Is it your imagination, or are kids these days
just bigger than they used to be? It's true: Our
kids are getting much heavier, much younger than
ever before. Today, 30 percent of youngsters
aged 6 to 19 — that's nearly one out of every
three kids — are either overweight or at risk
for becoming overweight. If the trend we've seen
over recent years continues, the numbers will
keep climbing — and so will the prevalence of
diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol,
and other dangerous health conditions related to
overweight.
Even worse, the health risks don't go away when overweight children grow up. In fact, they get worse. The U.S. Surgeon General estimates that 70 percent of overweight kids will be overweight or obese as adults. That means continued health problems — including the risk of early death from heart disease or the complications of diabetes. To save kids' lives, it's imperative that parents know when they need to worry about their children's weight — and what they can do about it.