HHS HealthBeat (September 05, 2006)

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I'm Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

With all our food and our ability to avoid exercise, the pattern of being overweight can be set very young. Researchers who followed more than 1,000 kids say those who were ever overweight as toddlers or preschoolers were more than five times more likely to be overweight as 12-year-olds.

Philip Nader of the University of California, San Diego did the study in the American Academy of Pediatrics' journal Pediatrics. His work was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

"The data suggest that for the most part, once children become overweight, they are unlikely to grow out of it unless active steps are taken to assure more physical activity and a healthy diet for the child." (10 seconds)

For parents, those steps include getting the kids up and playing, away from the electronics – and eating healthy, not fattening, foods.

Learn more at www.hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.