Lytle Leslie A
Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Abdom Imaging. 2012 Oct;37(5):719-24. doi: 10.1007/s00261-012-9861-y.
Childhood obesity is one of the most pressing public health and medical problems in the United States. In the US, prevalence rates of childhood overweight and obesity have tripled in the past 30 years and the health implications and related medical costs of the disease are already evident. For the first time ever, weight-related Type 2 diabetes is being diagnosed in youth. Experts suggest that even if obesity prevalence remains static in the US, the lifetime risk of Type 2 diabetes for children born in 2000 is estimated at 30% for boys and 40% for girls (Narayan et al. J Am Med Assoc 290(14): 1884-1890, 2003). Annual hospital-related costs associated with treating obese children increased from 35 million dollars in 1979 to more than 127 million dollars in 1997-1999, based on 2001 dollars (Wang and Dietz Pediatrics 109(5): E81-E86, 2002). In addition to financial costs related to treating obesity, there are myriad social and personal costs of being an obese child and adult. This alarming rise in obesity rates among youth has been followed by initiatives by both the medical and public health communities to find appropriate and effective treatments as well as ways to prevent obesity. The following offers an overview of current trends and initiatives from both sectors and concludes with some thoughts on what the future may hold.
儿童肥胖是美国最紧迫的公共卫生和医学问题之一。在美国，儿童超重和肥胖的患病率在过去30年中增长了两倍，该疾病对健康的影响以及相关医疗成本已经显现。有史以来第一次，与体重相关的2型糖尿病在青少年中被诊断出来。专家表示，即使美国的肥胖患病率保持不变，预计2000年出生的儿童患2型糖尿病的终身风险，男孩为30%，女孩为40%（纳拉扬等人，《美国医学会杂志》290(14): 1884 - 1890，2003年）。根据2001年的美元价值计算，与治疗肥胖儿童相关的年度医院费用从1979年的3500万美元增加到1997 - 1999年的超过1.27亿美元（王和迪茨，《儿科学》109(5): E81 - E86，2002年）。除了与治疗肥胖相关的经济成本外，作为肥胖儿童和成年人还存在无数的社会和个人成本。青少年肥胖率的惊人上升之后，医学和公共卫生界都采取了行动，以寻找合适且有效的治疗方法以及预防肥胖的途径。以下概述了这两个领域的当前趋势和举措，并以对未来可能情况的一些思考作为结尾。
