There has been a dramatic rise in the number of children who fulfil the criteria necessary
for the diagnosis of obesity . Data from the CDC in the USA
(http://www.cdc.gov) demonstrate an increase in the prevalence of children aged 6–19
years old who were considered to be overweight ( 95th percentile) from 4–5% in
1963–1970 to 15% in 1999–2000. Using similar criteria in the majority of cases, the
International Obesity Task Force have inspected the p revalence of obesity in children
aged around 10 years old from data derived from 21 European countries between 1992
and 2001 and found levels to vary between 10 and 36%. Data from the Health
Survey for England in 2002 indicated that 8.5% of all 6-year-olds and 15% of all 15-
year-olds satisfied the criteria for obesity, and similar data from 2003 found that the
prevalence of obesity in children aged 2–10 had increased from 9.9 to 13.7% from 1995
(www.dh.gov.uk). In the non-Westernised world, there is also evidence that obesity in
general is increasing, especially amongst urban populations . For example, China
(a country previously defined as one of the world’s leanest populations) has witnessed
a dramatic recent rise in childhood overweight and obesity prevalence.
