"Puppy fat" may not be as cute as many believe. Doctors writing in the British Medical Journal say the idea that puppy fat in children disappears as they progress to adolescence is a myth, which may put children at risk of obesity. Most at risk are girls from ethnic minorities and lower socioeconomic groups, say the researchers.
Past studies have indicated that adolescence is an important period, since excess weight gained during teenage years pre-disposes adults to continued weight problems. But the new research - tracking more than 5,000 children as they developed into young adults - shows that weight problems are well established before the teenage years.
The researchers looked at annual measurements of weight, height, Body Mass Index (BMI) and waist circumferences of children aged between 11 - 12 and 16 - 17, and found that those with excess weight by the age of 11 continued with it during adolescence.
Overall, it appears that girls had higher rates of excess weight problems than boys. Black girls had particularly high levels, with an average of 38 percent being overweight or obese over the study period, compared to 28 percent for white girls and 20 percent for Asian girls. For boys, ethnic background made little difference to excess weight levels. Socioeconomics played less of a role, where 35 percent of the most deprived girls were overweight or obese compared with 28 percent generally.
The researchers believe it's time to get tough on puppy fat. "Children who are obese when they enter secondary school will very likely leave it obese," they said. "More monitoring is crucial if rising tides of obesity are to be tackled effectively."
Source: British Medical Journal
