Columbia researchers have uncovered a critical age when many inner city children become overweight or obese: between the ages of 1 and 3 years old.
In a chart review of 1,713 children ages 1-5 years living in inner-city neighborhoods of New York City, they found that the risk of being overweight or obese significantly increased with each successive year of age, with the biggest increases in prevalence between the ages of 1 and 3 years.
By age 5, half of the children were overweight or obese. Boys were slightly more likely to be obese than girls.
Of the children sampled, 52 percent were boys, 78 percent were Latino, 17 percent were African-American, and 85 percent were Medicaid recipients.
“These findings indicate that pediatric interventions aimed at this critical age may have the greatest impact at preventing childhood obesity,” said Melissa Glassman, M.D., pediatrician at Columbia University Medical Center, and one of the lead authors of the study. “Addressing weight issues before the age of 3 may be vital to reducing the overall prevalence of obesity among inner city adolescents and adults.”
Additional research is needed about the events that occur during the critical age period in order to develop effective interventions aimed at reducing obesity. While the causes of this dramatic, early rise in obesity prevalence remain unknown, the Columbia researchers speculate that feeding behaviors may play a crucial role.
“The critical age period encompasses a major transition period for children, when they develop and establish food preferences and eating behaviors,” said Dr. Glassman.