Childhood Obesity may Slim Down
Reported February 19, 2010
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — The rate of obesity and chronic health problems like asthma and diabetes in children may have risen in recent years, but a new study shows these conditions are likely to improve or be resolved over time.
In a new study, researchers looked at three groups of children totaling 5,001 participants over a period of six years. The goal was to analyze the rates of chronic conditions among children over time and identify any incidence of increase or resolution of the conditions. Results show the conditions persisted in the children only 40 percent of the time.
Jeanne Van Cleave, M.D., of the Center for Child and Adolescent Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital for Children and study lead author, said although half of all children are likely to be obese at some point during their childhood, less than half of them will suffer from these conditions six years later.
“It looks like these chronic conditions may not be so permanent as we once thought,” Dr. Van Cleave was quoted as saying.
After researchers analyzed data from annual surveys conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, they found that while the presence of chronic conditions in children increased between 1988 and 2000, conditions persisted until the end of each study period only 40 percent of the time.
Source: Journal of the American Medical Association, February 17, 2010