ABSTRACT
Introduction Obesity has reached epidemic proportions. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 68% of US adults and 32% of children aged 2-19 years are now either overweight or obese (Flegal et al. 2010; Ogden et al. 2010). Between 1980 and 2008 the rate of obesity doubled among children aged 2-5 years and tripled among children aged 6-11 years. Significantly, during the same time period, the number of obese adolescents increased from 5% to 18%. e numerous problems attendant to obesity are often perpetuated into adulthood, as obese children and adolescents are more likely to become obese as adults.
