Obesity has been associated with a myriad of serious health problems which include type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and atherosclerosis. There has been a drive in the Syracuse community to fight the appearance of more and more overweight young kids by promoting more aggressive education dealing with the value of healthy lifestyles and good nutrition beginning at a young age.
Jenifer Goodwin has reported for HealthDay "Many Kindergarteners Already on Road to Obesity, Study Finds." A new study has found that more kids than ever in kindergarten are heavier than kids brought up in the 1970s and 1980s and appear likely to be heading towards being overweight and obese in the years to come.
In this study it was found that nearly 40 percent of kindergarteners had a body mass index (BMI) in the 75th percentile or above, which was up from 25 percent in the 1970s and 1980s, when the growth charts were first developed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although a BMI in the 75th percentile is still in the normal range, that child may be headed towards being overweight or obese.
A BMI in the 85th to 95th percentile is considered overweight, while a BMI above the 95th percentile is obese. The number of kids found at the top of the scale has increased too. Weight gain in the kids accelerated between kindergarten and third grade. The proportion of kids in the top quartile (75th percentile or above) went up to almost 48 percent by third grade, but weight gain was found to level off after that.
In order to make an impact on increasing childhood obesity rates, experts are promoting programs to encourage better eating habits and more physical activity very early in life, even in preschool. It is advised that those programs should also include kids who are normal weight. So in the best interest of their health now and into the future kids should be taught that being thin is healthy and how to avoid obesity with healthy lifestyles and good nutrition.
Photographer: photostock
