Childhood obesity soars worldwide

Conclusion This is a huge report with data from around the world. It found that, while obesity among children has clearly increased globally, the picture is variable from one country or region to another. It's encouraging that the report found obesity levels among countries such as the UK are levelling off. However, that still leaves millions of children obese or overweight, which could put their health at risk in years to come. More needs to be done to reduce those numbers. More urgent is the situation in countries that have seen a rapid rise in childhood obesity that shows no sign of slowing. It is also important not to overlook the ongoing problem of the many millions of children who are underweight, as this can lead to other long-term health risks. The report does have some limitations to be aware of: Categories of obesity, overweight etc are not "absolute" categories based on the optimum weight for health. Instead, they represent how a child's BMI compares to a "reference" population of children the same age and sex. Some debate whether this over-estimates the proportion of children categorised as obese. The amount of data the researchers had available for each region varies a lot. Some regions have many reports of children's weight and height, often measured at school. For regions where children are less likely to attend school, or where such programmes are not in place, researchers made estimates relying on fewer sources. Despite the research...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Obesity Source Type: news