Overweight and obese adolescents who, on average, were 15-years-old and were given ten weekly sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy followed by a phone call every two weeks were 12.6 pounds lighter after 5 months than children who acted as controls according to a study from Australia.

Studies that have had children engage in about 25 minutes of moderate-to-high intensity exercise find that these children weigh on average about 5.9 pounds less than children that are not put on an exercise program. This according to a review paper that reviewed 14 studies that involved 481 children who were approximately 12-years-old.

Children getting the least sleep are 92 percent more likely to be overweight or obese according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Each additional hour of sleep reduces a child’s risk of developing obesity by 9 percent according to a new study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “The association between increased sleep and reduced obesity risk was strongly associated with boys, but not in girls,” the researchers noted. “Our analysis of the data shows a clear association between sleep duration and the risk for overweight or obesity in children. The risk declined with more sleep,” said Youfa Wang, MD, PhD, senior author of the study and associate professor with the Bloomberg School’s Center for Human Nutrition.

Research suggests that children under age 5 should sleep for 11 hours or more per day, children age 5 to 10 should sleep for 10 hours or more per day, and children over age 10 should sleep at least 9 hours per day. This criteria was used by a recent study which analyzed the effect of sleep duration on the risk of childhood obesity.

“The numbers of overweight and obese children worldwide are expected to climb dramatically by 2010 according to a study by Youfa Wang, PhD, MD, an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Tim Lobstein, PhD, child and adolescent health research coordinator for the International Task Force on Obesity. By the end of the decade, 46 percent of children in North and South America are projected to be overweight and 15 percent will be obese. In developing countries with strong economic growth, such as Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Egypt, overweight and obesity levels will approach those of more industrialized countries.”

“Black adolescents or adolescents with less educated parents were twice as likely to [ be overweight ]… and were nearly 3 times as likely to [ be obese ]… as white individuals or those with higher educated parents,” according to new study. However, those who were breastfed for more than four months were 50 percent less likely to be overweight, and 42 percent less likely to be obese. 

Obesity among adolescents 11- to 18-years-old in Hong Kong is 4-6 percent for boys, and 2-4 percent for girls depending on the criteria used to determine obesity. “Obesity rate varied markedly according to age. It decreased from 8-10 percent among those aged 12-13 years to 2-4 percent among those aged 17-18 years,” the paper noted.

Teenagers who eat breakfast weigh roughly 5-10 pounds less than those who do not eat breakfast according to a study by researchers from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. “[O]ur findings support the importance of promoting regular breakfast consumption among adolescents,” the researchers concluded.

Children, 6- to 12-years-old, were 27 percent more likely to be overweight if their mother had gained at least 35 pounds during pregnancy according to a study from Portugal.

Five-year-old children were 29 percent less likely to be overweight if their mothers slept at least 8 hours per night during pregnancy according to a study from the University of Yamanashi’s School of Medicine in Chuo, Yamanashi, Japan.

Five-year-old children were 1.8 times more likely to be overweight if their mothers skipped breakfast during pregnancy according to a study from the University of Yamanashi’s School of Medicine in Chuo, Yamanashi, Japan.

Five-year-old children were 2.2 times more likely to be overweight if their mothers smoked during pregnancy according to a study from the University of Yamanashi’s School of Medicine in Chuo, Yamanashi, Japan.

“Overweight young people have a 50% chance of being overweight adults” notes the report Storing Up Problems: The Medical Case for a Slimmer Nation by the Royal College of Physicians.

“[C]hildren of overweight parents have twice the risk of being overweight compared to those with healthy weight parents” notes the report Storing Up Problems: The Medical Case for a Slimmer Nation by the Royal College of Physicians.

“Obese 10- to 14-year-olds with at least one obese parent have a 79% chance of becoming obese adults.” notes the report Storing Up Problems: The Medical Case for a Slimmer Nation by the Royal College of Physicians.

Children who are under 10-years-old are twice as likely to become obese adults if their parents are obese notes the report Storing Up Problems: The Medical Case for a Slimmer Nation by the Royal College of Physicians.

In England between 1980 and 2002, obesity among adult women nearly tripled, increasing from 8 percent to 23 percent as noted in the report Storing Up Problems: The Medical Case for a Slimmer Nation by the Royal College of Physicians.

In England between 1980 and 2002, obesity among adult men nearly quadrupled, increasing from 6 percent to 22 percent as noted in the report Storing Up Problems: The Medical Case for a Slimmer Nation by the Royal College of Physicians.

In England between 1990 and 2001, obesity among 6- to 15-year-olds tripled, increasing from 5 percent to 16 percent as noted in the report Storing Up Problems: The Medical Case for a Slimmer Nation by the Royal College of Physicians.

In England between 1989 and 1998, obesity among 2- to 4-year-olds nearly doubled, increasing from 5 percent to 9 percent as noted in the report Storing Up Problems: The Medical Case for a Slimmer Nation by the Royal College of Physicians.

Here is a chart from January 2007 from the International Obesity TaskForce showing the prevalence of obesity in various countries around the world for boys.

Here is a chart from January 2007 from the International Obesity TaskForce showing the prevalence of obesity in various countries around the world for girls.

“More than 9 million [U.S.] children and adolescents (17%) are now considered to be overweight” notes a paper by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco.

“Since 1970, the prevalence of overweight among children between the ages of 2 and 5 years has doubled, and that of children and adolescents between the ages of 6 and 19 years has tripled” notes a paper by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco.