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Prevalence of growth stunting and obesity: Pediatric Nutrition Surveillance System, 1982
Insights
Growth stunting and obesity affect 6%-16% and 5%-13% of young children, respectively. Native American and Hispanic children exhibit higher risks, indicating potential nutritional quality issues in their diets.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nutrition
- Public Health Surveillance
- Childhood Growth Disorders
Background:
- Growth stunting and obesity are significant pediatric health concerns.
- Nutritional risk factors in young children require ongoing surveillance.
- Disparities in health outcomes exist across different ethnic and age groups.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the prevalence of growth stunting and obesity in children using 1982 pediatric surveillance data.
- To identify age and ethnic variations in the prevalence of these nutritional indicators.
- To assess the nutritional risk among children in publicly supported health programs.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of pediatric surveillance data from 1982.
- Calculation of prevalence rates for growth stunting and obesity across different age and ethnic subgroups.
- Comparison of observed prevalence with expected levels (5%) in a reference population.
Main Results:
- Growth stunting prevalence ranged from 6%-16% in children aged 0-4 years, increasing with age.
- Native American and Hispanic children showed the highest prevalence of stunting.
- Obesity prevalence varied from 5%-13%, with higher rates in 1-year-olds and among Native American and Hispanic children.
- Prevalence of both stunting and obesity exceeded the 5% expected level, indicating increased nutritional risk.
- Low weight-for-height (thinness) was less than 5%, suggesting it was not a significant public health issue.
Conclusions:
- Children in publicly supported health programs are at increased nutritional risk, evidenced by high rates of stunting and obesity.
- Disproportionately high rates of stunting and obesity among Native American and Hispanic children suggest potential issues with diet quality, despite adequate quantity.
- Further investigation into nutrient intake quality is warranted for at-risk populations.
Abstract:
Pediatric surveillance data for 1982 are examined in terms of the prevalence of growth stunting and obesity. Results indicate that growth stunting is observed in approximately 6%-16% of children in the age group from birth through 4 years. Overall, the prevalence of stunting trends to increase with age. Native American and Hispanic children show the highest prevalence of stunting. Obesity is observed to vary from 5%-13% in different age and ethnic subgroups. Obesity increases in prevalence among 1-year-olds relative to infants less than 1 year of age, but from 2-4 years of age there are no consistent trends in the prevalence of obesity with increasing age. Native American children, followed by Hispanic children, have the highest prevalence of obesity as reflected in high weight-for-height. The prevalence of growth stunting and obesity in the populations under surveillance is greater the 5% level "expected" when compared with the reference population, suggesting that the children attending publicly supported health programs are at increased nutritional risk. At the same time, the prevalence of low weight-for-height is generally less than the 5% level, suggesting that thinness is not a significant public health program in the populations under surveillance. The observation of increased stunting as well as high weight-for-height among Hispanic and Native American children raises a number of issues in interpretation and suggests that the diet of these children may be relatively adequate in quantity but inadequate in quality of nutrient intake.