The Salgi Esophageal Cancer Research Foundation

The Journal of American Medical Association recently reported that there has been a substantial decline in the obesity rate among children in the United States.  Obesity in children ages 2-5 dropped almost in half, 43% to be exact, in the past decade.

While there are no direct causes, researchers believe that the major decrease can be attributed to a number of different reasons.  From better choices at fast food restaurants to parents taking a more active role in what their children are consuming, the obesity rate in this group of children from 2-5 is at 8.4%.  That is quite a difference from the previous obesity rate of 13.9% in 2003-2004.

This is especially beneficial in regards to a lowered risk of esophageal cancer.  A study conducted in 2013 linked overweight and obese adolescents to “a more than two-fold increased risk of developing esophageal cancer later in life,”  Study author Dr. Zohar Levi of the Rabin Medical Center in Israel suggested that this risk could possibly be attributed to reoccurring “reflux that they have throughout their life.”

The New York Times reported the following:

“This is the first time we’ve seen any indication of any significant decrease in any group,” said Cynthia L. Ogden, a researcher for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the lead author of the report, which will be published in JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association, on Wednesday. “It was exciting.”

However, a third of US children and teens are still considered obese or overweight.  Odgen told the New York Times “Still, the lower obesity rates in the very young bode well for the future.”

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This entry was posted on Friday, March 7th, 2014 at 3:58 pm and is filed under The Salgi Foundation - Esophageal Cancer Awareness, Early Detection & Research. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.