Incidence of childhood obesity over the last 10 years in Japan.

1. Childhood obesity has been increasing for the last ten years in Tateyama City. Obesity in boys between the ages of 11 to 13 years was especially prominent. 2. Childhood obesity hardly improved especially in middle and morbid obesity. Eighty-five percent of light obesity in children lead to adult obesity. 3. Complications such as hypertension, serum lipid disorder and fatty liver were also observed in childhood obesity. Considering that Tateyama City is a typical Japanese country city, the above results could be representative of Japanese childhood obesity. Recent increases in childhood obesity might be due to the westernized dietary habit.