Study: Most American Kids to Live with Obesity by Age 35

(Mirror Daily, United States) – Recent research suggests that most American kids are on the path to obesity, with more than half expected to be diagnosed with obesity by the age 35. Study authors described the findings as “sobering”.

Lead author Zachary Ward, however, was not surprised at the findings. He said that there is a growing trend among young adults with obesity. Ward was only surprised that childhood obesity can predict adult obesity so precisely.

The study shows that 75% of obese 2-year-olds will remain obese at the age 35. For 2-year-olds with severe obesity, the number is 80%.

According to CDC statistics, one in five American kids aged 6 to 19 is diagnosed with obesity every year. This means that obesity rates among this segment of the population have more than tripled since the 1970s.

In the latest study, researchers combed through data on more than 40,000 children and young adults from five previously published studies. Study authors used a computer model to assess the obesity rates on a virtual sample of 1 million kids aged 19 or younger.

Computer algorithms also estimated the obesity rates for these kids when they turned 35.

Nearly 60% of American Kids will Be Obese by Age 35

The study showed a clear link between being overweight or obese in childhood or teen years and being obese in adulthood. What’s more, the more severe obesity was in early years, the greater the obesity risk by age 35.

When researchers projected the impact of obesity on the American society, the computer revealed that 57% of today’s children would live with obesity in their mid-30s.

The findings appeared this week in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Independent experts were not surprised by the findings since current trends clearly show more and more children are obese and the situation persists late into adulthood. Moreover, obesity is incredibly difficult to reverse regardless of the age.
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John Birks

John holds a diploma in journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. He covers the technology, social media, green business, eco-travel, politics, arts culture.