Obesity and low birthweight mar health of kids (Reuters)

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Rising obesity rates and a largepercentage of children born with low birthweights are draggingdown the overall health of American children in their firstdecade of life, according to a report tracking the health andwell-being of young children in the United States.

While U.S. children overall have seen improvements in theirwell-being in recent years, American children aged 6 to 11 arefour times more likely to be obese than similarly aged childrenin the 1960s, the report found.

The report, led by researchers at Duke University in NorthCarolina and the Foundation for Child Development, a privateadvocacy group, looked at the well-being of children in earlychildhood, those from birth to age five, and middle childhood,or those aged 6 to 11, from 1994 to 2006.

The researchers found obesity among children in middlechildhood is nearly four times more common than in children ofthe same age in a national survey in 1960s. For children aged 2to 5, it is three times higher.

"These are dramatic increases in the prevalence ofoverweight children in American society from one generation tothe next," the researchers wrote. "The importance of this trendfor the health and well-being of children is difficult toexaggerate."

They said overweight children have greater risks of type-2diabetes, and often have elevated risk factors associated withheart disease, such as high cholesterol and high bloodpressure.

They also found that the percentage of babies born with lowbirthweights rose 12.3 percent from 1994 to 2005, an increasethey said was likely tied to delayed childbearing among workingmothers and an increased use of fertility drugs.

Low birthweight has been linked in large studies to ahigher risk of developmental and learning problems and to loweracademic achievement. It also has been linked with higher ratesof chronic health conditions.

Other trends were more positive.

The researchers found significant improvements in themortality rates of children, with the most dramatic improvementfor children aged 1 to 4. Death rates among these children fellto 29.4 deaths in 100,000 in 2005, compared with 42.9 deathsper 100,000 in 1994.

For those aged 5 to 9, rates of death fell 27 percent to14.5 deaths per 100,000 in 2005.

The researchers cite a host of contributing factors,ranging from better health care and nutrition to car safetyseats.

The report also noted a dramatic 84 percent drop in therates of lead poisoning among children aged 0 to 6. Leadpoisoning can result in physical, neurological and cognitiveproblems.

Still, many children remain at risk for moderate levels oflead in their blood should continue to be monitored, they said.

(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen, Editing by Maggie Fox andCynthia Osterman)