OTTAWA (CP) - More than one one-third of Canadian children aged two to 11 were overweight in 1998-99, and of those about half could be considered obese, says Statistics Canada.

Thirty-seven per cent were overweight in 1998-99 and 18 per cent of that group were obese. That was up from 34 per cent overweight five years earlier and 16 per cent obese, the agency said Friday.

The study by Human Resources Development Canada and Statistics Canada started in late 1994 and early 1995 and went through three cycles to 1998-99.

It also found that as children age, fewer were obese.

In 1994-95, 32 per cent of the children between two to 11 were overweight. Four years later when the same group was age six to 15, that was down to 28 per cent.

Levels of obesity also decreased to 10 per cent in 1998-99 from 14 per cent five years earlier. In all three cycles that data was collected, the oldest age group was always the least overweight.

"In recent years, childhood obesity and low levels of activity have emerged as important issues facing Canadian children," the agency said.

"Obesity in adults is linked to greater health risks, including the increased incidence of coronary disease and type-2 diabetes, although it has also been found that increased activity can temper these negative effects."

The study found more boys than girls were overweight.

"In 1998-99, an estimated 35 per cent of girls and 38 per cent of boys were overweight, including 17 per cent of girls and 19 per cent of boys who were classified obese."

It also found that income was a factor in childhood obesity.

"Higher proportions of children living in low-income families were overweight and obese."

The survey also found, as have other studies, that obese children were not as physically active as their non-obese counterparts.

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It also found that income was a factor in childhood obesity. [/QUOTE]

This is not surprising, considering that the cheapest food are carbs. I wonder how long it will be till the mainstream america finally wake up to the fact that carbs is a huge factor in obesity.

Years ago, malnutrition was a big problem among the poorest class. Now nothing has changed really, the problem simply has become more insidious. A lot of poor people get enough to eat, but their food is so nutrient poor it's just a step above being malnourished

I wonder if there's an element of girls' body image and peer/ media pressure to be thin involved here. It's well-documented that pre-teen and early-teen girls are more likely to go on fad & starvation diets and engage in eating-disordered behaviours in order to be model-thin. It's possible that this may be a small factor in the reduced weight in this age group. Or is it that these children suddenly became more physically active, or developed improved nutrition during this time period?

Doreen

How many of us were chubby kids who slimmed down as teens?

I'm one.

My freshman year of high school I did a modified old style Weight Watchers (from the old book) with only 2 pieces of bread a day, no potatoes, and no starchy vegetables. My problem was that I started to skip breakfast and only eat half a sandwich for lunch with one little piece of thin sandwich meat and whatever was made for supper. So, I lost weight but had no idea how to keep it off, and learned a bad lesson about skipping breakfast.

Looking back at the old book, it's really a lower carb for life philosophy, you eat the way you will for maintenance right from the beginning. Too bad they switched to their stupid points system, they could be helping people instead of just taking their money.

Beth

>>"How many of us were chubby kids who slimmed down as teens?"

I bet a lot of boys do. I can remember several chubby little boys from school who might have fallen into the 'obese' category, and once they hit puberty and put on muscle, they went from chubby to solid.