Kids are staying heavy

FROM NBC: While childhood obesity is a serious problem, the number of American kids and teens who are overweight has remained steady over the past decade. BMI is a measurement of height and weight. Children are considered to have a high BMI if their growth chart places them at or above the 95th percentile.

10-percent of infants and toddlers have a high BMI, and roughly 18-percent of teenagers -- yet new research shows this number has remained stable for the past ten years.

The only exception is 6 to 19 year old boys -- who are heavier than ever before. Children with high BMI's often become obese adults -- leading to chronic conditions like diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

My comment on this story is a little random. I was watching the sitcom "The Middle" last night and it really bothered me that the family constantly eats fast food. I understand that it's supposed to be funny and I shouldn't take what they eat seriously. However, the show gives the impression that you can eat hamburgers and french fries for dinner every night and still look like the actors on the show (who are all thin.) I am probably being too sensitive, but I just don't like that part of the show. Has anyone else every noticed that?

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

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Childhood Obesity

Reuters is reporting the way you raise your kids may not have as much to do with childhood obesity than once thought.

Diet and lifestyle play a far smaller role than genetic factors in determining whether a child becomes overweight, according to a recent British study of twins.

Researchers looking at more than 5,000 pairs of twins wrote in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that genes account for about three-quarters of the differences in a child's waistline and weight.

"Contrary to the widespread assumption that family environment is the key factor in determining weight gain, we found this was not the case," said Jane Wardle, director of Cancer Research UK's Health Behavior Centre, who led the study.

Previous studies have pointed to environmental factors as the main cause of obesity, a major problem worldwide that increases the risk later in life of type-2 diabetes, cancer and heart problems.

The World Health Organization classifies around 400 million people worldwide as obese, including 200 million children under the age of five.

The British team looked at pairs of identical twins who share all their genes and compared their measurements with those of non-identical twins who share only half their genes.

A statistical analysis found that the differences in the children's body mass index and waist circumference were 77 percent attributable to genes and 23 percent due to the environment in which the children were growing up.

BMI is calculated by dividing weight by the square of height.

"These results do not mean that a child with a high complement of 'susceptibility genes' will inevitably become overweight, but that their genetic endowment gives them a stronger predisposition," the researchers said.

The results suggest that parents whose children are at the greatest genetic risk may need support to make sure they provide a healthy environment, the researchers said.

"This study shows that it is wrong to place all the blame for a child's excessive weight gain on the parents," the researchers said.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen