Shocking new data suggests that severe obesity is sadly becoming more common in young U.S. children.
It was believed that the children in a government food program might be able to combat the trend in obesity rates; however, the most recent research found that the rates have bounced back up a bit by 2020. This conclusion mirrors other national data indicating that about 2.5% of preschool-aged children in the United States were severely obese during the same period.
Significant increases in obesity rates were seen in 20 states, with the highest rate found to be in California at 2.8%, along with major increases in certain racial and ethnic groups. The highest rate of around 2.8% was observed in Hispanic kids.
It’s extremely unsettling for all experts involved as they say severe obesity at such a young age is nearly irreversible and is also highly linked to chronic health issues and early mortality, making future generations very vulnerable.
It is unfortunate that the exact reason for the increase in obesity isn’t clear. It could be hypothesized that the daily hardships that accompany living in poverty today are much harder compared to a decade ago and the slight increases in the WIC program were not enough to combat these issues. The challenges faced by the researchers did see a decline in the number of children in WIC in the last decade, and the study period also included 2020, the year the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
This study highlights some sobering results. Read more about it here.
