Obesity in Minority Children

Obesity rates continue to grow among minority, poor children.
The Los Angeles Times (3/8, Adams) reports that, according to a study published in the journal Health Affairs, even though "obesity rates are leveling off overall, for some groups of kids -- especially poor or minority kids -- the problem continues to grow." Analyzing data from the 2007 National Survey of Children's Health, researchers "found the highest rates of overweight or obesity in kids who were black (41.1%), Spanish-speaking Hispanic (45%), living below the poverty level (44.8%), publicly insured (43.2%), and those who did not participate in activities outside of school (40.3%)." In addition, "the likelihood of being overweight or obese was greater if a child" comes from a single-mother family or "if he lives in a neighborhood without a park or recreation center."
Obesity risks may begin before birth. In a related story, the Los Angeles Times (3/8, Roan) reports, "The risk of becoming overweight or obese, it increasingly seems, begins before a child is born, establishes roots in infancy and may be entrenched by the time a tot starts kindergarten." In "a study of 1,826 mother-child pairs from pregnancy through the child's first five years of life," Harvard Medical School researchers "summarized more than one dozen factors in the prenatal period through age five that can increase the likelihood of later obesity," many of which can be changed.
Inflammation associated with diabetes, heart disease in overweight people. USA Today (3/8, Weise) reports the researchers are discovering how fat, "an important player in the endocrine system," may "trigger diabetes, heart disease, and more." In a study recently "published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, researchers...found that specialized white blood cells exposed to large amounts of saturated fats became inflamed," but when they "genetically engineered cells to be able to hold more fat, the inflammation didn't happen." A second study showed that "the hormonal cascade caused by fat can contribute to heart disease by producing a protein that keeps blood clots from breaking down."