More children are 'extremely' obese than previously thought

American children are heavier than ever before, according to a new study.

Not only are kids obese, they're even heavier than previously thought, says the research from healthcare provider Kaiser Permanente.

The study examined the weights and heights of 710,000 children aged 2 to 19 in southern California, and found 7% of boys and 5% of girls were "extremely" obese, defined as 120% of the 95th percentile for weight for the child's age and sex.

An example would be a 10-year-old who should weigh about 70 pounds, but instead weighs 140 pounds, Corinna Koebnick, PhD., the study's lead author, told WebMD.com.

''The prevalence of extreme obesity was much higher than we thought," Koebnick said. ''Seven percent of boys and 5% of girls -- that is scary."

Koebnick's team found that 37.1% of the children were overweight, 19.4% were obese and 6.4% were extremely obese, according to WebMD.

''This is a serious health issue,'' she told WebMD. ''These children are very likely to continue to be obese adults and face all the health consequences that come with obesity at a very early age.''

Statistics released by the Centers for Disease Control in January reported that obesity rates for adult men and women have remained constant for at least five years. However, the same data found that nearly 34% of adults are considered obese, and the number of obese children tripled over the past 30 years to 17%.

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