Childhood obesity hits a plateau, CDC finds

The childhood obesity epidemic could finally be leveling off, according to new national figures.

A report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the current Journal of the American Medical Association found no significant increase in weight problems among more than 8,000 children tracked in four two-year periods starting in 1999. The estimates are based on body mass index, a measure of height and weight, from CDC growth charts. It also found no decrease.

"We need to keep the corks in the champagne bottles," pediatric obesity specialist Dr. David S. Ludwig of Children's Hospital Boston said in an interview. "I think this is the first glimmer of hope after 25 years of overwhelmingly negative information about childhood obesity prevalence, but it's much too soon to know if it's a fundamental change in the nature of the obesity epidemic in children or a temporary lull."

Almost one out of every three children is still considered obese or overweight, the CDC survey found, with 32 percent considered “at risk” for obesity, 16 percent obese and 11 grossly obese between 2003 and 2006, the most recent period for which data is available.

Children in minority groups are more likely to be overweight, the CDC authors say. Non-Hispanic black and Mexican American girls were more likely than non-Hispanic white girls to be overweight for their age. Mexican American boys were much more likely to be overweight for their age than non-Hispanic white boys.

Even if the flattening trend continues, Ludwig said, today's children already belong to a generation eating more and exercising less than any before, putting them at risk for serious health problems later in life.

"Without a substantial decrease in prevalence, the impact of childhood obesity will continue to increase," he said. "It takes many years for an obese child to develop weight-related conditions, such as diabetes, and it takes additional years to translate into heart attacks, stroke, or renal failure."