Nearly 5,000 Houston-area children and families
have participated in CNRC studies, helping to improve
the nutritional well being of children worldwide.
At
the rate many overweight kids are downing excess calories,
they'll need to walk 3 miles or more a day to just
prevent further weight gain, say CNRC researchers.
"Although weight loss
is recommended for overweight children, we found that
many are continuing to gain weight at alarming rates," said
Dr. Nancy Butte, a
professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine.
A child is considered overweight if his or her Body
Mass Index (BMI) is at or above the 95th percentile
for age and gender.
Butte, the Director of the CNRC's energy
metabolism unit, measured body composition changes
among 337 Hispanic children ages 5 to 19 years over
a 1-year period. She found that most overweight children
were even more overweight 1 year later, with average
weight gains equaling 16 pounds. Children who were
not overweight at the beginning and end of the year
gained less, averaging 9 pounds, while those whose
BMI jumped above the 95th percentile during the year
gained an average of 15 pounds.
From these findings, Butte determined that 90% of
these overweight children would need to experience
a caloric deficit of at least 260 calories per day
to simply prevent further weight gain.
A 260 calorie deficit is equivalent to a 3-mile
or 60-minute walk.
"Halting the epidemic of childhood obesity will
take much more than helping children make small changes
in diet and physical activity," Butte said. "It will
require a significant and concerted societal effort
to change the way our children are eating and to increase
their physical activity."
