Overweight U.S. children and teens fatter

BALTIMORE, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Overweight U.S. children and adolescents have become fatter over the last decade, researchers said.

Researchers at Baltimore's Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and National Institute on Aging in Bethesda, Md., have found U.S. children and adolescents had significantly increased body fat measures such as body mass index, waist circumference and triceps skinfold thickness.

The study, published in the International Journal of Pediatric Obesity, also found increases in adiposity -- body fat -- more pronounced in some groups, such as black girls. In addition, these groups gained more abdominal fat over time -- indicated by waist size -- and were at greater health risk.

"Heavier children and adolescents gained more adiposity, especially waist size, and these findings were most significant among children ages 6-11," senior author Dr. Youfa Wang of The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School said in a statement.

"Ethnic disparities in mean body mass index have also increased substantially when comparing black girls with their white counterparts for all ages combined."