Articulos

OBESITY IN THE UNITED STATES

Obesity in the United States has been increasingly cited as a major health issue in recent decades. While many industrialized countries have experienced similar increases, obesity rates in the United States are the highest in the world with 74.6% of Americans being overweight or obese. Estimates have steadily increased, from 19.4% in 1997, 24.5% in 2004 to 26.6% in2007, to 33.8% (adults) and 17% (children) in 2008. The direct medical cost of obesity and indirect economic loss to obesity has been estimated to be as high as $51.64 billion and $99.2 billion in 1995, respectively; this rose to $61 billion and $117 billion in 2000. Researchers for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and RTI International estimate that in 2003, obesity-attributablemedical expenditures reached $75 billion. Obesity rates have increased for all population groups in the United States over the last several decades. Between 1986 and 2000, the prevalence of severe obesity (BMI ≥ 40 kg/m2) quadrupled from one in two hundred Americans to one in fifty. Extreme obesity (BMI ≥ 50 kg/m2) in adults increased by a factor of five, from one in two thousand to one in fourhundred. There have been similar increases seen in children and adolescents, with the prevalence of overweight in pediatric age groups nearly tripling over the same period. Approximately nine million children over six years of age are considered obese. Several recent studies have shown that the rise in obesity in the US is slowing, possibly explained by saturation of health-oriented media or abiological limit on obesity.

By Age Group Historically, obesity primarily afflicted adults, but this has changed in the last 2 decades. 15-25 percent of American children and adolescents are now obese. Children and adolescents who are obese are likely to be obese in adulthood and to develop obesity-related health problems. Newborns Some newborns may be born big but this is more often a problemassociated with a medical disorder. Unlike adults, newborns do not develop obesity. The number one cause of big babies is diabetes but this is not considered to be an obese baby.

Children And Teens From 1980 to 2008, the prevalence of obesity in children aged 6 to 11 years tripled from 6.5% to 19.6%. The prevalence of obesity in teenagers more than tripled from 5% to 18.1% in the same time frame.Data from NHANES surveys (1976–1980 and 2003–2006) show that the prevalence of obesity has increased: for children aged 2–5 years, prevalence increased from 5.0% to 12.4%; for those aged 6–11 years, prevalence increased from 6.5% to 17.0%; and for those aged 12–19 years, prevalence increased from 5.0% to 17.6%. In 2000, approximately 19% of children (ages 6–11) and 17% of adolescents (ages 12–19)were overweight and an additional 15% of children and adolescents were at risk to becoming overweight, based on their BMI. Analyses of the trends in high BMI for age showed no statistically significant trend over the four time periods (1999–2000, 2001–2002, 2003–2004, and 2005–2006) for either boys or girls. Overall, in 2003-2006, 11.3% of children and adolescents aged 2 through 19 years were at orabove the 97th percentile of the 2000 BMI-for-age growth charts, 16.3% were at or above the 95th percentile, and 31.9% were at or above the 85th percentile . Trend analyses indicate no significant trend between 1999–2000 and 2007-2008 except at the highest BMI cut point (BMI for age 97th percentile) among all 6- through 19-year-old boys. In 2007-2008, 9.5% of infants and toddlers were at or abovethe 95th percentile of the weight-for-

recumbent-length growth charts. Among children and adolescents aged 2 through 19 years, 11.9% were at or above the 97th percentile of the BMI-for-age growth charts; 16.9% were at or above the 95th percentile; and 31.7% were at or above the 85th percentile of BMI for age. In summary, between 2003 and 2006, 11.3% of children and adolescents were obese and...