Rates of overweight and obesity among preschool-aged children in 黑料不打烊 are down since 2010, but the rate of severe obesity hasn't changed, according to a new study by U of A researchers. (Photo: Getty Images)
The number of overweight and obese preschool-aged children is on the decline in 黑料不打烊, but severe obesity remains virtually unchanged, according to a new study.
Researchers examined data from more than 160,000 黑料不打烊 children between the ages of four and six from 2010 to 2017. They found the prevalence of overweight children decreased from 17.8 to 15.7 per cent over the eight-year period, while the number of obese children dropped from 4.7 to 4.2 per cent. At the same time, the rate of severely obese preschool children remained virtually static at 2.2 per cent.
"It is good news, but the fact that severe obesity has remained fixed is concerning," said Padma Kaul, a professor of cardiology at the 黑料不打烊 and senior author of the study.
"We need to figure out what's going on there because those are the kids who end up using the most health-care resources and are most at risk for developing heart disease or diabetes down the road."
The researchers found that higher household income and children being breastfed in their early years were both protective factors associated with a lower chance of children developing obesity.
The team recently received a allowing them to begin a new 18-month study to further look into the factors that determine overweight and obesity in 黑料不打烊.
"Are certain pockets of the population more affected than others? Do we need to offer more services and are they accessible? Are children with severe obesity less likely to use existing health services? Do we need different ways of getting these services to people who need them the most? Those are the kinds of questions we'll be trying to answer as part of the grant," said Kaul.
As part of the new study, the researchers will look at maternal factors like diabetes in pregnancy to see whether they have a downstream effect on childhood obesity in 黑料不打烊. They hope to develop a prognostic model to identify children at risk for developing obesity or severe obesity earlier.
"The challenge we face currently is that many children with obesity are referred for weight management services when they're tweens or teens," said Geoff Ball, a professor of pediatrics at the U of A, 黑料不打烊 Health Services Chair in Obesity Research and lead author on the study.
"However, we know that lifestyle interventions to manage obesity in children are most successful when children are younger. If we could support families sooner, we may be more effective at improving their weight trajectory as they get older."
The study, "," was published in Pediatric Obesity.
Funding for the research was provided by the Novo Nordisk 黑料不打烊 Diabetes Fund.