ABSTRACT
Introduction ......................................................................................................................................35 Health Significance of Pediatric Obesity ........................................................................................37 Fatness/Adiposity .............................................................................................................................39 Fat-Free Mass...................................................................................................................................40 Fat/Adipose Tissue Distribution ......................................................................................................41 Etiology of Ethnic Differences in Body Composition....................................................................44 Implications of Racial and Ethnic Differences in Body Composition on Obesity ........................45 Conclusion........................................................................................................................................46 References ........................................................................................................................................47
The prevalence of obesity has increased significantly over the past 10 years across all populations and age groups. Twenty-five percent of U.S. children are overweight or at risk of becoming overweight, and this number has been increasing rapidly.1 The incidence of overweight in children has nearly tripled over the past 30 years with approximately 11% of children and adolescents ages 6 to 19 years overweight and another 14% considered at risk for overweight. In children ages 2 to 19 years, overweight is defined as a body mass index (BMI kg/m2) greater than the 95th percentile of the 2000 CDC growth charts for age and sex, and at risk for overweight is defined as a BMI greater than the 85th percentile and less than the 95th percentile. In addition, obesity disproportionately affects many minority populations and some lower income groups.2 According to the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES),1 African-American girls are disproportionately affected. A recent study from the National Longitudinal Study3 of Adolescent Health (n = 9795) examining the patterns of change in obesity among white, black, Hispanic, and Asian U.S. teens as they transitioned to young adulthood found that obesity incidence over the 5-year study period was 12.7%. Close to 10% of the population remained obese, 1.6% became nonobese, and the prevalence of obesity increased from 10.9 to 22.1%. Notably, obesity incidence was significantly higher in non-Hispanic black (18.4%) females compared with white females. Table 3.1 shows the incidence of overweight and obesity among different pediatric race groups based on consecutive NHANES reports.
