Kids Not Only Obese, They're Extremely Obese

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CHILDREN: HEALTH AND MEDICAL :

MEDICAL: CONDITIONS: OBESITY:

Kids Not Only Obese, They're Extremely Obese

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March 18, 2010 -- Extreme obesity has reached ''alarming'' levels among

children, according to a new study that looked at the weights and heights

of more than 710,000 children aged 2 to 19.

''The prevalence of extreme obesity was much higher than we thought, " says

the studys lead author, Corinna Koebnick, PhD, a research scientist at

Kaiser Permanente in Southern California, a large prepaid health plan.

''Seven percent of boys and 5% of girls -- that is scary, " she tells

WebMD. That was the overall prevalence of extreme obesity she found.

Before the study findings, Koebnick says, she would have expected perhaps

3% to 5%.

And the 7% and 5% figures are overall. For some ethnic groups, the

prevalence of extreme obesity was much higher -- up to nearly 12%.

Extreme Obesity in Children: Study Details

Koebnick and her colleagues looked at electronic medical charts that had

the height and weight of more than 700,000 children who had inpatient and

outpatient visits in 2007 and 2008.

The sample studied was gender-balanced, with 357,205 boys and 353,744

girls.

They classified them as overweight, obese, or extremely obese.

Overweight is defined as the 85th or higher percentile on the growth

charts, according to guidelines from the CDC. Obese is defined as the 95th

percentile or higher.

" Extreme obesity is defined as 120% of the 95th percentile for weight for

age and sex, " Koebnick says.

In simpler terms, Koebnick says, ''For a 10-year-old boy or girl, you

would expect him or her to weigh about 70 pounds. " If the child weighs 140

pounds, that would be extreme obesity, she says.

''This is the first study using the new CDC definition of extreme

obesity, " she says.

Extreme Obesity in Children: Findings

<snip>

Extreme Obesity is Prevalent in Children and Adolescents

Fowler Larson

Medscape

<http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/718812>

March 18, 2010 More than 7% of American boys and 5% of American girls are

extremely obese, according to a study published online March 18 in the

Journal of Pediatrics.

" The American Medical Association and the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention...recommendations on prevention, assessment, and treatment of

childhood obesity are based on relatively limited knowledge about extreme

childhood obesity at the population level, " write Corinna Koebnick, PhD,

research scientist, Kaiser Permanente Southern California's Department of

Research and Evaluation, Pasadena, and colleagues. " Newer data on recent

trends are not available. The present economic burden and health

consequences are largely unknown and ill defined. "

Reliable figures do exist for nationwide childhood obesity, which affects

17.1% of boys and 15.5% of girls. To determine the scope of extreme

obesity in a multicultural, racially diverse population, the research team

conducted a cross-sectional study in of 710,949 children aged 2 through 19

years. Approximately half were Hispanic. All were enrolled between 2007

and 2008 in a managed healthcare system that recorded information about

height and weight, using electronic health records.

The researchers employed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

definitions for obesity and overweight, which include:

Extreme obesity: weight more than 1.2 times the 95th percentile, or body

mass index (BMI) greater than or equal to 35 kg/m2

Obesity: weight higher than the 95th percentile, or BMI of 30 kg/m2 or

more

Overweight: weight above the 85th percentile, or BMI of 25 kg/m2 or more

Among other findings, the study authors discovered that more boys are

extremely obese than girls, and that the condition varies between sexes

and among ethnic groups, as follows:

<snip>

Sincerely,

Dillard

Temple University

(215) 204 - 4584

jwne@...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA

<http://daviddillard.businesscard2.com>