ABSTRACT
Currently, one-third of all children in the United States aged 2-19 years are overweight, of which 16.9% are obese [1]. The onset of obesity in childhood confers a higher risk of adult cardiometabolic mortality due to diabetes, hypertension, ischemic heart disease, and stroke [2]. Several longitudinal studies have linked early childhood weight gain and childhood obesity with adult obesity [3], and adolescent obesity is strongly predictive of adult obesity [4]. Obesity-related health conditions are the second leading cause of preventable death, following only tobacco use [5]. The dramatic rise in the prevalence of pediatric obesity over the past two decades has been predicted to lead to a decline in overall life expectancy in the United States [6].
