Kindergarten weight a strong indicator of childhood obesity

More than 26% of children enter kindergarten overweight or obese, RSPH researchers have found. They also found overweight kindergartners were four times more likely than normal-weight children to become obese by the 8th grade.

Led by Solveig A. Cunningham, assistant professor in the Hubert Department of Global Health, the team analyzed data on children who participated in an Early Childhood Longitudinal Study of the U.S. Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999. With survey adjustments, the data sample represents all U.S. children enrolled in kindergarten during that time (approximately 3.8 million).

The team found more than 12% of children enter kindergarten obese and more than 14% are overweight. Children who were large at birth and overweight by kindergarten were at the highest risk of becoming obese before age 14.

"Although trends in the prevalence of obesity are well documented, there is surprisingly little known about new cases of childhood obesity," explains Cunningham. "Examining incidence may provide insight into the nature of the epidemic, the critically vulnerable ages, and the groups who are at greater risk for obesity."

The study garnered much media attention, including by The New York Times, National Public Radio, and the Associated Press.

Michael Kramer, assistant professor of epidemiology, and Venkat Narayan, Hubert Professor of Global Health, collaborated with Cunningham on the study.

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