Childhood Obesity“The past few decades have seen an alarming increase in the number of overweight youth” (Mullen & Shield, p.4, 2004).
What is the prevalance of this health issue? The following table from the National Center for Health Statistics 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) shows the prevalence of Childhood Obesity:
The table indicates that the rate of overweight children aged 6-11 has tripled, while adolescents aged 12-19 has quadrupled over the last 30 years. This has led researchers to predict that nearly half of “all children” in North America will be overweight by 2010, putting 80% of this prediction at risk for adult obesity as well. How do you define Childhood Obesity? Childhood obesity is defined by using a tool named Body Mass Index (BMI). ““Overweight” is defined as BMI for age and gender at or above the 95th percentile. “At risk of overweight” is defined as a BMI for age and gender from the 85th to the 95th percentile” (Mullen, & Shield, p. 10, 2004)
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