There are a lot of risk elements for childhood obesity.  A new study adds family violence to the growing list. The study examined practically 1600 young children who were born between 1998 and 2000.  Each child’s mother, most of whom were unmarried, was interviewed periodically from the time of birth via the child’s fifth birthday.  The height and weight of the child was measured at ages 3 and five.  Practically half of the children in the study had been exposed to family violence by the age of 5, and much more than 16 percent of those kids had turn out to be obese.  In comparison, only 11 percent of kids in the general population are regarded as to be obese based on their body mass index.  Researchers found that kids whose mothers … Read entire article »

What is obesity? Obesity is defined by an accumulation of excess body fat. There are various criteria to determine if a child is considered obese. Two of the more frequent techniques are measuring skin-fold thickness, which classifies a child as overweight if he or she has at least 25-30 percent body fat, and using Body Mass Index (BMI). BMI is the measurement of a person’s weight in relation to his or her height. To calculate BMI, multiply the person’s weight in pounds and divide that by the square of his or her height in inches. For adults, overweight is a BMI higher than 25 obese is a BMI greater than 30. Growth charts from the CDC are employed to calculate a child’s BMI based on sex and age since of adjustments … Read entire article »