Statistics
The following information is from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
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Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years.
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The percentage of children aged 6–11 years in the United States who were obese increased from 7% in 1980 to nearly 18% in 2012. Similarly, the percentage of adolescents aged 12–19 years who were obese increased from 5% to nearly 21% over the same period.
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In 2012, more than one third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese.
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Overweight is defined as having excess body weight for a particular height from fat, muscle, bone, water, or a combination of these factors.
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Obesity is defined as having excess body fat.
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Overweight and obesity are the result of “caloric imbalance”—too few calories expended for the amount of calories consumed—and are affected by various genetic, behavioral, and environmental factors.