U.S. has highest
prevalence of overweight teens in 15-country study
Date:
Jan. 25, 2004
From:
Medical
Letter on the CDC & FDA
Publisher:
NewsRX
LLC
Document
Type:
Article
Length:
493
words
Full
Text:
2004 JAN 25 – (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) — In a study of adolescents
across 15 countries, adolescents in the United States had the highest
prevalence of overweight, according to new research.
Overweight and obesity have increased
worldwide among children, adolescents and adults, according to the article. The
World Health Organization has designated obesity
as one of the most important public health threats because of the significant
health impact of diseases associated with obesity.
Obesity in adults increases the risk of
cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.
Obesity in adolescents is associated with obesity-related health problems
in adulthood, with 50-80% of obese teenagers
becoming obese adults. For children and adolescents, a body mass index (BMI) at
the 85th to 94th%ile for age generally is considered “at risk for
overweight” and a BMI at or above the 95th%ile for age is generally
considered “overweight.”
Mary D. Overpeck, DrPH, of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
Rockville, Maryland, and colleagues compared the BMI and prevalence of BMI at
or above the 85th percentile and 95th percentile (overweight) in adolescents in
13 European countries, Israel and the United States.
The researchers looked at the BMIs of 29,242 boys and girls aged 13-15 years
from Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Flemish Belgium, Finland, France,
Germany, Greece, Lithuania, Ireland, Israel, Portugal, Slovakia, Sweden, and
the United States. Their findings were published in the January 2004 issue of
the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent
Medicine.
The researchers used data from school-based surveys in 1997-1998 to
calculate BMIs for the adolescents. They used the ages 13.5 years and 15.5
years as standard cutoff points to determine what percentile children were in.
BMIs and corresponding percentiles are as follows:
BMIs of 24.8 and 24.4 defined overweight (95th percentile) for boys and
girls aged 13.5 years, respectively; BMIs of 26.0 and 25.4 indicated overweight
for boys and girls aged 15.5, respectively.
The authors found that the highest prevalence of overweight was found in the
United States and the lowest in Lithuania. The prevalence of overweight in the
United States was 12.6% in 13-year-old boys, 10.8% in 13-year-old girls, 13.9%
in 15-year-old boys, and 15.1% in 15-year-old girls.
“Among 13-year-olds, countries with significantly increased prevalence
of BMI at or above the 85th percentile (for both sexes) were Ireland, Finland
and Greece. Countries with significantly low prevalence of BMI at or above the
85th percentile were the Czech Republic, Denmark, Flemish Belgium, France,
Germany, Lithuania and Sweden, although comparisons within and among countries
by age and sex varied,” the authors
wrote.
“Prevalence of overweight (BMI at or above the 95th percentile) using
the study reference standard from this survey showed similar trends, with the
U.S. adolescents reporting a higher prevalence of overweight than any of the
European countries or regions or Israel,” wrote the researchers.
This article was prepared by Medical Letter on the CDC & FDA editors
from staff and other reports. Copyright 2004, Medical Letter on the CDC & FDA
via NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net.
Dear Earthtalk:
I’ve heard that, above and beyond our bad eating and lifestyle habits, some
chemicals in everyday products are contributing to the obesity problem. Can you
explain?
Author:
Alyssa Israel
Date:
July 6, 2014
From:
EarthTalk:
Questions & Answers About Our Environment. A Weekly Column
Publisher:
Earth
Action Network, Inc.
Document
Type:
Article
Length:
571
words
Lexile
Measure:
1430L
Full
Text:
Dear Earthtalk: I’ve heard that, above and beyond our bad eating and
lifestyle habits, some chemicals in everyday products are contributing to the obesity problem. Can you explain?–Alyssa Israel,
Fairfield, CT
Obesity is a huge problem in the U.S. and
other industrialized countries. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, obesity rates have
doubled for American adults and tripled for kids and teenagers
aged six through 19 since 1980. Today, 31 percent of American adults and 15
percent of youngsters are classified as overweight.
The rise in obesity and related health problems like diabetes is usually attributed to
an abundance of high-calorie food coupled with the trend toward a more
sedentary lifestyle, but there is more to the story. A growing number of
researchers believe that certain chemicals collectively known as
“obesogens” may be a contributing factor to the growing obesity epidemic. Exposure to these chemicals has been
shown to interfere with the way we metabolize fat, leading to obesity despite otherwise normal diet and exercise.
Bruce Blumberg, a biology professor at the University of California at
Irvine, first coined the term “obesogen” in 2006 after discovering
that certain tin-based compounds known as organotins predisposed lab mice to
weight gain. In the intervening years, hundreds of research studies have found
similar connections between weight gain in humans and exposure to organotins as
well as several other common chemicals found in everyday consumer products,
agricultural pesticides and even some drinking water.
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) reports that
as many as 20 synthetic chemicals–from the BPA in plastic food storage
containers and the lining of cans to phthalates used in the manufacture of
non-stick coatings to the parabens in many personal care products–have been
shown to cause weight gain in humans, mostly from exposure in utero or as
infants. These early effects can last a lifetime, permanently altering one’s
metabolic “set points” for gaining weight. “If you have more fat
cells and propensity to make more fat cells, and if you eat the typical
high-carbohydrate, high-fat diet we eat [in the U.S.], you probably will get
fat,” Blumberg tells the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
Adult exposure to obesogens has also been shown to trigger weight gain and
other endocrine issues while exacerbating the effects of earlier exposure.
Certain pharmaceuticals (including some of the most commonly prescribed
antidepressants) have been found to be particularly egregious in this regard.
Meanwhile, nicotine, air fresheners and many household cleaning products also
contain obesogens. Also, soybeans (consumed by both humans and the livestock we
eat) contain a naturally occurring obesogen.
There may not be much we can do about the damage already done, but avoiding
obesogens, whether from natural or synthetic, might be the best thing we can do
to prevent making our obesity, hypertension,
diabetes and other health problems that much
worse. Says Blumberg: “Eat organic, filter water, minimize plastic in your
life … If there’s no benefit and some degree of risk, why expose yourself and
your family?”
Of course, avoiding obesogens alone won’t keep people from getting fat. Eating
a nutritious diet and getting regular exercise are as important as ever to keep
one’s weight and overall health in check.
CONTACTS: NIEHS, www.niehs.nih.gov;
“Obesogens: An Environmental Link to Obesity,”
Environmental Health Perspectives, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3279464/.
EarthTalk[R] is written and edited by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss and is a
registered trademark of E–The Environmental Magazine (www.emagazine.com).
Last Completed Projects
| topic title | academic level | Writer | delivered |
|---|