Search Here

There is an alarming increase in childhood obesity in the United States since 1999 through 2014, reports a recent study. The rate of obesity and overweight children aged between two and 19 has been constantly increasing through the years in spite of measures taken to keep the conditions under check.

Researchers from Duke University School of Medicine studied obesity data from national surveys taken over the past 15 years. For the purpose of the study, obesity and overweight data measured with body mass index of the children were taken into account. The investigators that analyzed the information found that the rates were increasing constantly without much of fluctuations.

In one of the recent surveys conducted from 2013 to 2014 it was revealed that 26 percent of children were obese and 33 percent of children were overweight. According to the findings, about 28.8 percent of children were overweight and 14.6 percent of children were obese in 1999 whereas in 2014 the figures rose significantly making it 33.4 and 17.4 percent of overweight and obese children respectively.

"Despite some other recent reports, we found no indication of a decline in obesity prevalence in the US in any group of children aged two through 19," said study lead author Asheley Skinner, associate professor at Duke Clinical Research Institute, according to The Health Site. "This is particularly true with severe obesity, which remains high, especially among adolescents," Skinner noted.

The rates are even more alarming, as far as severely obese children are concerned. Children with body mass index of over 40 and over are included in the severely obese category. The percentage of severely obese children has increased from 0.9 in 1999 to 2.4 in 2014. Experts report that such an increase is quite a concern.

"What this tells me is that for kids with severe obesity, they aren't being helped by small or single interventions," said Skinner, Health News And Views. "An estimated 4.5 million children and adolescents have severe obesity and they will require new and intensive efforts to steer them toward a healthier course. Obesity requires thinking at every level, and thinking across the entire population," added Skinner.