Obesity is most common in black, Hispanic and American Indian children

A striking new study says almost 1 in 5 American 4-year-olds is obese, and the rate is alarmingly higher among American Indian children, with nearly a third of them obese. Researchers were surprised to see differences by race at so early an age. Overall, more than half a million 4-year-olds are obese, the study suggests. Obesity is more common in Hispanic and black youngsters, too, but the disparity is most startling in American Indians, whose rate is almost double that of whites. Almost 13% of Asian children were obese, along with 16% of whites, almost 21% of blacks, 22% of Hispanics, and 31% of American Indians. There are also higher rates of diabetes in American Indians, and also Hispanics, which scientists believe may be due to genetic differences.