Childhood obesity rates in the US increased during a 12-year period, according to a study published in Pediatrics. Solveig A. Cunningham, PhD, and colleagues examined the incidence and prevalence of obesity across two cohorts of US children 12 years apart. The researchers noted a 4.5% relative increase in the cumulative incidence of new obesity cases by the end of fifth grade across cohorts among children who did not have obesity at kindergarten entry (15.5% vs 16.2%), although no substantial change was seen in annual incidence. For children with a normal BMI at kindergarten entry, risk for incident obesity stayed the same, while the risk for incident obesity increased slightly among kindergarteners who were overweight. A 29% increase was seen in the incidence of new cases during primary school among non-Hispanic Black children, while the risk stayed stable or decreased for other racial/ethnic groups, and a 15% higher cumulative incidence was seen across primary schools in 2010 versus 1998 for children from the most socioeconomically disadvantaged households.
