Sacramento Head Start Alumni Association

CHILDREN'S OBESITY ON THE RISE

Oct 18, 2002

The October 9th issue of the Journal of the American Medical
Association includes a study finding that obesity increased
dramatically
in American children, adolescents and adults during the 1990's.

The study is based on data from the 1999-2000 National Health and
Nutrition Examination Survey, analyzed by the National Center for
Health
Statistics. Among children ages 6 to 19, 15 percent are overweight,
triple the proportion from 1980.

Some of the other statistics include:

*Non-Hispanic Black and Mexican-American adolescents ages 12-19 were
more likely to be overweight (24 percent) than non-Hispanic White
adolescents (13 percent).

*Mexican-American children ages 6-11 were more likely to be overweight
(24 percent) than non-Hispanic Black children (20 percent) and
non-Hispanic White children (12 percent).

*Pre-school-aged non-Hispanic Black children were less likely (8
percent) than younger Mexican-American children (11 percent) and
non-Hispanic White children (10 percent) to be overweight.

An official from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention
commented, "One of the most significant concerns from a public health
perspective is that we know a lot of children who are overweight grow
up
to be overweight or obese adults, and thus at greater risk for some
major health problems such as heart disease and diabetes. One critical
answer to this problem is that we all must work together to help our
children make physical activity a life-long habit."

To read this study, go to
http://jama.ama-assn.org/issues/v288n14/abs/joc21462.html

Source: Health and Human Services Press Release www.hhs.gov October
10, 2002