Fewer than one percent of preschoolers get the recommended amount of exercise that will help them avoid obesity in later years, a study has found.
The study by Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center also concluded that one in five preschoolers do not eat enough fruits and vegetables, and the same amount get too much screen time.
The exercise habits that children develop as preschoolers influence their chances of developing hypertension, Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular abnormalities.
The researchers said their report reinforces the desperate need to implement measures to lower the rising childhood obesity rate in the US, as the CDC warns nearly 13 million American children and adolescents are obese.
A new study from the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital has found that more than 99 percent of children do not get enough exercise (file photo)
The study’s researchers observed 400 preschoolers for 24 hours, checking to see if they followed the guidelines known as the 5-2-1-0 rules.
These guidelines dictate that each day children should have at least five servings of fruits and vegetables, spend less than two hours looking at screens, engage in physical activity for one hour and avoid sugar-sweetened beverages.
While the most surprising finding was the fact that fewer than 1 percent of the children researchers observed got enough exercise, other results from the study highlighted America’s growing struggle with childhood obesity rates.
Half of the children observed drank a sugar-sweetened beverage during the 24 hours in which the study was conducted while 17 percent did not get enough fruits and vegetables and 19 percent got more than two hours of screen time.
And the habits that the participating children had formed were already causing them to have medical complications: a fourth of the children had a body mass index that placed them in the overweight category.
The study is the first of its kind to measure how many preschool-aged children adhere to the 5-2-1-0 guidelines, which were established by the Maine Youth Overweight Collaborative obesity prevention program.
The CDC has said that from 2011 to 2014, the childhood obesity rate in the US was 17 percent.
The childhood obesity rate among Hispanics, specifically, was higher than the average rate during the same time period, reaching 21.9 percent.
Nearly 9 percent of children aged two to five were obese, as well as 17.5 percent of six-to-eleven-year-olds and 20.5 percent of adolescents aged 12 to 19.
Study author Dr Amrik Singh Khalsa said the study’s conclusions suggest ‘there is ample room for improvement in preschool-age[d] children’s dietary intake, physical activity and screen time.’
Dr Khalsa added: ‘Preschool children who are overweight or obese have four-fold odds of being overweight or obese as adults.’
‘Preventing obesity is critical to averting obesity-associated diseases, such as metabolic syndrome, Type 2 diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular abnormalities,’ Dr Khalsa said.