Weight Guidelines Toughened for Obese Mothers-to-Be

The Institute of Medicine (IOM), the nation's most influential medical advisory group, has updated its guidelines for weight gain during pregnancy for the first time since 1990.
The revised recommendations, released May 28, which also include the first advice regarding exercise during pregnancy, reflect new data on prenatal health as well as several recent shifts in the obstetric landscape - pregnant women in the U.S. are now older, more likely to deliver multiple births and ethnically more diverse than they were 20 or 30 years ago. But far and away, the IOM's greatest new concern is the increased population of overweight and obese mothers-to-be. (Watch TIME's video "How to Lose Hundreds of Pounds.")
For centuries, one of the greatest dangers pregnant women faced was not gaining enough weight to adequately nourish a healthy baby. To protect against malnutrition and, in some cases, a strong societal pressure to stay thin, doctors - and grandmothers - everywhere routinely urged expecting mothers to eat, eat, eat.
Times have changed. Today, nearly two-thirds of American women of childbearing age are overweight, and one-third qualify as obese. An abundance of research suggests that weight gain before and during pregnancy increases the risk of several serious health complications for both mother and child, including diabetes, hypertension and birth defects.
"Increasingly, we saw the weight women were gaining was going outside the established guidelines, either below or above them," says Kathleen Rasmussen, a professor of nutrition at Cornell University and the chair of the committee that wrote the IOM report. "That suggested a need to re-examine them." (Watch a video on fitness gadgets.)
For most women - including those who are underweight, normal weight or even overweight at conception - the guidelines remain unchanged from the original 1990 standards: women with a healthy body mass index, or BMI (a ratio of height and weight used to define obesity), of 18 to 25 are advised to gain 25 to 35 pounds during pregnancy. Overweight women with a BMI of 25 to 29.5 should gain less, up to 25 pounds; underweight women, with BMIs below 18.5, should gain more, up to 40 pounds.
The recommendations include new, specific guidelines for obese women, including those who have a BMI of 30 or higher at conception. These mothers-to-be are advised to limit their weight gain to 11 to 20 pounds. The standards also suggest for the first time that pregnant women may safely exercise up to 30 minutes a day throughout their entire pregnancy, barring any complications.
Failing to adhere to the IOM's recommendations could increase health risks for both mother and child, Rasmussen says. Women who do not gain enough weight during pregnancy face an increased risk of stunted fetal growth and preterm delivery. But more commonly, women put on too many extra pounds: approximately 40% of normal-weight and 60% of overweight women gained excessive weight during pregnancy, according to a study published in March by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; one-fourth of obese women gained more than 35 pounds, the recommended limit for women of healthy weight. (Watch TIME's video "Uninsured Again.")
Studies have linked obesity and rapid weight gain during pregnancy to a higher risk of gestational diabetes and hypertension in the mother. And because most women fail to shed all their pregnancy fat, the additional weight can lead to an increased risk of postpartum obesity, along with elevated risks of heart disease and stroke. Babies delivered by obese women tend to be born bigger, earlier and by Cesarean section. And many studies suggest that a mother's gestational obesity predicts later weight problems in her offspring. One recent study conducted by researchers at Harvard Medical School found that among nearly 12,000 children and teenagers, those whose mothers gained more than the recommended amount of weight during pregnancy were 42% more likely to be obese by the time they were 9 to 14 years old.
Rasmussen emphasizes that physicians must do more to counsel individual patients about diet and exercise both before and after conception. "Traditionally, these guidelines concentrated on what was healthiest for the baby," Rasmussen says. "Here, we've spent much more time looking at both the mother's and the baby's well-being."
But the new recommendations should be applied only to American patients, the IOM says. Although the guidelines use globally accepted BMI cutoffs determined by the World Health Organization to define pre-pregnancy obesity, the weight-gain recommendations may not be appropriate for women in other countries, who are shorter or thinner or have inadequate prenatal care.
Some American doctors think the IOM, which is part of the National Academy of Sciences, could have gone even further in its recommendations for overweight women. Dr. Raul Artal, a professor of obstetrics at St. Louis University's School of Medicine, believes that more attention needs to be paid to the long-term health risks of maternal obesity for both mother and child, and that these concerns are far more important than any gestational weight-gain chart. Artal runs a clinic specializing in obese and overweight pregnancies and has found that, under the close guidance of dietitians and physicians, about half of his oversize patients put on little to no weight and deliver healthy, normal-weight babies. "Obesity leads to lifelong problems that this committee still fails to recognize the full importance of," he says. "They remain much more concerned about not-sufficient weight gain."
Still, Artal applauds the updated guidelines, which he calls an "excellent review of all the relevant research" and which are more accommodating of individual patients. "The reality is that no two pregnancies are alike, so flexibility is important," Artal says. These days, it seems, the age-old advice for mothers-to-be to "eat for two" no longer applies.
See pictures of what makes you eat more food.
See nine kid foods to avoid.
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Experts Urge Less Weight Gain for Obese Women in Pregnancy

THURSDAY, May 28 (HealthDay News) � Obese moms-to-be should
limit their weight gain during pregnancy to between 11 and 20 pounds to
safeguard their health and that of their baby, according to newly updated
expert guidelines.

That level of gestational weight gain is about half whats recommended
for normal-weight pregnant women and reflects the concern over the rising
number of obese expectant mothers in the United States.

The new guidelines � the first since 1990 � were issued jointly May
28 by the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council.

"We looked at a balance of maternal outcomes related to weight gain in
pregnancy and issues related to the outcome for the fetus and neonate,"
explained Dr. Patrick M. Catalano, chairman of obstetrics and gynecology
at Case Western Reserve University and a member of the committee that
wrote the new guidelines.

"There is good evidence that the amount of gestational weight gain for
an obese woman can be related to the risk of needing a cesarean delivery
and retention of weight gain after pregnancy, which puts the woman at
further risk in future pregnancies," Catalano said.

Doctors typically define overweight as a body mass index (BMI) of
between 25 and 30 and obesity as a BMI of 30 and above. BMI is based on
weight and height; for example, a 5-foot-6-inch tall woman weighing
between 115 and 154 pounds would have a BMI in the normal range.

But children born to overweight or obese moms face a rise in risk for
preterm birth or being larger than normal at delivery, with extra fat,
Catalano noted. Babies born large can suffer stuck shoulders and broken
collar bones, experts say, and are prone to overweight or obesity and type
2 diabetes later in life. And an overly large newborn poses risks for the
mother at delivery, including vaginal tearing, bleeding and often the need
for a cesarean section.

Infants born overweight also face higher odds for health problems such
as heart disease and diabetes. Children born prematurely can suffer from
impaired mental and physical development.

On the other end of the spectrum, the report's authors noted, women who
are underweight during their pregnancy raise their babies' odds for
stunted fetal growth and preterm delivery.

So, according to the new guidelines, maintaining a normal body weight
and gaining only the recommended amount of weight during pregnancy is the
best way to lower risks to both mother and child.

Specifically, the guidelines urge that:

Normal-weight women � those with a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 � should gain
25 to 35 pounds during pregnancy.

Underweight women �those with a BMI less than 18.5 � should gain 28
to 40 pounds during pregnancy.

Overweight women should gain 15 to 25 pounds.

Obese women should gain only 11 to 20 pounds.

The last recommendation marks a change from the 1990 guidelines, which
recommended that obese mothers-to-be gain at least 15 pounds during
pregnancy.

The report's authors were also concerned with the mother's weight at
conception. Almost two-thirds of American women of childbearing age are
overweight and almost one-third are obese, the report notes. The committee
recommended, therefore, that women try to reach a normal BMI before
conception and then gain the appropriate amount of weight during their
pregnancy.

The committee also recommends that doctors provide diet and exercise
counseling to women before conception so that women can achieve a normal
BMI before becoming pregnant. In addition, prenatal care should focus on
keeping weight gain within recommended guidelines.

Putting on excess pounds during pregnancy is becoming common: According
to a study published in November in Obstetrics & Gynecology,
nearly one in five pregnant American women now surpass recommended levels
of weight gain during their pregnancies.

So, following the new guidelines "can be beneficial to both you and the
baby," Catalano said. "The closer to a normal weight that you can be
before you get pregnant is to your advantage and also to your baby's
advantage because we know that your pre-pregnancy weight is a very
important variable for these outcomes as well as the weight gain in
pregnancy."

Dr. Michael Katz, senior vice president for research and global
programs at the March of Dimes, a sponsor of the report, was dubious about
the impact of the new guidelines long term.

"Pregnant women are very concerned about the outcome so they respond to
recommendations, but they don't last very long," Katz said. "Obesity and
overweight is a chronic situation. If a woman is overweight, she should
adjust her weight first, then become pregnant. And one hopes, they would
keep their weight in check subsequently, but that's unlikely."

Losing weight and keeping it off is a lifetime commitment, Katz noted.
Being underweight is also a problem, "but obesity is by far the most
prevalent and most serious problem," he said.

More information

The March of Dimes has more on weight
gain during pregnancy.

Hardened Arteries Threaten Obese, Diabetic Youth

TUESDAY, May 26 (HealthDay News) � An examination of the neck
arteries of today's obese or diabetic young people bodes ill for their
future health, researchers report.

The walls of these carotid arteries, which carry blood to the brain,
showed a thickening and stiffness known to increase the risk of future
strokes, heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems, according to a
report to be published in the June 9 issue of Circulation.

"Since the 1980s, there has been a major increase in obesity in our
youth," said Dr. Elaine Urbina, director of preventive cardiology at
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, associate professor of
pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati and lead author of the report.
"This could be the first generation of Americans that has a shorter life
expectancy than its parents," she said.

In the study, Urbina and her team used ultrasound to assess the carotid
arteries of a few hundred young people (average age 18) � 182 who were
lean, 128 diagnosed with type 2 diabetes (often tied to obesity), and 136
classified as obese because their weight-for-height was above the 95th
percentile. "It was one of the larger studies of carotid thickness in
adolescents," Urbina said.

The researchers looked at the thickness of the intima, one of the
layers of tissue that line the arteries.

"If you have diabetes, the intima is thicker than if you don't have
diabetes," Urbina said. "If you are obese, the artery is also thicker.
Stiff carotids are linked to heart attacks as well as strokes, because if
you are having a buildup of plaque in the arteries that lead to the brain,
you probably are having a buildup in the coronary arteries as well."

Plaque is the term for the fatty deposits that can increase in size and
thickness until they limit or totally block normal blood flow.

The young people who were obese or had diabetes were more likely to
have other risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as higher blood
pressure and high levels of blood fats such as cholesterol, the study
found. But those factors did not account for the significant changes in
artery structure and function, the researchers said.

According to Urbina, the detection of unhealthy artery changes in
young, obese or diabetic people "demonstrates the need for research in
this area."

One expert said the findings reinforce prior research.

"This is more evidence that obesity is not good for young people," said
Dr. Robert H. Eckel, professor of physiology and biophysics at the
University of Colorado, a spokesman for the American Heart Association.
However, it's not clear from the study how damaging obesity might be in
these young people, Eckel said.

"How important [the findings are] in terms of what is to follow is not
clear," he said, noting that the consequences for adult health of obesity
in childhood are not set in stone.

"There can be intervention to modify risk, not necessarily to reduce
obesity but to control blood pressure and blood lipids more aggressively.
I would like to see further studies that follow these young people with
and without intervention for 10 years," Eckel said.

In the meantime, rising childhood obesity is now a troubling fact of
life for doctors who see young patients, Urbina added. A kilogram equals
2.2 pounds, and "at least once a month, I see a child who weighs more in
kilograms than I weigh in pounds," she said. "Yesterday, I saw that in an
11-year-old."

The child and youth obesity problem is an issue for schools as well as
parents, Urbina said. Schools must play a role, because "80 percent of the
calories children consume are outside the control of parents," she said,
and also because schools often do not emphasize physical activities that
can help prevent excess weight gain.

"We need better nutrition and better after-school programs," she
said.

More information

There's more on obesity in the United States at the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention.

Among Obese Diabetics, Sleep Apnea May Be Common

FRIDAY, May 22 (HealthDay News) � People who are obese and have
type 2 diabetes often have undiagnosed sleep apnea as well, a new study
has found.

In fact, of the 306 participants in the study, about 87 percent were
found to have sleep apnea but had never been diagnosed with the disorder.
The findings appear in the June issue of Diabetes Care.

People in the study, all obese and all with type 2 diabetes, had
participated in a sleep study and answered questions about sleep apnea
symptoms such as snoring and daytime sleepiness.

More than 30 percent of the study participants had 16 to 20 episodes
per hour in which their breathing would stop during sleep, and 22 percent
had more than 30 episodes an hour, which is considered severe sleep apnea,
according to the researchers.

Most of those who were undiagnosed also had a larger waist
circumference, which the researchers found to be significantly associated
with sleep apnea, as is higher body-mass index (BMI).

"The high prevalence of undiagnosed and, therefore, untreated sleep
apnea among obese patients with diabetes constitutes a serious public
health problem," study author Gary D. Foster, director of the Center for
Obesity Research and Education at Temple University, said in a school news
release.

Sleep apnea increases the risk of heart disease and stroke, according
to the release.

"Doctors who have obese patients with type 2 diabetes need to be aware
of the possibility of sleep apnea, even if no symptoms are present,
especially in cases where the patient has a high BMI or waist
circumference," Foster said.

More information

The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has more about sleep apnea.

Overweight Moms More Likely to Have Asthmatic Kids

TUESDAY, May 19 (HealthDay News) � A mother's weight may have
lasting effects not just on her own health but on the respiratory health
of her children as well.

"Children with asthmatic parents are at an increased risk of asthma if
the mother is overweight before pregnancy," said H.A. Smit, head of the
department of prevention and health services research at the National
Institute of Public Health and Environment in the Netherlands.

In fact, Smith and his fellow researchers found that the risk of asthma
is 65 percent higher among the offspring of overweight mothers if one or
both of the child's parents have a history of the disease.

Smit was to present the findings Tuesday at the American Thoracic
Society's annual meeting in San Diego.

As many as 20 million Americans have been diagnosed with asthma, about
9 million of them children, according to the American Academy of Allergy,
Asthma & Immunology. Despite advances in treatment, asthma is still
responsible for about 5,000 deaths each year in the United States, it
says.

Not all children born to parents with asthma go on to develop the
airway disease. That happens about 40 percent of the time, the academy
reports.

Because the exact causes of asthma are not clear, researchers have
looked at a number of factors that might contribute to its development,
including maternal smoking, the child's environment and more.

Smit's study sought to assess whether a mother's weight before
pregnancy could affect a child's risk for asthma. The study included
nearly 4,000 children, who were followed from birth to 8 years of age.

The mothers in the study averaged 30 years old, and almost 21 percent
were overweight � which the researchers defined as have a body mass index
higher than 25 � before becoming pregnant.

Children were considered to have asthma if their parents reported that
they'd had at least one attack of wheezing or shortness of breath or had
needed inhaled corticosteroids in the previous year. About 14 percent of
the children had asthma by age 8.

The researchers adjusted the data to account for confounding factors,
such as maternal education, mode of delivery, maternal smoking during
pregnancy, duration of breast-feeding, birth weight and the child's
current weight, according to Smit.

Although they found no association between maternal weight in children
born to parents without asthma, children born to parents with asthma who
also had an overweight mother had a 65 percent increased risk of
developing asthma.

Though the study was not designed to determine why being overweight
might affect a child's risk for asthma, Smit theorized that inflammation
could be the connection between the conditions. That's because obesity can
encourage inflammation, and inflammation is at the root of asthma.

Dr. Jennifer Appleyard, chief of allergy and immunology at St. John
Hospital and Medical Center in Detroit, said that "we don't know exactly
what causes or contributes to asthma, but it does look like there are some
things that occur in utero that could affect the child later."

But, she said, it may not be the fact that mothers are overweight. It
could be something that they're eating that's affecting their children.
It's just not clear from this study, she said, adding that that more
research needs to be done.

More information

The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has more on the
causes of asthma.

Productivity Takes a Hit From Obesity, Diabetes

WEDNESDAY, May 13 (HealthDay News) � Obese workers with diabetes
are less productive than their normal-weight co-workers, says a U.S.
study.

Researchers surveyed 7,338 working adults about missed work time,
reduced work effectiveness and impairment of daily activities. The results
showed that people who were obese and had type 2 diabetes lost 11 percent
to 15 percent of work time (about 5.9 hours a week) because of health
problems, compared with 9 percent of work time (about 3.6 hours a week)
lost by normal-weight people.

The survey also found that obese people with type 2 diabetes reported
impairment during 20 percent to 34 percent of their daily activities, such
as taking care of children, shopping and exercising.

The findings are in the May/June issue of the American Journal of
Health Promotion.

"From an employer's perspective, this study provides evidence that
workplace wellness programs that include weight loss and weight management
would be beneficial for obese employees with or at risk for diabetes,"
Kathleen Fox, president of Strategic Healthcare Solutions and a co-author
of the study, said in a news release from the Center for the Advancement
of Health.

The study supports previously published research that found "the
heavier people are, the most lost productivity at work," Anne Wolf, an
instructor at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, who
specializes in researching the economic effects of obesity, said in the
news release. This study was different, she said, in that it found an
independent effect of diabetes on worker productivity.

"Employers who spend money in a lifestyle intervention will find their
investment returned to them in the form of increased productivity and
reduced absenteeism," Wolf said.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney
Diseases outlines the health risks of being overweight.

Obesity May Raise Kids' Allergy Risk

FRIDAY, May 8 (HealthDay News) � Obese children and teens are at
increased risk for allergies, especially food allergies, say U.S.
researchers.

The study authors analyzed data from 4,111 participants, aged 2 to 19,
who took part in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, and
found that obese children and teens were 26 percent more likely to have
any kind of allergy, and 59 percent more likely to have a food allergy,
than their normal-weight peers.

"We found a positive association between obesity and allergies," senior
author Dr. Darryl Zeldin, acting clinical director at the U.S. National
Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), said in an institute
news release. "While the results from this study are interesting, they do
not prove that obesity causes allergies. More research is needed to
further investigate this potential link."

The study is in the May issue of The Journal of Allergy and Clinical
Immunology.

"Given that the prevalence of both obesity and allergic disease has
increased among children over the last several decades, it is important to
understand and, if possible, prevent these epidemics," lead author Cynthia
M. Visness, a scientist at Rho Federal Systems Division Inc., in Chapel
Hill, N.C., said in the news release.

"Seeing a possible link between obesity and allergies provides
additional motivation for undertaking the challenge of reducing childhood
obesity," added Linda Birnbaum, NIEHS director.

More information

The Nemours Foundation has more about children and allergies.

Study blames over-eating, not poor exercise for US obesity

AMSTERDAM (AFP) -
Over-eating, not a lack of exercise, is to blame for the American obesity epidemic, a new study claimed Friday, warning that physical activity could not fully compensate for excess calories.

"There is no evidence that a marked reduction in physical activity has been a contributor to this epidemic in the United States," study leader Boyd Swinburn told AFP on the sidelines of an international obesity conference in Amsterdam, where the research was unveiled.

"The increase in energy intake... virtually explained all of the weight gain."

Swinburn, a professor at the health faculty of Australia's Deakin University, said American children had grown on average four kilogrammes (nine pounds) heavier over the past three decades with adults putting on an extra eight kgs (17 pounds).

The study calculated what Americans should weigh today based on their current, higher food intake, and comparing this to their actual weight.

If they weighed more than projected, this would suggest a drop in physical activity.

In fact, researchers found that American adults weighed less than could be expected from their diet, "which means that if anything over that period of time, the adults had been increasing their physical activity, not decreasing," said Swinburn.

Among children, the tests yielded a 100 percent match, leading researchers to conclude that changes in physical activity had had no impact whatsoever on America's children growing fatter.

The findings would "probably be similar" for other developed countries, Swinburn said.

For the US population to return to its leaner, 1970s self, children would have to cut their intake by about 350 calories a day � equal to one can of fizzy drink and a small portion of French fries, and adults by about 500 calories � the equivalent of a Big Mac burger.

Alternatively, children would have to walk for an extra two-and-a-half hours a day, and adults for nearly two hours, said Swinburn.

"Getting everybody to walk an extra two hours a day is not really a feasible option for countering the epidemic," he said.

"We need to limit our expectations of what an increase in physical activity can achieve."

Swinburn stressed that the findings did not seek to negate the value of physical activity for weight control and overall health.

"But if we want to influence the underlying drivers (behind obesity), we have to have our eye much more on the energy intake side than on the physical activity side."

In short, Americans must eat less, he said.

The World Health Organisation estimates that in 2005, about 1.6 billion adults were overweight, of which at least 400 million were obese.

The conference was organised by the European Association for the Study of Obesity.

Obesity, arthritis affects women in later years

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) -
Disabilities related to obesity and arthritis decrease women's quality of life during their senior years, according to research presented Saturday at the American Geriatrics Society's annual meeting in Chicago.

"While women tend to live longer than men, this study shows that they are at greater risk of living with disability and much of the excess disability is attributable to higher rates of obesity and arthritis," Dr. Heather Whitson from Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina who presented the study, noted in a statement.

Among 5,888 men and women older than 65 years enrolled in the Cardiovascular Health Study, Whitson and her colleagues found that women suffered up to two and a half times more disabilities than men of the same age. Higher rates of obesity and arthritis among these women explained up to 48 percent of the gender gap in disability.

"This is important because it suggests that women's tendency to pack on extra pounds in their child-bearing and peri-menopausal years translates into loss of independence in their old age," Whitson added. "Preventing weight gain in young to middle-aged women may decrease disability burden in later years."

Dr. Harvey Jay Cohen, the study's lead investigator and director of Duke's Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, said: "The findings of our study are more troubling when you consider the increasing rates of obesity among women. We need to help women make better decisions earlier in life."

In addition to obesity and arthritis, the study team found the women were much more likely than men to fracture a bone and suffer from vision problems and bronchitis. Men, on the other hand, were more likely to have emphysema, heart disease, congestive heart failure, stroke, diabetes and hearing problems. They were also more likely to have trouble walking due to narrowed leg arteries.

Researchers say that the next step is to see whether older women with disabilities related to obesity or arthritis regain function if they lose weight and get their arthritis pain under control.

Australia may pay for obesity surgery: report

MELBOURNE (AFP) -
Australia is considering government-funded lap-band surgery to curb rising rates of obesity, it was reported.

The plan would see taxpayers pick up the bill for the surgery, which involves attaching a band around the entrance to the stomach so patients feel full after eating only a little food, the Herald Sun newspaper reported.

It said a parliamentary inquiry was set to back the move next week after hearing evidence that the surgery could help obese patients lose up to 60 percent of their body weight.

The plan would reduce the burden placed on the public health system through weight-related conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, the newspaper reported.

It said the plan was to make the surgery available to those who could not lose weight through any other method.

More than a third of Australia's 21 million strong population are estimated to be overweight or obese, according to recent figures.

International studies consistently rank Australia among the fattest countries in the world, with the nation's Baker Heart Institute in 2008 suggesting it faced a "fat bomb" outranking even that in the United States.

Emergency services have introduced special "mega-lift" ambulances in New South Wales state capable of handling patients weighing more than 180 kilograms (400 pounds).

Undertakers also say they are stocking massive coffins, while consumer authorities are considering upgrading standards on everything from toilets to child car booster seats so they can handle heavier loads.

Obese Children More Likely to Suffer Lower Body Injuries

SATURDAY, May 2 (HealthDay News) � The bones and muscles of the
lower body appear to be more vulnerable to injury in obese children than
their lighter peers, a new study suggests.

The study analyzed the weight and injuries of kids who visited a
children's hospital's emergency department over a three-year period.
Sprains, such as to the ankle or leg, were the most common lower body
injuries, and sent more than 23,000 children to the emergency department
at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center between 2005 and early
2008.

"Because obese patients have an increased body mass and force, they are
more likely to twist or roll on a lower extremity and cause injury than
the non-obese children. Other injuries that the patients experienced were
fractures and lacerations," study lead author Dr. Wendy Pomerantz, an
emergency medicine physician at the hospital, said in a hospital news
release.

About one-sixth of the children visiting the hospital's emergency
department for injuries during that time were obese, according to the
study, scheduled to be presented Saturday in Baltimore at the annual
meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies.

Pomerantz noted that obesity is likely to also lengthen a child's
recovery time from an injury, as the added weight and stress to the body
can cause more damage.

Exercise and diet, she said, remain the best ways to combat the growing
obesity epidemic in the world. "Parents of an obese child who want the
child to exercise but [are] afraid of the child getting injured should
work with a specialist to get a tailored diet and exercise regimen to help
them lose weight," Pomerantz said.

Obesity in children also increases their risk of developing type 2
diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and other factors that
raise their chances of developing cardiovascular disease, according to
information from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More information

The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more about childhood obesity.