Stats State Child Obesity May Be Leveling

“If it doesn’t make you strong, it will only make you fat.” This seems to be the punch line for all concerned parents because of the alarming rise in child obesity in USA. The percent of obese children has doubled in the past two decades, with 10% of children under 8 being overweight and 15% of the children between 9 and 19 facing obesity.

With a fear of weight problems escalating, it comes as a relief to hear that after a 25 years rise, the percentage of obese children in America seems to be leveling off.

Dr. David Ludwig, director of an obesity clinic at the Children’s Hospital Boston says that these statistics are the first encouraging findings in what has been unremittingly bad news. He added that it was too soon to state whether the findings really implied the chance of a meaningful inroad into the problem. It could also have been a mere statistical fluke.

The survey was based on 8,165 children between ages 2 to 19 who participated in a national representative government health survey in 2003-04 and 2005-06. This survey was a more accurate reflection of obesity because they were based on in-person measurements and not the people’s own reporting of their height and weight.

Obesity has evidently been on the rise since 1980 without interruption. This fact contradicts the possibility of a level off, but experts feel the leveling off is for real. This could be because more schools and colleges are emphasizing better eating habits and exercise.

In medical terms obesity means an excess amount of body fat. There is no general agreement on the definition of obesity in children as it does in the case of adults. Most professionals use published guidelines based on the body mass indexdefine (BMI) to measure obesity in children. A general definition of obesity in children is when the body weight is at least 20% higher than normal body weight or body fat percentage is above 25% in boys and above 32% in girls.

Obesity has a profound effect on a child’s life. It increases risk of numerous health as well as social and emotional problems. Obese children are also more likely to be obese adults, increasing their risk of serious health problems such as heart diseases and strokes.

When it comes to obesity, prevention is the answer. The medical profession does not recommend dieting and losing weight as an option for treating obesity in children. Children grow at a fast rate and therefore need healthy nutrition to develop strong bones and muscles. Key here is to inculcate good eating habits and ensure a proper balanced meal.

Another cause of obesity is the result of lack of activity, sleeping late on weekends, becoming a couch potato and giving preference to indoor games rather than strenuous outdoor ones. Activity is considered as important as good nutrition. If children are encouraged to develop habits involving regular activity when they are young they have a much better chance of taking it with them into adulthood. Teaching a child how to live a healthy lifestyle can add years to the child’s life.

Back to statistics, researchers feel it is the CDC’s data for year 2007-08, due next year which will be the determining factor to decide which direction the children’s obesity rates are really heading. Right now the consolation lies in the fact that the rates have leveled.

A lot of people are trying to do good things to try to stem the tide. Some schools are providing better meals and increasing physical education. Still, there exist cases where obese young patients have not eaten a single piece of fresh fruit in three days. Such discrepancies show that there is a long road ahead in the fight against obesity.