A high rate of childhood obesity has health experts worried that Type 2 or so-called "adult onset" diabetes could affect younger populations.

About 28.6 percent of children ages 4 to 6 entering Hawaii public schools are overweight or obese, according to data collected from student health records for the 2007-2008 school year.

The percentage remains about the same from data collected in the 2002-2003 school year.

"This is an ongoing issue that hasn’t been solved," said Ann Pobutsky, an epidemiologist with the state Department of Health’s Maternal and Child Health Branch who is conducting a study on childhood obesity. "The rates aren’t going down."

People who are overweight have an increased risk of developing diabetes and other chronic health conditions.

Dr. Stephen Bradley, medical director of the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center, said that facility is seeing Type 2 diabetes — typically seen in middle-aged people — in patients as young as 10.

The Legislature this year established a childhood obesity prevention task force to come up with recommendations.

Members have so far considered a physical exam requirement for public school students entering the sixth and ninth grades.

Under the current policy, students are required to undergo a physical exam only before entering kindergarten, according to task force member Katherine Sakuda, administrator of the Department of Education’s School Literacy Improvement and Innovation Section.

Requiring two more physical exams will not only help the student but allow health officials to track the body mass index of Hawaii public school students and provide trend data to pediatricians, she said.

Final recommendations will be presented to lawmakers at next year’s legislative session.