Rising teen obesity rate sparks push for healthier schools

The overall childhood obesity rate has been stable over the past decade, but obesity among the nation ’s teens is still on the rise. A recent report calls for early-childhood and school-based policies and programs to accelerate the progress in helping kids achieve and maintain healthy weights.
About 17 percent of the nation ’s children are obese, a rate that has held steady the past 10 years, according to “The State of Obesity: Better Policies for a Healthier America, ” a 143-page report issued by the nonprofit Trust for America’s Health. When data is broken down by age groups, each group is seeing a little something different.
The nation ’s youngest children—ages 2 to 5—have seen obesity rates fall over the past decade, the report showed. Meanwhile, the rates among the oldest children, between 12 and 19 years old, have risen during that time. Kids in the middle—ages 6 to 11—have seen rates stabilize.
While it is encouraging that some childhood obesity rates are falling or stabilizing, obesity among children of all ages is much more prevalent today than when the baby boomers were having children. Since 1980, the obesity rate for children between 2 and 19 years old has tripled. When broken down by age:
Kids between 6 and 11 years old have seen their obesity rates jump to 17.5 percent in 2014, more than doubling the 7 percent rate in 1980.
Children between 12 and 19 years old have seen their obesity rates quadruple, with 20.5 percent of these childre...

Source: AMA Wire - October 25, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Timothy Smith Source Type: news