Childhood Obesity

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Childhood obesity is becoming a prevalent, and scary reality in the United States. The body mass index (also referred to commonly as the BMI) is calculated by a growth chart developed by the Center for Disease Control (CDC). These charts help to determine the corresponding BMI-Per-Age percentile. These numbers help determine whether a child is at a healthy rate of physical growth. The BMI is calculated from your height and weight.

Studies for childhood/adolescent obesity target the age group of 2-19 years old. When the child/adolescent is at or above the 85% through the 95% range on the BMI chart, they are considered to be overweight. Anything above the 95% mark is considered obese. According to the studies from the Center for Disease Control, since 2008, is has become more common to find children obese, instead of just overweight. This is a very concerning fact for America, because obesity at an early age, in many cases, will continue through life and progressively be the cause of many health risks.

According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), approximately 17% of people - ages 2-19 years old - are obese. Preschool age children (between the ages of 2-5) have shown increasing large statistics when comparing weight gain to previous years. With the increase in childhood obesity, comes a multitude of health problems that overweight children can carry throughout their lives. High blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes type 2 are commo...

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