Wisconsin Youth Catching Up to Adults for Obesity Levels
Monday, October 9th, 2017 -- 8:04 AM
(AP) -A national report shows that height and weight measurements used to calculate body mass index indicate that Wisconsin's adolescents are catching up to adult levels of obesity.The 2016 National Survey of Children's Health found that 30 percent of Wisconsin children ages 10 to 17 are overweight or obese, while the state's adult rate of obesity is 31 percent. Wisconsin Public Radio reports health officials, schools and the La Crosse community hope to work with parents to address the issue.
Obesity can cause children to develop other health problems such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Marisa Pruitt is a registered dietitian at Gundersen Health in La Crosse. She says those diseases are typically found in middle-age adults, so seeing them affect younger children is alarming.
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