Obesity in U.S. kids is stabilizing

A recent report suggests that abdominal obesity has leveled off in past 10 years for U.S. children and adolescents and decreased in children aged two to five years.

by John Tyburski

Copyright © Daily Digest News, KPR Media, LLC. All rights reserved.

First published at Daily Digest News on July 21, 2014

The U.S. continues to exhibit an increase in the number of adults who are overweight or obese, but a new study indicates that the trend may not be mimicked in children and adolescents. University of Minnesota’s Lyn Steffen, along with collaborators at Shandong University in China, reported this week in the journal Pediatrics that the prevalence of abdominal obesity in U.S. youth has remained steady between 2003 and 2012.

“Kids are not getting fatter,” said Steffen, associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health. “Abdominal obesity has been stable over the years.”

The researchers analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), which was conducted during five different periods: 2003–2004, 2005–2006, 2007–2008, 2009–2010, and 2011–2012. Waist circumferences (WC) for a total of 16,601 U.S. children and adolescents aged two to 18 years were considered. Abdominal obesity was defined as WC greater than the 90^th percentile based on older NHANES III data collected in 1988–1994 and also a waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) of more than or equal to 0.5.

Using WC as an indicator, nearly 18 percent of children and adolescents aged two to 18 were abdominally obese in 2011–2012. However, results considering WHtR revealed almost 33 percent of those aged six to 18 years were abdominally obese. While the proportions were high, mean WC and WHtR each remained stable between 2003–2004 and 2011–2012. The only decrease in abdominal obesity seen was in children aged two to five years. All comparisons were unaffected by gender, age, and race/ethnicity.

The authors credit the stable waistlines to healthier school breakfasts and lunches as well as removal of soda and candy from schools. Vending machines which are still present often offer more healthy alternatives. Steffen cautions that the stable numbers are not an all-is-well indicator. There are still “too many” young people who are overweight or obese, said Steffen. “We shouldn’t have chubby kids or chubby adults either.”