Changing times call for changing methods: Introduction to the special issue on innovative treatments and prevention programs for pediatric obesity

摘要

According to recent survey results, approximately 17% of children and adolescents (ages 2 through 19) in the United States are obese (body mass index >95th percentile for sex and age) and about 32% are overweight (body mass index >85th percentile; Ogden, Carroll, Kit, & Flegal, 2012). Ogden et al., also reported that the prevalence of "high weight-for-recumbent length among infants (ages 0-2) was just under 10%. These data taken from the 2009-2010 National Health and Nutrition Evaluation Survey reflect increasing rates of obesity over the past 12 years in boys (ages 2 through 19) and relatively stable rates of obesity among girls over this span. Overall, the prevalence of obesity is approximately three times greater than it was in 1980.