A study of the prevalence and increasing trend of childhood obesity in the United States and its correlation to type 2 diabetes mellitus

The aim of study was to learn the prevalence and the increasing trend of obesity in the United States, study its correlation with type 2 diabetes mellitus and make recommendations to resolve the pressing health issue. The study examined the health status data on a total of 5101 children sampled by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Children varied with respects to age, sex, race, family income level and educational background. The study sources revealed that childhood obesity is tremendously increasing in the United States. It showed a positive correlation between obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus as well as other debilitating health disorders such as hypertension, coronary artery diseases and arthritis contributing to poor quality of life, low self-esteem and depression. Results from the bivariate analysis conducted on the NHANES data showed a significant difference in the prevalence of obesity amongst different ethnic groups. There was a positive association between female gender and Body Mass Index (BMI) as well as between health risks, pre-diabetes and diabetes between genders and different ethnic groups respectively. Based on the study, recommendations such as healthy eating, regular exercising, changing family lifestyle patterns as well as major required changes from school, government and food industry were made to fight the challenging battle