Obesity Among Most Common Chronic

Chronic health problems are those that persist for twelve or more months, and include conditions such as obesity, asthma, learning disorders, and behavioral problems.The results of an analysis recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that overall rates of chronic childhood health issues jumped from 12.8 percent to 26.6 percent over the period spanning almost a decade. While children between the ages of eight to 14 were shown to have an obesity rate of 8.3 percent at the end of 1994, by the end of 2006 the rates were found to have increased to15.8 percent.

The good news is that the researchers found fewer cases towards the end of the study, which is consistent with rates leveling off. Another study published in January by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention supports the possibility of a plateau. Their findings that revealed childhood obesity levels had leveled off at about 17 percent among children ages two to 19 by the decade ended in 2008. Better access to healthcare will likely play a key role in further diminishing chronic childhood healthcare issues.