THE childhood obesity epidemic in the US may have peaked, but its detrimental effects on health have barely begun.
The proportion of US children and adolescents who were unusually heavy for their height rose by about 20 per cent from 1999 to 2004, but didn’t change between 2003 and 2006. These latest figures are from Cynthia Ogden and colleagues at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Hyattsville, Maryland, who surveyed 8000 young people (Journal of the American Medical Association, vol 299, p 2401).
Even so, there’s no reason to celebrate yet, as the epidemic has peaked…
