According to Public Health France, overweight affects 17% of children aged 6 to 17, of whom 4% suffer from obesity. The consequences associated with these weight problems are numerous: breathing difficulties, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance, psychological problems … The risks of premature death, disability or obesity in adulthood are also increased. What if obesity in adolescence played out from early childhood? According to a German study published in The New England Journal of Medicine on October 4, weight gain between 2 and 6 years of age would be a predictive marker.
1.4 times higher risk of overweight
This conclusion stems from the analysis of the weight data of 51,505 Germans aged 0 and 14 and in good health. Annual changes in body mass index (BMI) during childhood were also observed in 34,196 subjects. Then, the same data was collected between 15 and 18 years old. The results show that most of the teens with normal BMI never had any weight problems. But for overweight adolescents, 53% had already been overweight from their 5 years. Almost 90% of children who were obese by age 3 subsequently suffered from weight problems.
However, it appears that 75% of obese children had a normal BMI during the first two years of their life. The acceleration of adiposity was observed after, between 2 and 6 years. In the end, consequent annual increases in BMI during the preschool years are associated with a risk of overweight 1.4 times higher than for young people with a stable BMI.
“Nutritional advice should be considered in case of persistent exaggerated weight gain or occurring after the age of 2 years”, estimates Michael Freemark, endocrino-pediatrician at Duke University quoted by Doctor’s Daily.
A national and global problem
In addition, the likelihood that a child will remain obese into adulthood is high. She varies from 20-50% before puberty to 50-70% after puberty. This is why obesity has been the subject, since 2010, of a screening and care program at the national level in France. For Michael Freemark, the results of this new survey give hope “Personalized interventions in high-risk children at an early age can help prevent or limit excessive weight gain before obesity becomes irreversible”.
The problem is actually global. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents aged 5-19 globally has increased ” in a spectacular way “ : it went from barely 4% in 1975 to just over 18% in 2016.
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