrell Skinner, PhD, associate professor of population health sciences at Duke University, said in a press release. “It appears any decline that may have been detected by looking at different snapshots in time or different data sets has reversed course. The long-term trend is clearly that obesity in children of all ages is increasing.”
Skinner and colleagues evaluated data from the 2015-2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey on 33,534 children aged 2 to 19 years to determine prevalence data and obesity trends. Overweight (n = 1,213) was defined as BMI in at least the 85th percentile for age and sex; class I obesity (n = 652) as BMI in at least the 95th percentile; class II obesity (n = 213) as BMI at greater than 120% of the 95th percentile or BMI at least 35 kg/m2 (whichever was lower); class III obesity (n = 73) was defined as BMI at least 140% of the 95th percentile or BMI at least 40 kg/m2 (whichever is lower). Races included in the study were white, black, Hispanic, Asian-American and other.
According to Skinner, data from NHANES are broader than sources used for other studies that found declines in obesity, and the dataset used for the current study is the first to include enough data to create a nationally representative sample of Asian-American children.
“Despite some previous reports, the obesity epidemic has not abated,” Sarah C. Armstrong, MD, associate professor of pediatrics at Duke University, said in the release. “This evidence is important in keeping the spotlight shined on programs to support healthy changes. Obesity is one of the most serious health challenges facing children and is a predictor for many other health problems. When we see that leveling off, we can become complacent — we can’t afford to do that.”
The prevalence rates of overweight and all classes of obesity were highest in black and Hispanic participants compared with the other groups, whereas rates of overweight and all classes of obesity were lowest in Asian-American participants. The prevalence of obesity increased between 2014 and 2016 from 8.5% to 14.2% in boys aged 2 to 5 years and from 35.6% to 47.9% in girls aged 16 to 19 years.
There was a positive linear trend for overweight (P = .003), class I obesity (P = .008), class II obesity (P = .019) and class III obesity (P < .01) for both sexes and all ages combined.
“Although the latest trends show that we haven’t figured out what works as a population, we do know individual changes can support families’ health,” Armstrong said. “We know families can avoid added sugar in beverages and food, get at least an hour of activity a day, and incorporate vegetables into every meal to improve their health. Even if your child is a picky eater and wants to eat the same vegetable every day, that is still a good choice.” – by Amber Cox
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.
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