Childhood Obesity

We have already discussed the principles of obesity in an earlier article.

Obesity was, at one point in time, not seen much in children. When we say obesity in children, we refer to both young children as well as adolescents. However, with our sedentary lifestyles, lack of exercise, and rich diet, obesity is slowly reaching epidemic proportions in children. There is no longer the lone fat boy in class nowadays. Their numbers have increased alarmingly over the last two decades.

Childhood obesity statistics

The numbers speak for themselves, as far as obesity in children is concerned. In the United States, between the years 1980 and 2000, the number of obese children has more than doubled.

In the year 1980, then number of obese children in America stood at 7%. In the year 2000, this number had gone up to a staggering 15%, which is more than double the previous figure.

These are reliable numbers, and not mere gossip material; they are from a survey conducted by the American Obesity Association.

Defining Obesity in Children

How would you categorize a child as being obese? As mentioned in the article on Obesity, the Body Mass Index (BMI) is the yardstick used to categorize adults as being overweight or obese.

In the case of children, the yardstick remains the same, with a minor difference.

Firstly, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) refrains from using the term 'obesity'; instead it uses two different BMI levels to allude to obesity. The first level, corresponding to a BMI of 25, is called the 85th percentile. Children and adolescents in this percentile are considered overweight, and at risk of becoming obese.

The second level, corresponding to a BMI of 30, is called the 95th percentile. Children and adolescents in this percentile are obese.

Relative body weights can be used to determine obesity

Another way of categorizing children as being obese is by taking into account the relative body weights of different children. A child is said to be obese if his body weight is 20% more than it should be for a normal child of the same height.

Another way is to consider the fat content in a child's body - a boy with 25% of fat is considered obese, while in the case of girls this number corresponds to 32%.

Causes of childhood Obesity >>