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The percentage of American kids who are
overweight or obese has swelled to such a level that public
health officials call it an epidemic. Now, an international
study reveals that the rate of obesity among children in other
nations is also on the rise.
It is suggested that in the US, obesity
causes at least 300,000
excess deaths, and healthcare costs of American
obese adults amount to about $100 billion.
Investigators reviewed national health
surveys on more than 6,000 US children aged 6 to 18 years
between 1988 to 1994. They also looked at data on more than
3,000 children in China and nearly 7,000 children in Russia,
from the early 1990s.
In
the US, about 11% of children were obese and slightly more
than 14% were overweight.
In comparison, 6% of kids in Russia were
obese and 10% were overweight. In China, 3.6% of kids were
obese and 3.4% were overweight.
The study also uncovered differences
in the way wealth and poverty influence a child's risk of
obesity among nations. Chinese and Russian children from the
wealthiest families were heavier than kids from poor families,
while US children from the poorest families were more likely
than their more well-off peers to be obese.
In China, richer people have better access
to meat and other energy-dense foods, which are much more
expensive than other foods such as vegetables, than the poor.
In the US, higher socioeconomic groups usually consume more
vegetables and fruits, which are less energy.
International
Journal of Epidemiology 2001 October
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