The American Heart Association (AHA) recently reported that around five percent of the American kids and teenagers are found "severely obese".
The new study suggests that previous results show that obesity in children has started to stabilize but a new trend is developing and showing signs of severe obesity in children.
Researchers of AHA recommend standardizing the definition of severe obesity for youngsters. According to their definition, those over two years of age who have a BMI (or body mass index) of more than 20 percent than 95 percent of other kids of the same gender and age must be considered severely obese. Having a BMI equivalent to 35 or higher should also qualify a child to be labeled as “severely obese.”
Using this standard, a seven-year old girl weighing 75 lbs and a 13-year old boy weighing 160 lbs could be both considered as severely obese.
One of the authors of this study, Aaron Kelly, says that this new trend of severe obesity in children is grave because this entails very serious health problems for these youngsters. Children with severe obesity are more prone to Diabetes-type 2 and other cardiovascular illnesses such as increased levels of cholesterol, high-blood pressure and atherosclerosis which cause arteries to get clogged up.
The researchers further shares that treatment of severely obese kids and teenagers is full of challenges. The common treatments that normally produce success are not as effective for them.
Most health experts suggest that treatment for these youngsters should start from less moderate treatments like changes in their lifestyle. If these don't work initially, they may resort to more intense means such as medications or even surgery. However, further study on these alternative treatments is still needed to gauge its safety and efficacy.
The AHA study was published today in the Sept. 9 issue of the online journal Circulation.
