Childhood Obesity May Be Tied to Obesity in Teen Years

Childhood obesity may be tied to obesity during one's teenage years, a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found.

The researchers looked at data collected as part of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999, a group of nearly 8,000 students. Between 1998 to 2007, the participants' weight and height were measured seven times.

Of the 7,738 children included in the study, 12 percent were obese and 15 percent were overweight in kindergarten. By eighth grade, 21 percent were obese and 17 percent were overweight.

Those who were overweight as 5-year-olds were four times more likely than their normal-weight peers to become obese by 14, and of those who became obese between the ages of 5 and 14, nearly half were overweight in kindergarten.

"We wanted to learn what are the ages of vulnerability and greater risk for new cases of obesity? We found that new cases of obesity tended to increase early on," study author Solveig Cunningham, of Emory University in Atlanta, said, according to HealthDay.

"Obesity affects kids across all races and socioeconomic status," she added. "Children from the wealthiest groups tended to have somewhat lower obesity risks, but the differences weren't striking."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, roughly 12.5 million - or 17 percent - of those between the ages of 2 and 19 are obese. Since 1980 alone, the obesity prevalence among children and adolescents has almost tripled.