HHS HealthBeat (March 24, 2010)

The kids may get better

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

Kids who are obese or who have other chronic health problems might not have to stay that way.

Dr. Jeanne Van Cleave of Mass General Hospital for Children bases that on national survey data on children ages 2 through 8 in 1998, in 1994, and in 2000. Van Cleave says about half were obese or had some other chronic health problem at some point. But she says less than half had the same conditions six years later:

"The most hopeful thing – and the most interesting thing – that we found was that a lot of these chronic conditions will resolve over time." (7 seconds)

But she says it can take work by parents, kids, and health care professionals to do it.

The study in the Journal of the American Medical Association was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

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

Last revised: November 21, 2011