Childhood Obesity Leads to Adolescent Obesity

Kids don't outgrow 'baby fat,' researchers report

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

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THURSDAY, May 4 (HealthDay News) -- Overweight children are often said to have baby fat that will disappear as they get older, but a new British study suggests this is a myth.

In reality, overweight kids are more likely to become overweight teens, increasing their risk for diseases linked to obesity, such as type 2 diabetes.

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"Contrary to our expectation, children who are overweight at 11, stay that way right through to 16, with no sign that they were growing out of their 'puppy fat,' " said lead researcher Jane Wardle, director of the Cancer Research UK, Health Behavior Unit in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College London.

In the study, researchers collected data on 5,863 children as they developed into young adults. The results clearly showed that weight problems are established before adolescence. The researchers found that children who were overweight when they were 11, continued being overweight through adolescence.

Their report appears in the May 4 online edition of the British Medical Journal.

The research team found that 25 percent of children were overweight. Girls had greater weight problems than boys. Black girls particularly were more likely to have weight problems, with an average of 38 percent being overweight or obese over the study period, compared with 28 percent of white girls and 20 percent of Asian girls. However, among boys, ethnicity made little difference in weight.

Economics also played a role, with those from the lowest economic background more likely to be overweight. Among girls, 35 percent from the lowest economic background were overweight or obese, compared with 28 percent of other girls.

Wardle sees these findings as a warning sign of future health problems. "Obesity, which is developing before 11 in childhood, is persistent obesity rather than a temporary stage children are going through," Wardle said. "Parents have to take action earlier. And, as a society, we have to recognize that what's going on with the children is a future time bomb and not just a passing phenomenon."

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