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GAO-07-260R 1 (2006-12-06)

handle is hein.gao/gaocrptatyg0001 and id is 1 raw text is: SGAO Accountability * Integrity * Reliability United States Government Accountability Office Washington, DC 20548 December 6, 2006 The Honorable Bill Frist Majority Leader United States Senate Subject: Childhood Obesity: Factors Affecting Physical Activity Dear Senator Frist: The latest data show continued increases in rates of childhood obesity.' For example, obesity rates for children 6 to 11 years old are estimated to have increased from 15.1 to 18.8 percent between 1999 and 2004.2 The Department of Health and Human Services estimates that 20 percent of children and youth in the United States will be obese by 2010. There are numerous negative health outcomes and financial consequences related to childhood obesity. Researchers have found that childhood obesity is associated with a number of disorders including hypertension, insulin resistance, sleep apnea, menstrual abnormalities, and orthopedic problems. According to one estimate, insured children treated for obesity are approximately three times more expensive for the health system than the average insured child. Obesity results from an imbalance between the amount of energy consumed and the amount of energy expended. While there are many elements that affect the energy balance (for example, genetics, growth, and physiology), children and their parents can influence both energy consumed through diet and energy expended through physical activity. Some researchers have suggested that childhood obesity is largely the result of a decline in regular physical activity. In our October 2005 report, we 'Some experts use the term obesity to refer to children and adolescents who have a body mass index (BMI) that is at or above the sex-specific 95th percentile for their age on the BMI charts developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2000. CDC uses the term overweight, instead of obese, to describe children and adolescents with this BMI range. 2C.L Ogden, M.D. Carroll, L.R. Curtin, M.A. McDowell, C.J. Tabak, and K.M. Flegal, Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity in the United States, 1999-2004, JAMA, vol. 295, no. 13 (2006). These data are for children at or above the 95' percentile of BMI for age and sex. 3Thomson Medstat, Childhood Obesity: Costs, Treatment Patterns, Disparities in Care, and Prevalent Medical Conditions, 2006, http://www.medtstat.com/pdfs/childhood-obesity.pdf, (downloaded Nov. 3, 2006). Thomson Medstat used medical claims to estimate total health care spending for children who receive a diagnosis of obesity. 4GAO, Childhood Obesity: Most Experts Identified Physical Activity and the Use of Best Practices as Key to Successful Programs, GAO-06-127R (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 7, 2005). GAO-07-260R Childhood Obesity and Physical Activity

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