'Severe Obesity' In Children and Teens On The Rise In The US

                              Overall obesity rates for American kids may have leveled off, but a new report finds that children and teens at the far end of the spectrum are getting heavier, faster with about 5 5 percent now classified a "Severely Obese." That means nearly 4 million U.S. Youth fall into a new category of obesity risk, one that carries dangers of serious disease and early death, even beyond expected harms, according to a scientific statement published Monday by the American Heart Association. "It appears that severe obesity is the fastest-growing subcategory of obesity in youth," write the authors in the report published in the journal Circulation.
Severely obese kids have higher rates of weight-related disease, including type of 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, with complications such as high blood pressure and hardening of the arteries. Previous research has shown that obese kids as young as age 10 can have the arteries of middle-aged adults. The new class encompasses kids ages 2 to 19 who have a body-mass index, or BMI, that's 20 percent higher than the 95th percentile for their gender and age, or a BMI score of 35 or higher. A child or teen in the 95th percentile weighs more than 95 percentile of others his or her age. For example, a 7-year-old girl of normal height who weighs 75 pounds, or a 13-year old boy of average height who weighs 160 pounds would be defined as severely obese, the AHA said.
                       Most experts recommend treating severely obese children first with the least intensive treatment options such as lifestyle changes, the researchers said. More intensive treatments such as medication and potentially surgery should be considered after other treatments have failed. Increased funding will be needed for research into whether new medications and other treatments, including surgery, are safe and effective in treating children with severe obesity.