There was no significant increase in the prevalence of obese children and teens in the US between 1999 and 2006, in contrast to the increase that had been reported in prior years, according to a study in the May 28 issue of JAMA.”In the United States, the prevalence of overweight among children increased between 1980 and 2004, and the heaviest children have been getting heavier,” the authors write.

Prevalence estimates varied by age and by racial/ethnic group. Non-Hispanic black and Mexican American girls were more likely to have a high body mass index (BMI) for age than non-Hispanic white girls. Among boys, Mexican Americans were significantly more likely to have high BMI for age than non-Hispanic white boys.

In an accompanying editorial, Cara B. Ebbeling, PhD, and David S. Ludwig, MD, PhD, of Children’s Hospital Boston, write that “recent public health campaigns aimed at raising awareness of childhood obesity and improving the quality of school food have begun to pay off. However, it is too early to know whether these data reflect a true plateau or a statistical aberration in an inexorable epidemic, and pre-existing racial/ethnic disparities show no sign of abating. On one point there is no uncertainty: without substantial declines in prevalence, the public health toll of childhood obesity will continue to mount, because it can take many years for an obese child to develop life-threatening complications.”

JAMA – May 28, 2008;299:2401-2405.

www.jama.com