Chubby 5-Year-Olds Risk Early Obesity

In a new study, about half of the children who were obese by age 14 were already overweight in kindergarten. The risk of teen obesity for those overweight 5-year-olds was about 4 times as high as for children of normal weight. The study included more than 7,700 children in kindergarten from across the United States. Their average age was about 5½ when the study began. Researchers measured the children’s weight and height 7 times between kindergarten and eighth grade (about age 14). When the study began, 12.4% were obese. Another 14.9% were overweight. Those figures rose to 20.8% obese and 17% overweight in eighth grade. About 5.4% of children became overweight during kindergarten and 1.7% each year from fifth through eighth grades. Researchers suggested that children who were at highest risk tended to become overweight and then obese early.