Belly Fat Among Children Growing Fast

[Logan13]

Belly Fat Among Children Growing Fast
November 08, 2006
WebMD

Potbellies are becoming all too common among children, according to a new study that shows a**ominal obesity in kids has increased by more than 65 percent in recent years.

Researchers say the findings are especially troubling because belly fat is now considered a better predictor of heart disease and diabetes risk than the more commonly used body mass index (BMI, a ratio of weight in relationship to height).

It’s the first national study to document the increase in children’s waistlines; it shows a**ominal obesity increased by 65 percent among boys and nearly 70 percent among girls from 1988 to 2004.

Researchers say the findings paint a bleak picture for these children, who have a higher risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and other health problems. But they say the good news is that it’s not too late for children with extra belly fat to do something to lower their health risk.

"Kids, teens and adults who have early stages of [hardening of the arteries] can have a healthy cardiovascular system again," says researcher Stephen Cook, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Rochester Medical Center's Golisano Children's Hospital at Strong, in a news release. "Older adults who have plaque buildup have a much harder battle, especially if the plaque has calcified."

In the study, published in Pediatrics, researchers analyzed data gathered by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 1988 to 2004. Using waist size, they estimated the number of boys and girls with a**ominal obesity in four different age groups.

The results showed that the percentage of a**ominal obesity in boys and girls increased significantly in every age group between 1999 and 2004; the increase in a**ominal obesity in children rose even faster than those classified as overweight.

For example, the percentage of 6- to 11 year-old children with high BMI scores increased by 25 percent from 1999 to 2004, but the increase in the percentage of children with a**ominal obesity in this age group rose by more than 35 percent.

"Those increases only grow more alarming as you tease out specific age groups over longer periods of time," says Cook. "For example, between the 1988-1994 data and the 1999-2004 data, the largest relative increase in the prevalence of a**ominal obesity occurred among 2- to 5-year-old boys – 84 percent – and 18- to 19-year-old girls – 126 percent."

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Waistline Wake-up Call

Cook says measuring a child’s waistline is not a vital sign normally performed at each checkup and there is no consensus yet on the cutoff point for a**ominal obesity. In this study, researchers considered children whose waist-to-height ratio was in the 90th percentile or more as an indicator of a**ominal obesity.

But he says the results should serve as a wake-up call to parents and doctors to limit children’s sedentary activities, like watching TV and playing video games, and encourage them to be physically active to reduce the risk of obesity and health problems later in life.

[Red Ketchup]

I can say that those studies probably under-report the problem...

I see it first hand, I've been a boy-scout leader for over 15 years and I can tell you that the kids are indeed getting fatter and lazier. It's very noticeable... 15 years ago most of my kids were athletic and a few were tubby and the odd ones were outright obese.

Now it's the oposite... I have the odd athletic ones, most are tubby and many are obese. Whats even worse is that I KNOW that the really obese kids are not even joining us, they stay home and play xbox and eat junk all day.

Even my boys hockey team has more than it's share of chubby kids... and he's in the "A" league!

This is gonna get real ugly if it's not fixed in the coming years. The cost to the health care system will be massive.

Red

[Logan13]

I can say that those studies probably under-report the problem...

I see it first hand, I've been a boy-scout leader for over 15 years and I can tell you that the kids are indeed getting fatter and lazier. It's very noticeable... 15 years ago most of my kids were athletic and a few were tubby and the odd ones were outright obese.

Now it's the oposite... I have the odd athletic ones, most are tubby and many are obese. Whats even worse is that I KNOW that the really obese kids are not even joining us, they stay home and play xbox and eat junk all day.

Even my boys hockey team has more than it's share of chubby kids... and he's in the "A" league!

This is gonna get real ugly if it's not fixed in the coming years. The cost to the health care system will be massive.

Red

Call me a cynic, but I believe that the more healthcare goes up and the more that we bitch about it being due to the costs associated with an obese nation, the more likely some fringe group will arrise to combat this perceived "dicrimination" towards the obese. "It's not fair that we are singling out fat people, equal treatment under the law, yada yada yada...." Today, everyone is a victim........

[Kärnfysikern]

Call me a cynic, but I believe that the more healthcare goes up and the more that we bitch about it being due to the costs associated with an obese nation, the more likely some fringe group will arrise to combat this perceived "dicrimination" towards the obese. "It's not fair that we are singling out fat people, equal treatment under the law, yada yada yada...." Today, everyone is a victim........

hasnt this allready happened after the mess when some airlines wanted to make obese people pay for two seats and the fatties went mad?

Social healtcare will struggle in the future, I think in sweden we should implement some self cost to people that are utterly self destructive and suffering from pure lifestyle diseases. Smokers, obese people.

[Logan13]

hasnt this allready happened after the mess when some airlines wanted to make obese people pay for two seats and the fatties went mad?

Social healtcare will struggle in the future, I think in sweden we should implement some self cost to people that are utterly self destructive and suffering from pure lifestyle diseases. Smokers, obese people.

I would go as far to say that society will struggle in the future, especially after being drug through the coals via the "special interests" groups. Average Joe citizen will have his rights reduced, in an effort to give the minority their perceived rights in full.

[Ufa]

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[Ufa]

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