The rate of childhood obesity in America is increasing every year, fueled by a wide variety of economical, social and genetic factors. The statistics are startling and saddening. Obese children are at a greater risk for many serious health problems and chronic diseases, and although many of these health issues will threaten obese children's lives when they become adults, rates of chronic illnesses like diabetes among obese adolescents have increased as well.
Population
As of 2008, approximately 19.6 percent of U.S. children 6 to 11 years old are considered obese, as are 18 percent of adolescents and teenagers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 1980, only 6.5 percent of children 6 to 11 and 5 percent of adolescents 12 to 19 were classified as obese. Put simply, obesity rates among children and teenagers have more than tripled in the past 30 years, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
Significance
Childhood obesity rates appear to differ somewhat among races and ethnicities. For example, African-American, Mexican American and Native American children appear to be the most at-risk for obesity, according to data from the HHS. Approximately 20 percent of African-American and 22 percent of Mexican American adolescents are overweight or obese, compared with 14 percent of non-Hispanic white adolescents. Among low-income Native American and Alaskan native children 2 to 5 years old, a whopping 39 percent are overweight or obese, says the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. This is the highest obesity and overweight rate for children in the country.
The health care costs linked to childhood obesity also are startling. The HHS estimates that approximately $118 billion in health care costs each year have been associated with obesity in children and adults. From 1997 to 1999, hospital costs due to childhood obesity were estimated at $127 million, compared with $35 million from 1979 to 1981.
Effects
Childhood obesity can have both immediate and long-term health effects, including increased risks for obesity in adulthood, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, sleep apnea, bone and joint problems, osteoarthritis and some types of cancer, the CDC states. In fact, 70 percent of obese children 5 to 17 years old have at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease, such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure. Obese and overweight children have a 70 percent to 80 percent risk for obesity in adulthood, the HHS says. The link between rising obesity rates and increasing diabetes rates among adolescents also is significant. Among Alaskan native and American Indian adolescents age 15 to 19, diabetes diagnoses have increased by 68 percent from 1994 to 2004, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Considerations
Many factors contribute to the increasing rates of childhood obesity in America, such as the types of food and beverages that children consume. For example, consumption of soft drinks has skyrocketed, with 32 percent of adolescent girls and 52 percent of boys drinking three or more 8 oz. servings of soda each day and children as young as 7 months old drinking soda.
Alaskan native and Native American children -- the groups with the overall highest obesity rates in the United States -- watch more television on average than children of other racial and ethnic groups. In fact, about 45 percent of American Indian and native Alaskan teenagers watch more than three hours of television each day, while 31.7 percent of white children watch that amount, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Overall, American children spend an estimated 25 percent of their day watching television, the HHS notes.
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