According to a federal supplemental nutrition program, severe obesity among young children in the United States appears to be on the rise.
About 2% of children aged 2 to 4 in the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) nutrition program were identified as severely obese by 2020, accounting for about 3 of the program's more than 1.6 million children, according to a new study30,000.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the program has made some progress on severe obesity. Severe obesity is defined as having a BMI above 35 or at least 20% heavier than the fattest 5% of children. BMI stands for Body Mass Index and is an indicator that estimates body fat content based on height and weight.
According to the findings published Dec. 18 in the journal Pediatrics, the percentage of children in the U.S. Women's and Children's Health Insurance Plan (WIC) who are severely obese has increased from 2 percent in 20101% down from 1 percent in 20168%。
In the background, the researchers said this is consistent with other studies that have noted an increase in the rate of severe obesity among young children, in 2018, up to 2Nine per cent of children between the ages of two and four are severely obese.
We did well before, and now we're seeing that upward trend," Heidi Blanck, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Obesity Prevention and Control, said in an interview with The Associated Press. "We were devastated by these findings. ”
Overall, 20 states saw a significant increase in the percentage of young children found to be severely obese.
California saw the largest increase in the number of severely obese WIC children, with an adjusted percentage point increase of 054。Others include Texas (up 0.).45), Georgia (up 0.4), New Jersey (up 0.).39), Washington State (up 0.).38) and the State of Hawaii (up 0.).37）。
Hispanic children saw the largest significant increase, with their rate of severe obesity rising by 041 adjusted percentage points;AAPI children increased by 028 percentage points;Black children grew by 013 percentage points.
Researchers note that severely obese children are more likely to die early or develop health problems such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and fatty liver disease.
Researchers say more than 20 percent of children in the U.S. received WIC benefits in 2019. The program provides healthy food and nutrition education to millions of low-income pregnant women, mothers and children under the age of five.
The researchers said the incidence of severe obesity increased despite adjustments to the program in 2009 to provide additional cash allowances for healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and reduced allowances for milk, cheese and fruit juices.
Other studies have found that these changes can help improve the diet of WIC-based children, but the researchers noted that there are differences between states that may affect the effectiveness of the program.
Poor families may face more daily hardships now than they did 10 years ago. And the small increase in the U.S. Children's Health Insurance Plan (WIC) is clearly not enough," Dr. Sarah Armstrong, a childhood obesity researcher at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, told The Associated Press.
*: Pediatrics, 18 December 2023;AP, Dec. 18, 2023.
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