Obesity rate rising among US youth

Childhood overweight and obesity is a known risk factor for obesity in adulthood.

In a research letter published in JAMA Network Open, investigators used electronic health record data from more than 6 million individuals aged 2 to 19 years who participated in the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network to estimate the prevalence of overweight, obesity and severe obesity among youths in the United States.

The investigators noted that nearly 20% of the participants had obesity. The rate of overweight or obesity increased from 26.9% among participants aged 2 to 5 years to 38.5% among those aged 12 to 19 years. More than 9% of the participants aged 12 to 19 years had severe obesity. Additionally, compared with 59.3% of white youths, just 53.3% of Black, 49.5% of American Indian or Alaska Native, 49.1% of Hispanic and 47.3% of Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander youths maintained a healthy weight.

The findings highlighted the critical need for more effective public health interventions to prevent and treat overweight and obesity in youths.

Read more: JAMA Network Open

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