Overweight/obesity from early childhood to adolescence.

We wondered if overweight/obesity presents with different severity and can be ascribed to different factors in different age groups. 732 patients 2–18 yrs ( M  = 330) were considered: early childhood ( A , 2–6 years old) 50 (6.8%), late childhood ( B , 6–10 years old) 255 (34.8%), pre-adolescence ( C ) 57 (7.8%), adolescence ( D , until growth’s end) 370 (50.6%). z-BMI ranks downwards from A to D : we observed statistically significant differences ( p C vs D ( A  = 2.54, B  = 2.09, C  = 1.80, D  = 1.75). When comparing groups for lifestyle and eating habits, weekly sedentary hours distribute upwards from A to D ( A  = 2.34, B  = 2.54, C  = 3.49, D  = 3.57 hrs, p A vs B and C vs D ). Weekly sports hours are A  = 1.27, B  = 2.38, C  = 3.28, D  = 2.84 hrs; there are again significant differences in all groups except C vs D . Eating habits: lunch is most adequate in B (50.2%, possible effect of the adequacy of school cafeterias); quali-quantitative errors range from 8.5% ( B ) to 40.1% ( D ); similar results, but higher percentages of errors, for dinner. Sugary drinks consumption decreases from A (1/day) to D (4/week). The apparent better conditions of D patients might be linked to the increased adolescent interest to “physical fitness”, with an eye to sport and sugary drinks consumption. What seems to lack, however, is a full awareness of the importance of reducing sedentary lifestyles while improving eating habits.