(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Researchers say children are gaining more weight, earlier in life.

Twelve percent of black teenage girls, 11.2 percent of Hispanic teenage boys, 7.3 percent of boys and 5.5 percent of girls are now classified as extremely obese, according to a new study.

This is the first study to provide a snapshot of the prevalence of extreme obesity in a contemporary cohort of children ages 2-19 years from a large racially and ethnically diverse population.

"Children who are extremely obese may continue to be extremely obese as adults, and all the health problems associated with obesity are in these children's futures. Without major lifestyle changes, these kids face a 10 to 20 years shorter life span and will develop health problems in their twenties that we typically see in 40-60 year olds," study lead author Corinna Koebnick, PhD, a research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Southern California's Department of Research and Evaluation in Pasadena, CA, was quoted as saying.