Severe obesity on the rise among children in the U.S.

A new study led by a University of North Carolina School of Medicine researcher finds little to cheer about in the fight against childhood obesity, despite a recent report to the contrary.

The study, published online first April 7 in JAMA Pediatrics, found that all classes of obesity in U.S. children have increased over the last 14 years. Perhaps most troubling, the study found an upward trend in the more severe forms of obesity – those in which children have a body mass index (BMI) that is 120 to 140 percent higher than their peers.

“An increase in more severe forms of obesity in children is particularly troubling,” said Asheley Cockrell Skinner, PhD, lead author of the study and assistant professor of pediatrics in the UNC School of Medicine. “Extreme obesity is more clearly associated with heart disease and diabetes risk in children and adolescents, and is more difficult to treat.”

These findings are based on a new analysis of data collected from 26,690 children ages 2-19 from 1999 to 2012 as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

(Image: Getty)

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