Rates of severe obesity in young American children are escalating, study reveals

A recent study published in the journal Pediatrics presents alarming evidence that severe obesity is on the rise among young children in the United States.

This concerning trend was initially hoped to be an exception for children participating in a government food programme, as earlier research indicated a slight decline in obesity rates about a decade ago among these children. However, the updated findings from 2020 show a rebound in the rate, countering the previous optimism.

National data align with these findings, suggesting that approximately 2.5% of preschool-aged children across the U.S. were classified as having severe obesity during the same period.

“We were doing well and now we see this upward trend,” stated Heidi Blanck of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one of the authors of the study. “We are dismayed at seeing these findings.”

The study focused on children aged 2 to 4 who were enrolled in the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) programme, which offers healthy food and additional services to preschool-aged children from low-income families. Measurements and weights of the children were recorded for the study.

The researchers observed that 2.1% of children in the WIC programme had severe obesity in 2010. By 2016, this percentage had decreased slightly to 1.8%. However, by 2020, the rate had risen to 2%, equating to about 33,000 of the more than 1.6 million children in the WIC programme.

Twenty states recorded significant increases, with California exhibiting the highest rate at 2.8%. Notable rises were also seen in certain racial and ethnic groups, with the highest rate of approximately 2.8% found among Hispanic children.

Experts warn that severe obesity in early childhood is almost irreversible and is closely linked to chronic health issues and premature mortality.

The reasons for the increase in obesity rates remain unclear, according to Blanck. Some experts had previously attributed the decline in WIC obesity rates to policy changes in 2009, which included adjustments to food packages such as the removal of juice for infants, reduced saturated fat, and increased accessibility to fruits and vegetables.

Despite these policy changes remaining in effect, “the daily hardships that families living in poverty are facing may be harder today than they were 10 years ago, and the slight increases in the WIC package just weren’t enough,” suggested Dr. Sarah Armstrong, a Duke University childhood obesity researcher.

The study faced several challenges, including a decline in the number of children participating in the WIC programme over the past decade. Furthermore, the study period encompassed 2020, the year the COVID-19 pandemic began, leading to fewer parents taking their children for doctor visits and thus a reduction in the amount of complete data available.

Deanna Hoelscher, a childhood obesity researcher at the UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, commended the study despite its limitations, noting that “it gives you a hint of what’s going on.”

Post-2020 developments in childhood obesity rates are yet to be fully understood. Some smaller studies have indicated a significant increase in childhood obesity, particularly during the pandemic, when children were homebound from schools, experiencing disrupted eating and bedtime routines, and reduced physical activity.

“We are thinking it’s going to get worse,” Hoelscher added, highlighting concerns about the trajectory of childhood obesity in the wake of the pandemic.