The Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine have published a new study that shows nearly 1 in every 5 American 4-year-olds faces obesity.
The study focused on 8,550 American preschoolers born in 2001 belonging to different ethnicities such as Caucasian, African-American, Hispanic, Native American, and Asian. The body-mass index (BMI) of these preschoolers was calculated against government growth charts. They were considered as obese if they were found to be in the 95th percentile or higher. For a four-year-old it was found to be 18.
The results of the study showed some surprising results. Native American and Hispanic children were more likely to be obese compared to Asian children. Also, boys were known to have more weight related issues than girls.
The study’s main purpose was to discover the root cause of weight issues at an early age. The answer lies in understanding the cultural and family lifestyle of overweight kids along with heredity.
Experts say that over one-third of obese children go on to become overweight adults. Since there are no clear answers for preventing childhood obesity it is important for dads to adopt a healthy parenting style and teach kids to exercise and eat right. Many fathers make parenting mistakes by following an unhealthy lifestyle themselves, which eventually affects the child’s health as well.