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Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2002;156:852.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

THE PERCENTAGE of overweight young people in the United States has doubled since 1980, currently affecting 1 in 7 children and adolescents.¹ We know that the consequences of obesity are many and both immediate as well as long-term. The current epidemic of type 2 diabetes in children and adolescents is associated with obesity, and a persistently elevated body mass index (weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters) may be the key factor in the causal chain leading to type 2 diabetes.² Obstructive sleep apnea may occur in as many as 1 in 6 obese children and can lead to daytime somnolence, neurocognitive abnormalities, and impaired learning.³ The increased medical care costs associated with obesity may be greater than those associated with smoking and drinking.⁴

A related issue, of course, is lack of physical activity. We know that obesity results from a chronic imbalance in energy intake . . . [Full Text of this Article]