Childhood Obesity and a Diabetes Epidemic

Childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions; worldwide, approximately 22 million children under five years of age are overweight.1 During the past three decades, the number of overweight children in the Unites States has more than doubled. In 1983, 18.6 percent of preschool children in the United States were defined as overweight, and 8.5 percent were defined as obese; by 2000, 22.0 percent of preschool children were overweight and 10.0 percent were obese.1 Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth indicate that the prevalence of overweight has increased by 21.5 percent among non-Hispanic black children, 21.8 percent among Hispanic children, . . .