Childhood obesity: the health issue

Overweight and obesity in children is epidemic in North America and internationally. Approximately 22 million children under 5 years of age are overweight across the world. In the United States, the number of overweight children and adolescents has doubled in the last two to three decades, and similar doubling rates are being observed worldwide, including in developing countries and regions where an increase in Westernization of behavioral and di-etary lifestyles is evident. Comorbidities associated with obesity and overweight are similar in children as in the adult population. Elevated blood pressure, dyslipidemia, and a higher prevalence of factors associated with insulin resis-tance and type 2 diabetes appear as frequent comorbidities in the overweight and obese pediatric population. In some populations, type 2 diabetes is now the dominant form o