Older overweight children consume fewer calories than their healthy weight peers

September 10, 2012 in Pediatrics

A new study by University of North Carolina School of Medicine pediatrics researchers finds a surprising difference in the eating habits of overweight children between ages 9 and 17 years compared to those younger than 9.

Younger children who are overweight or obese consume more than their healthy weight peers. But among older the pattern is reversed: They actually consume fewer calories per day than their healthy weight peers.

How to explain such a seemingly counterintuitive finding?

"Children who are overweight tend to remain overweight," said Asheley Cockrell Skinner, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics at UNC and lead author of the study published online Sept. 10, 2012 by the journal Pediatrics.

"So, for many children, obesity may begin by eating more in early childhood. Then as they get older, they continue to be obese without eating any more than their healthy weight peers," Skinner said. "One reason this makes sense is because we know overweight children are less active than healthy weight kids. Additionally, this is in line with other research that obesity is not a simple matter of overweight people eating more—the body is complex in how it reacts to amount of food eaten and amount of activity."

These results also suggest that different strategies may be needed to help children in both reach a healthy weight. "It makes sense for early childhood interventions to focus specifically on , while for those in later childhood or adolescence the focus should instead be on increasing , since overweight children tend to be less active," Skinner said. "Even though reducing calories would likely result in weight loss for children, it's not a matter of wanting them to eat more like healthy weight kids—they would actually have to eat much less than their peers, which can be a very difficult prospect for children and, especially, ."

These findings "have significant implications for interventions aimed at preventing and treating childhood obesity," Skinner said.

In the study, Skinner and co-authors Eliana Perrin, MD, MPH, and Michael Steiner, MD, examined dietary reports from 19,125 children ages 1-17 years old that were collected from 2001 to 2008 as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). They categorized the weight status based on weight-for-length percentile in children less than 2 years old, or body mass index (BMI) percentile for children between 2 and 17, and performed statistical analyses to examine the interactions of age and weight category on calorie intake.

Journal reference: Pediatrics search and more info website

Provided by University of North Carolina Health Care search and more info website

2 /5 (1 vote)  

Filter


Move the slider to adjust rank threshold, so that you can hide some of the comments.


Display comments: newest first

po6ert
Sep 16, 2012

Rank: not rated yet
the fact of being obese creates an increase in caloric use as a simple fact of pyshics. moving more weight costs more energy. have is group actually mesured the exerice of these individual. i doubt it. in any case basal metabolism is the princeple calorie
use of any individual
Rank 2 /5 (1 vote)
Relevant PhysicsForums posts

More news stories

Less sleep associated with increased risk of crashes for young drivers

A study by Alexandra L. C. Martiniuk, M.Sc, Ph.D., of The George Institute for Global Health, Sydney, Australia, and colleagues suggests less sleep per night is associated with a significant increase in the risk for motor ...

Pediatrics created May 20, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Whole-cell vaccine was more effective than acellular vaccine during CA pertussis outbreak

Whole-cell pertussis vaccines were more effective at protecting against pertussis than acellular pertussis vaccines during a large recent outbreak, according to a new Kaiser Permanente study published in Pediatrics.

Pediatrics created May 20, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New study recommends using active videogaming ('exergaming') to improve children's health

Levels of physical inactivity and obesity are very high in children, with fewer than 50% of primary school-aged boys and fewer than 28% of girls meeting the minimum levels of physical activity required to maintain health. ...

Pediatrics created May 17, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Study shows preschoolers affected by medication-related poisonings at alarming rate

Poisonings in young children have increased over the past decade, mainly due to medications in the home. A new study led by the Central Ohio Poison Center at Nationwide Children's Hospital, found that medication-related poisonings ...

Pediatrics created May 16, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Implementation research and child diarrhea

While considerable recent progress has been made against childhood diarrheal diseases, the number of children dying from diarrhoea remains unacceptably high.

Pediatrics created May 14, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0


Antidepressant reduces stress-induced heart condition

A drug commonly used to treat depression and anxiety may improve a stress-related heart condition in people with stable coronary heart disease, according to researchers at Duke Medicine.

Americans still making unhealthy choices, CDC reports

(HealthDay)—The overall health of Americans isn't improving much, with about six in 10 people either overweight or obese and large numbers engaging in unhealthy behaviors like smoking, heavy drinking or ...

CDC presents recent trends in health behaviors of US adults

(HealthDay)—In 2008 to 2010, the prevalence of key health behaviors among U.S. adults varied, with about one in five adults current smokers and 62.1 percent overweight or obese, according to a report presented ...

Study examines outbreak of spinal infections in Michigan

(HealthDay)—Factors such as increased case finding may explain why Michigan had half of the total spinal infections associated with contaminated methylprednisolone acetate in the recent fungal meningitis ...

Early use of tracheostomy for mechanically ventilated patients not associated with improved survival

For critically ill patients receiving mechanical ventilation, early tracheostomy (within the first 4 days after admission) was not associated with an improvement in the risk of death within 30 days compared to patients who ...

Weather worries can threaten a child's mental health

(HealthDay)—The monstrous tornado that devastated Moore, Okla., on Monday, killing dozens of adults and children, is a stunning example of violent weather that can affect a child's mental well-being.