Overweight Kindergarteners Suffer a Higher Risk of Obesity in Future

First Posted: Jan 30, 2014 06:32 AM EST
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Over-weight kindergarteners suffer a higher risk of obesity in later life compared to normal weight children, claims a new study.

The study, conducted by researchers at the Hubert Department of Global Health at Rollins School of Public Health, reveals that the risk of overweight kindergarten children becoming obese by the 8th grade is four times higher than the normal weight children. The researchers say that this finding establishes that the development of childhood obesity or incidences is mostly established by kindergarten.

"Our findings uncovered several important points by examining incidence over time. We have evidence that certain factors established before birth and during the first five years are important.  Obesity-prevention efforts focused on children who are overweight by five-years-old, may be a way to target children susceptible to becoming obese later in life," says Solveig A. Cunningham, PhD, assistant professor and the study lead.

For this study the researchers examined the data of 21,260 kids who were a part of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study of the U.S. Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999, the researchers made appropriated data adjustments to make it a representative sample of nearly 3.8 million children enrolled in kindergarten across the U.S. at the time. More than 9,000 kids were followed through the 8th grade. For the study, the researchers mainly focused on the rate of incidence of obesity in overweight as well as normal weight kids who had enrolled for kindergarten.

Cunningham said that although the trends in the occurrence of obesity are well documented, not much is known about the new cases of childhood obesity. Analyzing the occurrence of this may help in understanding the nature of obesity that is a growing epidemic now. Also this will help in attaining a proper insight into the groups that are at a higher risk for obesity.

The researchers calculated each child's body mass index using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Growth Charts. Based on this they had a cut off for normal weight, overweight was 85th percentile BMI and obesity was 95th percentile BMI.

The researchers noticed that over 12 percent of the kids were obese when they entered kindergarten. Nearly 14 percent had excess body weight and were four time more vulnerable to obesity by eighth grade when compared to the normal weight kids. And those kids who were born with excess body weight and entered kindergartner overweight were at a greater risk of getting obese before they reached the age of 14.

Findings earlier showed that the rate of obesity reduces with age during the elementary school years and also obesity rates differ in different racial, ethnic as well as socioeconomic groups,

The finding was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

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