By Carol Church, Writer, Family Album
Reviewed by Agata Kowalewska, PhD, Department of Family, Youth, and Community Sciences, University of Florida
Over the past decade or so, you’ve surely seen the alarming stories and headlines: “Childhood Obesity Hits Record High,” “Why Are So Many Kids Overweight?” and so on. You may have even heard it said that due to this problem, today’s children will be the first in history to live shorter lives than their parents.
A Troubling Trend
There’s no doubt that the numbers are troubling. As of 2011-2012, about 30% of American children and teens between the ages of 2 and 19 were overweight. The issue is more serious among Hispanic and Black children, and older children are more likely to be overweight than younger kids. Many experts trace the problem to four main causes: sugar-added drinks and high-calorie food (like fast food), big portion sizes, reduced exercise, and excess screen time–especially when it involves exposure to food advertising.
Is Anything Changing?
But with so much attention focused on the issue in the past decade, including efforts by First Lady Michelle Obama with her Let’s Move campaign, has any progress been made? In fact, data from several large studies (NHANES and PedNSS) do suggest a hopeful possibility. It may just be that overweight and obesity are dropping in a key age group: children between the ages of 2 to 5. Among kids this age, obesity rates have fallen from about 14% of the group overall to about 8%. Some states and areas are also seeing general declines in childhood obesity at a variety of ages.
What’s Behind the Developments?
What could be driving these positive trends? Researchers note that over the past few years, in general, children have actually cut down on high-sugar drinks like soda and fruit punch. As a nation, we’re also eating a bit less fast food.
As to why the decrease would be most obvious in kids between the ages of two and five: since the year 2000, children in this group have been consuming fewer “extra” calories from sugar-sweetened beverages and fast food. Since they only needed to “drop” 30 calories to balance their energy (versus 150 and 180 calories in older groups), it makes sense that we might see a decline here first.
It’s hard to know if the changes seen here are going to continue, but it does look encouraging. That’s good news, because childhood and adolescence are way too early to be saddled with weight-related problems like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes. Reducing consumption of foods which contribute many calories but little nourishment (low nutrient density foods), such as drinks with added sugars, oversized fast food meals, and other sources of empty calories, as well as making sure that kids of all ages are physically active, can help ensure that more kids enjoy good health and long lives.
Further Reading:
Physical activity guidelines for children from the CDC
References:
Dietz, W.H., & Economos, C.D. (2015). Progress in the control of childhood obesity. Pediatrics, 135(3), e559-561. http://dx.doi.org/10.1542/peds.2014-2972
Photo Credits: AGorohov/iStock/Thinkstock
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