Prevent Disease.com - Childhood Obesity Becoming Global Health Problem



		Childhood Obesity Becoming Global Health Problem Excerpt By Suzanne Rostler, Reuters Health NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The percentage of American kids who are overweight or obese has swelled to such a level that public health officials call it an epidemic. Now, an international study reveals that the rate of obesity among children in other nations is also on the rise. According to the report in the October issue of the International Journal of Epidemiology, too many youngsters in Russia and China are also overweight and obese. The findings from children in three countries that account for more than one quarter of the world's population point to a future in which an alarming number of people will develop obesity-related medical complications. ``It is suggested that in the US, obesity causes at least 300,000 excess deaths, and healthcare costs of American obese adults amount to about $100 billion,'' Dr. Youfa Wang, who conducted the study while a doctoral student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, told Reuters Health. ``Our findings suggest that we (should) anticipate a rise in global rates of diseases such as diabetes and heart disease in both developed and developing countries,'' Wang added. Wang is now an assistant professor at the University of Illinois in Chicago. Wang reviewed national health surveys on more than 6,000 US children aged 6 to 18 years between 1988 to 1994. He also looked at data on more than 3,000 children in China and nearly 7,000 children in Russia, from the early 1990s. In the US, about 11% of children were obese and slightly more than 14% were overweight. A child with a body mass index (BMI) above the 95th percentile is considered obese and one whose BMI is between the 85th and 95th percentile is overweight. BMI is a measure of weight in relation to height. In comparison, 6% of kids in Russia were obese and 10% were overweight. In China, 3.6% of kids were obese and 3.4% were overweight, Wang reports. The study also uncovered differences in the way wealth and poverty influence a child's risk of obesity among nations. Chinese and Russian children from the wealthiest families were heavier than kids from poor families, while US children from the poorest families were more likely than their more well-off peers to be obese. ``In China, richer people have better access to meat and other energy-dense foods (which are much more expensive than other foods such as vegetables) than the poor,'' Wang explains. ''In the US, higher socioeconomic groups usually consume more vegetables and fruits, which are less energy-dense, than lower socioeconomic groups.'' Childhood obesity was more common in urban areas of China and in rural areas of Russia. There was no consistent pattern in the US, however. ``Compared to their rural counterparts, urban Chinese usually have higher family income, better access to food (especially meat and poultry), public services such as healthcare and transportation. They are also more likely to have sedentary lifestyles,'' Wang writes. Access to food and health services is more consistent in the US, he adds. At this time, it is not clear which types of anti-obesity methods would be effective in different countries. What is certain, said Wang, is that efforts should target children because it is more difficult for adults to lose weight. SOURCE: International Journal of Epidemiology 2001 October. Reference Source 89 For more information on how to prevent other diseases, use PreventDisease.com's "Quick Prevention Resources".