| Description |
Childhood obesity has become a serious public health concern in the United States. The prevalence rates of childhood obesity largely increased in the 1980s and 1990s and remained persistently high between 1999-2000 and 2007-2008 in the United States [20]. The highest extreme obesity prevalence rate, defined at the 97th percentile or higher of the age-gender-specific growth chart [13, 22], was found in Mexican American youth ages 6-11, closely followed by other Latino youth of the same age group. Childhood obesity has negative consequences on many health outcomes [19]. For example, weight-related type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), previously only observed among adults, is now more and more being diagnosed in youth [1, 15]. Public health measures are urgently needed to improve early identification of at-risk youth and implement interventions effective in delaying or even preventing the development of metabolic abnormalities or other morbidities associated with obesity and insulin resistance [5, 6, 30]. |
