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Study shows childhood obesity rates 'levelling off'

30th Jan 2015 - 09:56
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Study shows childhood obesity rates 'levelling off'
Abstract
The childhood obesity epidemic may be showing signs of ‘levelling off’ after a study suggests that the rate at which children under 10 are becoming obese is slowing down.

The study showed a steady rise in the number of overweight children in England in 1994-2003, but in the past decade it has remained at around 30%.

The rate of growth of overweight and obesity levels, which was 8% each year up to 2003, has slowed dramatically in the past decade to 0.4%.

Levels among two-to-five-year-olds remained at round 25% for boys and 23% for girls in the last decade, and six to ten-year-olds levels remained around 30% in the time frame.

However the research, conducted by King’s College London, did reveal that obesity rates amongst 11-15-year-olds are still rising, with the figure currently standing at 37%.

The number of obese people in the UK has more than trebled in the past 25 years, and childhood obesity levels rose during this period too. One in three children is now overweight, whilst one in five is obese.

The study, published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, used GPs electronic health records in England to monitor trends over 20 years.

Weight, height and body mass index (BMI) measurements for more than 370,000 children from 1994 to 2013 were analysed.

Written by
PSC Team