According to the latest study, fewer Australian pre-schoolers are overweight in recent years compared with the late-1990s and also the social disparities in children's obesity risk seem to be shrinking. These findings were reported in the International Journal of Obesity.
The researchers say young children could well be “among the first to emerge” from the obesity epidemic. Lead researcher Dr. Melanie S. Nichols, of Deakin University in Geelong, Australia, warned that the battle is far from over. Nichols also revealed excess weight is still common among Australian children as young as 2 and lower income kids remain at greater risk.
In this study the team found that between 1999 and 2007, there was a gradual decline in the percentage of overweight and obese 2- and 3-year-olds in the Australian state of Victoria. Just over 15 percent of 3-and-a-half-year-olds were overweight or obese in 2007, down from 18.5 percent in 1999. Among 2-year-olds, the rate dipped from 13.5 percent to just over 12 percent. Among 3-and-a-half-year-olds, 4.5 percent were obese in 1999, versus just under 3 percent in 2007. This improvement was largely among lower income children, which meant that the social disparities in early-childhood obesity rates have narrowed over time say researchers.
Nichols added that the reason behind this trend is not clear yet. This appears to be the first finding of a “clearly decreasing trend” in obesity in Australia, she said. Internationally, studies in recent years have suggested that childhood obesity rates are at least stabilizing in the U.S., Europe and Japan. She credits government programs that have begun over the past decade to improve children's diets and boost their activity levels. But, she said, “We don't have nearly enough information to determine whether that was the case.” She added that parents may also take credit for this trend saying, “The period of the study also coincided with unprecedented increases in media coverage and public awareness of childhood obesity as an issue. So it may also be that parents are responding to these messages.”
However she warned that despite the progress, “there is still an uneven distribution of the burden of obesity” between socioeconomic groups. She advises parents to adopt healthy measures like limiting kids' TV and computer time, and serving as role models by eating plenty of fruits and vegetables and getting regular exercise themselves.
Another recent study shows children are most at risk of becoming overweight or obese between the ages of seven and 11. Indeed, 19 per cent of the 5,000 children monitored by the universities of Bristol, Stirling and Strathclyde became overweight or obese between these ages. Just ten per cent put on too much weight between three and seven years, while seven per cent became overweight or obese between the ages of 11 and 15 reveal researchers.
Professor Debbie Lawlor of the University of Bristol said these numbers could be used to determine the best ages to instigate childhood obesity prevention strategies. Meanwhile, Professor John Reilly of the University of Strathclyde added, “This research gives us an important insight into the stages of childhood and adolescence when the environment is most obesity promoting.”
Obesity crisis in the U.S. expected to worsen by 2050