How has childhood obesity become a global health crisis. What are the current trends in different regions. Which prevention strategies are most effective for combating childhood obesity. How can parents, schools, and communities work together to promote healthy weight in children.

The Growing Global Epidemic of Childhood Obesity

Childhood obesity has emerged as one of the most pressing public health challenges of the 21st century. The World Health Organization has declared it a global epidemic, with rates rising at an alarming pace in many countries. But just how widespread is this problem, and what are the implications for children’s health?

In 2010, an estimated 43 million preschool children under age 5 were overweight or obese worldwide – a staggering 60% increase from 1990 levels. If current trends continue unchecked, projections suggest that by 2020, 9% of all preschoolers globally – nearly 60 million children – will be overweight or obese.

The rapid rise of childhood obesity is not limited to high-income nations. Of the 43 million overweight and obese preschoolers in 2010, 35 million were living in developing countries. This highlights how the problem has become truly global in scope, affecting nations across the economic spectrum.

Health Consequences of Childhood Obesity

Why is the increasing prevalence of obesity in children so concerning? Excess weight in childhood can harm nearly every system in a child’s body, including:

• Heart and lungs
• Muscles and bones
• Kidneys and digestive tract
• Hormones controlling blood sugar and puberty

Beyond the physical effects, childhood obesity also takes a significant emotional and social toll. Children who are obese often face stigma, bullying, and lower self-esteem. Even more troubling is that overweight youth have substantially higher odds of remaining overweight or obese into adulthood, increasing their lifelong risk of serious health problems.

Regional Trends in Childhood Obesity

While childhood obesity has become a global issue, rates and trends vary considerably between different regions and countries. Let’s examine some of the key regional patterns that have emerged in recent decades.

North America: A Continuing Crisis

The United States has seen childhood obesity rates triple over the past three decades. Today, it has some of the highest obesity rates in the world:

• 1 in 6 children is obese
• 1 in 3 children is overweight or obese
• Boys (19%) have higher obesity rates than girls (15%)
• Hispanic (21%) and non-Hispanic Black (24%) youth have higher rates than non-Hispanic white youth (14%)

While the overall U.S. child obesity rate has held steady since 2008, some groups have continued to see increases. Canada has also experienced rising childhood obesity since the late 1970s, with rates more than doubling overall. However, childhood obesity rates remain lower in Canada than in the U.S.

Latin America and the Caribbean: An Emerging Problem

Although comprehensive data is lacking for Latin America and the Caribbean, available evidence indicates that childhood overweight and obesity have become significant issues in the region. In many countries, more children are now overweight than underweight, highlighting a complex “dual burden” of malnutrition.

This shift is largely attributed to the “nutrition transition” – as countries become wealthier and adopt more Westernized diets and lifestyles, obesity rates tend to rise. This phenomenon is not unique to Latin America but is observed in many developing regions worldwide.

Factors Contributing to the Global Rise in Childhood Obesity

To effectively address the childhood obesity epidemic, it’s crucial to understand the complex factors driving its rapid increase. What are the key contributors to rising obesity rates in children globally?

Dietary Changes

One of the primary drivers of childhood obesity is the global shift towards energy-dense, nutrient-poor diets. This includes:

• Increased consumption of processed foods high in added sugars and unhealthy fats
• Greater reliance on fast food and convenience meals
• Larger portion sizes
• Higher intake of sugar-sweetened beverages

As traditional diets are replaced by more Westernized eating patterns, many children are consuming excess calories without adequate nutrition.

Decreased Physical Activity

Modern lifestyles often involve less physical activity for children. Contributing factors include:

• Increased screen time (TV, computers, mobile devices)
• Reduced active transportation (walking or biking to school)
• Fewer opportunities for outdoor play and sports
• Sedentary school environments

This reduction in daily physical activity means many children are not burning enough calories to offset their energy intake.

Socioeconomic and Environmental Factors

Obesity rates are influenced by broader societal and environmental conditions. Key issues include:

• Limited access to healthy foods in some communities
• Marketing of unhealthy foods to children
• Socioeconomic disparities in obesity rates
• Urban planning that discourages physical activity

Addressing these systemic factors is crucial for creating environments that support healthy weights in children.

Effective Strategies for Preventing Childhood Obesity

Given the complex nature of childhood obesity, prevention efforts must be multifaceted and target various levels of influence. What are some of the most promising strategies for combating this global health challenge?

School-Based Interventions

Schools play a critical role in shaping children’s health behaviors. Effective school-based obesity prevention strategies include:

• Improving the nutritional quality of school meals
• Limiting access to unhealthy foods and beverages on campus
• Increasing physical education and opportunities for physical activity
• Implementing comprehensive health education curricula
• Creating school wellness policies that promote healthy eating and active living

By creating healthier school environments, we can support children in developing lifelong healthy habits.

Family-Based Interventions

Parents and families have a profound influence on children’s health behaviors. Effective family-based approaches include:

• Educating parents about healthy nutrition and physical activity
• Encouraging family meals and cooking together
• Limiting screen time and promoting active family activities
• Modeling healthy behaviors for children
• Creating a home environment that supports healthy choices

Empowering families with the knowledge and tools to make healthy choices can have a lasting impact on children’s weight and overall health.

Community-Level Interventions

Broader community efforts are essential for creating environments that support healthy weights. Promising strategies include:

• Improving access to healthy foods in underserved areas
• Creating safe spaces for physical activity (parks, playgrounds, bike lanes)
• Implementing policies to limit marketing of unhealthy foods to children
• Developing community-wide health promotion campaigns
• Fostering partnerships between schools, healthcare providers, and community organizations

By addressing the root causes of obesity at the community level, we can create sustainable change that benefits all children.

The Role of Policy in Obesity Prevention

While individual and community-level efforts are crucial, policy interventions have the potential to create widespread, systemic change in addressing childhood obesity. How can policymakers contribute to obesity prevention efforts?

Nutrition Policies

Policies that promote healthier food environments can have a significant impact. Examples include:

• Implementing nutrition standards for school meals
• Requiring clear front-of-package nutrition labeling
• Taxing sugar-sweetened beverages
• Restricting marketing of unhealthy foods to children
• Providing incentives for healthy food retail in underserved areas

These policies aim to make healthier choices easier and more accessible for families and children.

Physical Activity Policies

Policies that promote active lifestyles are equally important. Effective approaches include:

• Mandating minimum requirements for physical education in schools
• Implementing active transport policies (e.g., Safe Routes to School programs)
• Creating urban planning guidelines that prioritize walkability and green spaces
• Providing funding for community recreation facilities and programs

By creating environments that encourage physical activity, these policies can help children maintain healthy weights.

Healthcare Policies

The healthcare system plays a vital role in obesity prevention and treatment. Relevant policies include:

• Ensuring insurance coverage for obesity prevention and treatment services
• Implementing standards for BMI screening and counseling in pediatric care
• Providing training and resources for healthcare providers on obesity management
• Supporting research on effective obesity prevention and treatment strategies

These policies can help ensure that children receive appropriate care and support for maintaining a healthy weight.

Innovative Approaches to Childhood Obesity Prevention

As our understanding of childhood obesity grows, new and innovative approaches to prevention are emerging. What cutting-edge strategies show promise in combating this complex health issue?

Technology-Based Interventions

Digital tools and technologies are increasingly being leveraged for obesity prevention. Promising approaches include:

• Mobile apps for tracking diet and physical activity
• Wearable devices that promote movement and monitor health metrics
• Gamification of healthy behaviors to increase engagement
• Telehealth platforms for remote nutrition counseling and support
• Virtual reality experiences that encourage physical activity

These tech-based solutions can make health promotion more accessible, engaging, and personalized for children and families.

Early Life Interventions

Recognizing the importance of early life experiences in shaping long-term health, researchers are exploring interventions that target the earliest stages of life. These include:

• Promoting healthy maternal nutrition during pregnancy
• Supporting breastfeeding and appropriate complementary feeding
• Developing obesity prevention programs for preschool-aged children
• Addressing sleep patterns and stress in early childhood

By intervening early, these approaches aim to set children on a trajectory of lifelong health.

Environmental Design for Health

Innovative approaches to urban planning and environmental design are being explored to create healthier communities. Examples include:

• Developing “active buildings” that encourage movement throughout the day
• Creating “edible landscapes” that integrate food production into urban environments
• Implementing “play streets” that temporarily close roads to create safe spaces for physical activity
• Designing schools and childcare centers to naturally promote physical activity

These environmental interventions aim to make healthy choices the easy and natural choices for children and families.

Challenges and Future Directions in Childhood Obesity Prevention

While significant progress has been made in understanding and addressing childhood obesity, numerous challenges remain. What are the key obstacles to effective prevention, and what future directions show promise?

Addressing Health Disparities

One of the most persistent challenges in childhood obesity prevention is addressing the significant disparities in obesity rates among different racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups. Future efforts must focus on:

• Developing culturally tailored interventions
• Addressing social determinants of health (e.g., poverty, food insecurity)
• Ensuring equitable access to health-promoting resources and environments
• Engaging underrepresented communities in the development of prevention strategies

By focusing on equity and inclusion, we can work towards reducing obesity disparities and improving health outcomes for all children.

Balancing Individual and Environmental Approaches

Another ongoing challenge is finding the right balance between individual-level interventions and broader environmental and policy changes. Future directions may include:

• Developing integrated approaches that address multiple levels of influence simultaneously
• Exploring how individual genetic and biological factors interact with environmental exposures
• Investigating the most effective combinations of policy, environmental, and behavioral interventions
• Tailoring prevention strategies to different developmental stages and life transitions

By taking a more holistic and nuanced approach, we can develop more effective and sustainable obesity prevention strategies.

Leveraging Big Data and Precision Health

Advancements in data science and precision health offer new opportunities for childhood obesity prevention. Future directions may include:

• Using machine learning to identify early predictors of obesity risk
• Developing personalized prevention strategies based on individual genetic and environmental profiles
• Utilizing large-scale data to inform policy decisions and resource allocation
• Creating predictive models to anticipate and prevent obesity-related health complications

These cutting-edge approaches have the potential to revolutionize how we understand and address childhood obesity at both individual and population levels.

As we continue to grapple with the global challenge of childhood obesity, it’s clear that no single solution will be sufficient. Success will require sustained, coordinated efforts across multiple sectors, innovative thinking, and a commitment to creating healthier environments for all children. By building on our current knowledge and embracing new approaches, we can work towards a future where all children have the opportunity to grow up at a healthy weight.

Child Obesity | Obesity Prevention Source

Too Many Kids Are Too Heavy, Too Young

Childhood obesity has been called “one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21st century,” and with good reason. (1)

Obesity can harm nearly every system in a child’s body-heart and lungs, muscles and bones, kidneys and digestive tract, as well as the hormones that control blood sugar and puberty-and can also take a heavy social and emotional toll. (2) What’s worse, youth who are overweight or obese have substantially higher odds of remaining overweight or obese into adulthood, (3) increasing their risk of disease and disability later in life.

Globally, an estimated 43 million preschool children (under age 5) were overweight or obese in 2010, a 60 percent increase since 1990. (4) The problem affects countries rich and poor, and by sheer numbers, places the greatest burden on the poorest: Of the world’s 43 million overweight and obese preschoolers, 35 million live in developing countries. By 2020, if the current epidemic continues unabated, 9 percent of all preschoolers will be overweight or obese-nearly 60 million children. (4)

Obesity rates are higher in adults than in children. But in relative terms, the U.S., Brazil, China, and other countries have seen the problem escalate more rapidly in children than in adults. (5)

Of course, some regions still struggle mightily with child hunger, such as Southeastern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. (6) But globalization has made the world wealthier, and wealth and weight are linked.

As poor countries move up the income scale and switch from traditional diets to Western food ways, obesity rates rise. (7) One result of this so-called “nutrition transition” is that low- and middle-income countries often face a dual burden: the infectious diseases that accompany malnutrition, especially in childhood, and, increasingly, the debilitating chronic diseases linked to obesity and Western lifestyles.

It’s surprisingly challenging to track childhood obesity rates across the globe. Many countries do not field nationally representative surveys that measure heights and weights of school-aged children, or don’t have repeated consistent measurements over time. Dueling definitions of childhood obesity-from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF)-further complicate matters, making it hard to compare data between regions.

This article gives a brief overview of global obesity trends in children. A related article covers obesity trends in adults.

North America

Over the past three decades, childhood obesity rates have tripled in the U.S., and today, the country has some of the highest obesity rates in the world: one out of six children is obese, and one out of three children is overweight or obese. (8) Though the overall U.S. child obesity rate has held steady since 2008, some groups have continued to see increases, and some groups have higher rates of obesity than others:

• In the 1970s, 5 percent of U. S. children ages 2 to 19 were obese, according to the CDC’s current definition; by 2008, nearly 17 percent of children were obese, a percentage that held steady through 2010. (8,9)
• Obesity is more common in boys than girls (19 percent versus 15 percent). (8)
• Obesity rates in boys increased significantly between 1999 and 2010, especially among non-Hispanic black boys; but obesity rates in girls of all ages and ethnic groups have stayed largely the same. (8)
• Hispanic (21 percent) and non-Hispanic black (24 percent) youth have higher rates of obesity than non-Hispanic white youth (14 percent), a continuing trend. (8)
• Nearly 10 percent of U.S. infants had a high “weight for recumbent length”-a measure that’s similar to the body mass index but used in children from birth to age 2. (8)
• From 1999 to 2010, Mexican American infants were 67 percent more likely to have a high weight for recumbent length than non-Hispanic white infants. (8)

Canada has also seen a rise in childhood obesity since the late 1970s-overall, obesity rates have more than doubled, and in some age groups, tripled. (10) But childhood obesity rates are still a good bit lower there than they are in the U.S. In 2007-2008, nearly 9 percent of Canadian youth ages 6 to 17 were obese, based on the IOTF age-specific cutoffs. (10) Child obesity is a bigger problem among Canada’s Aboriginal groups: A survey of Aboriginal groups who live outside of reservations found that in 2006, nearly 33 percent of children ages 6 to 8 were obese, as were 13 percent of children ages 9 to 14. (10)

Latin America and the Caribbean

Though data are scarce from Latin America and the Caribbean, it’s clear that childhood overweight and obesity have become sizable problems-and that overall, more children in the region are overweight than underweight.

Preschoolers

Roughly 7 percent of children under the age of 5 in Latin America and the Caribbean were estimated to be overweight or obese in 2010, according to the WHO growth standards. (4) While under-nutrition remains a concern in this age group, the region has seen substantial reductions in child underweight over the past two decades, from 7 percent in 1990 to 3 percent in 2010. (6)

School-Age Children and Adolescents

Nationally representative data are limited in these age groups, but again, the best available data suggest that obesity has become a serious problem. In Mexico, for example, a 2006 government health survey measured heights and weights of children across the country. It found that nearly 10 percent of 15-year-olds were obese and 33 percent were overweight or obese, using the adult cut points for overweight (BMI of 25 or higher) and obese (BMI of 30 or higher), cut points that likely underestimate the true rates of overweight and obesity in adolescents. (11) In Argentina, meanwhile, investigators measured heights and weights from a representative sample of 1,688 children ages 10 to 11 in Buenos Aires’ public schools. They found that 35 percent of the children were overweight or obese, using the CDC’s definition, and about 4 percent were underweight. (12) Of note, stunting and overweight coexist in many developing countries, and stunting my increase the risk of obesity later on in life.

Europe

Surprisingly, Europe has less-than-complete data on childhood obesity trends, especially from eastern countries. And until recently, data were not gathered in a consistent way across the continent, making it very hard to compare numbers from country to country. But the best available estimates find that over the past few decades, obesity rates have been rising among children in many countries. (13,14) More recently, rates seem to have hit a plateau in a few countries, among some age groups:

Preschoolers

Overweight and obesity rates at 4 years of age vary quite a bit from country to country, according to a recent systematic review of studies from the 27 countries in the European Union (EU). Spain had the highest rate-just over 32 percent-and Romania had the lowest rate, about 12 percent. (14) Keep in mind, though, that only 18 of 27 countries had data available, and often, the sample sizes were small or the data had other limitations. Five countries had repeated surveys of children ages 2 to 5, offering a glimpse of trends over the past few decades-the Czech Republic, England, France, the Netherlands, and Romania. Of those, only England showed a rise in obesity rates, from about 18 percent in 1995 to 23 percent in 2002.

School-Age Children

The World Health Organization European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative recently began tracking child obesity rates across 15 countries, using the WHO child growth standards. The first analysis, based on 2007-2008 data from 13 countries (Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden), finds that 24 percent of European children ages 6 to 9 are overweight. (15) A second wave of data collection, in 2010, has yet to be reported. Over time, this survey should offer more insights into European trends within and across countries.

Adolescents

Cyprus, Greece, Spain, and England have some of the highest obesity rates among youth ages 10 to 18, according to a recent systematic review of studies from 30 countries (the 27 EU members plus Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland). (13) But again, the data are limited and of varying quality; only 18 of 30 countries had nationally representative data from measured heights and weights. Fourteen countries had trend data available, though some were based on self-reported measures with small samples. (13) Most of these countries showed increases in obesity rates over the past few decades. France, however, showed no changes in obesity rates from 1998 to 2007 in children ages 3 to 14, a finding echoed by subsequent reports. (16–18) Sweden saw no change from 2001 to 2007 among 16-year-old youth, and a more recent review finds obesity rates have held steady in other age groups as well.(18)

Africa

Hunger, underweight, and stunting have long been the more pressing child nutrition concerns across Africa, and even today, 20 to 25 percent of preschoolers in sub-Saharan Africa are underweight. (6) Yet here, too, child obesity rates are on the rise: The percentage of preschoolers in Africa who are overweight or obese more than doubled over the past two decades, from 4 percent in 1990 to 8. 5 percent in 2010. (4) A closer look at the numbers, though, shows much higher rates in Northern Africa than the rest of the continent:

Preschoolers

In Northern Africa, an estimated one in six preschool-aged children is overweight or obese-the highest rate in the world, and triple that in 1990. (4) There’s quite a bit of variability from country to country, however: About 20 percent of Egypt’s preschoolers were overweight or obese in 2008, compared with 5 percent in Sudan. (4)

In sub-Saharan Africa, meanwhile, overweight and obesity rates among preschoolers are still in the single digits-roughly 9 percent in Middle Africa, 6 percent in Western Africa, 7 percent in Eastern Africa, and 8 percent in Southern Africa. (4) But for most of the region, these rates are double or triple what they were two decades ago; only Southern Africa has seen the rate drop slightly since 1990.

Children and Adolescents

There are scant few nationally representative surveys available from older youth in the region, but available data suggest obesity is increasing in this age group, as well. In South Africa, for example, only about 1 percent of youth ages 8 to 11 were overweight or obese in 1994, based on the IOTF cut points. (19) By 2006, about 17 percent of South African girls and 11 percent of boys ages 6 to 13 were overweight or obese. (20)

Asia

There’s quite a bit of diversity from region to region, however. While South Asian countries like Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan have low obesity rates, their large populations add up to large numbers of children who are overweight or obese.Even though child hunger remains the most pressing nutritional concern for much of Asia-n South Asia, for example, one in three preschool children is underweight-the region has also seen dramatic increases in child obesity. Overall in Asia (excluding Japan), nearly 5 percent of preschoolers were estimated to be overweight or obese in 2010, a 53 percent increase in prevalence since 1990. (4) That translates into 17.7 million Asian preschoolers being overweight or obese.

It’s important to note that in Asian adults, the health complications associated with overweight and obesity start at a lower BMI than seen in the U. S. and Europe. So many of these estimates of child obesity prevalence in Asia likely underestimate the true public health burden of obesity in Asia.

Preschoolers

In 2010, preschooler obesity rates were far higher in Western Asia (which includes the Middle East) than in Eastern, Southeastern, or South Central Asia (roughly 15, 5, 5, and 4 percent, respectively). (4) But South Central Asia had the largest number of overweight preschoolers of any region on the world-an estimated 6.6 million children. (4)

School-Age Children and Adolescents

Nationally representative data are scarce for older children in Asia, but taken together, paint a worrisome picture of obesity trends. In China, over the past 20 years, nationally representative studies of youth ages 8 to 18 have shown a dramatic rise in obesity: In 1985, only 2 percent of boys and 1 percent of girls were overweight or obese, based on Chinese-specific cut points (at age 18, a BMI of 24 for overweight and 28 for obesity). By 2005, roughly 14 percent of boys and 9 percent of girls were overweight or obese-a total of 21 million children. (21) In India, meanwhile, the largest study to date covered five urban areas and included nearly 40,000 children ages 8 to 18. It found that 14 percent were overweight or obese-a number that, if extrapolated to urban youth across India, amounts to an estimated 15 million children. (20) In Western Asia, the Arabian Gulf States have especially high rates of overweight and obesity among schoolchildren. A nationally representative Kuwaiti survey in 2006 found that about 44 percent of boys and 46 percent of girls ages 10 to 14 were overweight or obese, according to the CDC’s pre-2000 definition. (22)

Oceania

The major developed countries in Oceania-Australia and New Zealand-have childhood obesity rates in the double digits, but there’s some evidence that rates have hit a plateau over the past decade. (18,23)

In Australia, a systematic review of 41 studies from 1985 through 2008 found that obesity rates in children ages 2 to 18 rose through the mid-1990s, but have held relatively stable since then. (23) In 2008, 21 to 25 percent of Australian boys and girls were overweight or obese, and 5 to 6 percent were obese.

In New Zealand, nationally representative data show that about 28 percent of children ages 5 to 14 were overweight or obese in 2006-2007, a rate that was unchanged from 2002. (18) Overweight and obesity rates are much higher in some of New Zealand’s ethnic groups (Maori, 37 percent, and Pacific Islanders, 57 percent), but are also largely unchanged since 2002.

The Bottom Line: It’s Never Too Early to Start Preventing Obesity

Even among the youngest of children, it’s clear that obesity rates are rising across the globe. Equally clear is that it’s very, very hard for anyone who becomes overweight to lose weight, at any age. Preventing obesity in a child’s earliest years (and even before birth, by healthy habits during pregnancy) confers a lifetime of health benefits. And it’s the most promising path for turning around the global epidemic. (24)

References

1. World Health Organization. Global strategy on diet, physical activity, and health: childhood overweight and obesity. Accessed March 9, 2012.

2. Ebbeling CB, Pawlak DB, Ludwig DS. Childhood obesity: public-health crisis, common sense cure. Lancet. 2002;360:473-82.

3. Singh AS, Mulder C, Twisk JW, van Mechelen W, Chinapaw MJ. Tracking of childhood overweight into adulthood: a systematic review of the literature. Obes Rev. 2008;9:474-88.

4. de Onis M, Blossner M, Borghi E. Global prevalence and trends of overweight and obesity among preschool children. Am J Clin Nutr. 2010;92:1257-64.

5. Popkin BM, Conde W, Hou N, Monteiro C. Is there a lag globally in overweight trends for children compared with adults? Obesity (Silver Spring). 2006;14:1846-53.

6. United Nations. Childinfo.org: Statistics by area / child nutrition / undernutrition / progress. 2012. Accessed March 6, 2012.

7. Popkin BM, Adair LS, Ng SW. Global nutrition transition and the pandemic of obesity in developing countries. Nutr Rev. 2012;70:3-21.

8. Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Kit BK, Flegal KM. Prevalence of obesity and trends in body mass index among US children and adolescents, 1999-2010. JAMA. 2012;307:483-90.

9. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. NCHS Health EStat: Prevalence of Obesity Among Children and Adolescents: United States, Trends 1963-1965 Through 2007-2008. 2010. Accessed March 2, 2012.

10. Public Health Agency of Canada. Obesity in Canada: A Joint Report from the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Canadian Institute for Health Information; 2011. In; 2011:12-6.

11. OECD. OECD Family Database. OECD, 2011. Accessed March 5, 2012.

12. Kovalskys I, Rausch Herscovici C, De Gregorio MJ. Nutritional status of school-aged children of Buenos Aires, Argentina: data using three references. J Public Health (Oxf). 2011;33:403-11.

13. Lien N, Henriksen HB, Nymoen LL, Wind M, Klepp KI. Availability of data assessing the prevalence and trends of overweight and obesity among European adolescents. Public Health Nutr. 2010;13:1680-7.

14. Cattaneo A, Monasta L, Stamatakis E, et al. Overweight and obesity in infants and pre-school children in the European Union: a review of existing data. Obes Rev. 2010;11:389-98.

15. World Health Organization / Europe. European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI). 2010. Accessed March 6, 2012.

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18. Olds T, Maher C, Zumin S, et al. Evidence that the prevalence of childhood overweight is plateauing: data from nine countries. Int J Pediatr Obes. 2011;6:342-60.

19. Armstrong ME, Lambert MI, Lambert EV. Secular trends in the prevalence of stunting, overweight and obesity among South African children (1994-2004). Eur J Clin Nutr. 2011;65:835-40.

20. Gupta N, Goel K, Shah P, Misra A. Childhood Obesity in Developing Countries: Epidemiology, Determinants, and Prevention. Endocr Rev. 2012.

21. Ji CY, Cheng TO. Epidemic increase in overweight and obesity in Chinese children from 1985 to 2005. Int J Cardiol. 2009;132:1-10.

22. Ng SW, Zaghloul S, Ali HI, Harrison G, Popkin BM. The prevalence and trends of overweight, obesity and nutrition-related non-communicable diseases in the Arabian Gulf States. Obes Rev. 2011;12:1-13.

23. Olds TS, Tomkinson GR, Ferrar KE, Maher CA. Trends in the prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity in Australia between 1985 and 2008. Int J Obes (Lond). 2010;34:57-66.

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Obesity Causes | Obesity Prevention Source

Obesity Prevention Source

Many factors influence body weight-genes, though the effect is small, and heredity is not destiny; prenatal and early life influences; poor diets; too much television watching; too little physical activity and sleep; and our food and physical activity environment.

What Tips the Scales Toward Excess Weight?

The causes of obesity are as varied as the people it affects.

At its most basic, of course, obesity results when someone regularly takes in more calories than needed. The body stores these excess calories as body fat, and over time the extra pounds add up. Eat fewer calories than the body burns, weight goes down. This equation can be deceptively simple, though, because it doesn’t account for the multitude of factors that affect what we eat, how much we exercise, and how our bodies process all this energy. A complex web surrounds a basic problem.

What are some of the factors that increase the risk of obesity?

Genes Are Not Destiny

Heredity plays a role in obesity but generally to a much lesser degree than many people might believe. Rather than being obesity’s sole cause, genes seem to increase the risk of weight gain and interact with other risk factors in the environment, such as unhealthy diets and inactive lifestyles. And healthy lifestyles can counteract these genetic effects.

Prenatal and Postnatal Influences

Early life is important, too. Pregnant mothers who smoke or who are overweight may have children who are more likely to grow up to be obese adults. Excessive weight gain during infancy also raises the risk of adult obesity, while being breastfed may lower the risk.

Unhealthy Diets

What’s become the typical Western diet-frequent, large meals high in refined grains, red meat, unhealthy fats, and sugary drinks-plays one of the largest roles in obesity. Foods that are lacking in the Western diet-whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and nuts-seem to help with weight control, and also help prevent chronic disease.

Too Much Television, Too Little Activity, and Too Little Sleep

Television watching is a strong obesity risk factor, in part because exposure to food and beverage advertising can influence what people eat. Physical activity can protect against weight gain, but globally, people just aren’t doing enough of it. Lack of sleep-another hallmark of the Western lifestyle-is also emerging as a risk factor for obesity.

Toxic Environment-Food and Physical Activity

As key as individual choices are when it comes to health, no one person behaves in a vacuum. The physical and social environment in which people live plays a huge role in the food and activity choices they make. And, unfortunately, in the U.S. and increasingly around the globe, this environment has become toxic to healthy living: The incessant and unavoidable marketing of unhealthy foods and sugary drinks. The lack of safe areas for exercising. The junk food sold at school, at work, and at the corner store. Add it up, and it’s tough for individuals to make the healthy choices that are so important to a good quality of life and a healthy weight.

Obesity and its causes have, in many ways, become woven into the fabric of our society. To successfully disentangle them will take a multifaceted approach that not only gives individuals the skills to make healthier choices but also sets in place policy and infrastructure that support those choices.

Read more: Obesity prevention

Prevention of obesity – Gryazinskaya CRH

Obesity is a disease that can be cured simply by adjusting the lifestyle. All you need is your desire and many of the problems that excess weight entails will bypass you.

Preventive measures.

Nutrition: The basis of the diet for obesity is a “healthy” diet, its principle is the dosed intake of a variety of foods. There are general recommendations for a diet for obesity:
Eat plenty of fiber-rich foods every day. These are fruits, vegetables, legumes, cereals. All these products are low-calorie, rich in vitamins and minerals.
Sweets, muffins, fried foods, canned food, store-bought juices, lemonades, fast food – it is better to exclude from the menu.
Dishes of fast carbohydrates and proteins, it is better to combine with slow carbohydrates. For example, meat food with side dishes of vegetables and cereals.
Fast carbohydrate dishes are best taken at the beginning of the day (in the morning), when the metabolism is more intense.
Eliminate animal fats. Replace them with healthy vegetable oils (olive, sesame).
Be careful with spicy, spicy and sour foods – do not abuse them, because they tend to stimulate the appetite.
Do not forget that food should be varied. Then it will satisfy the body’s need for vitamins and trace elements.
Limit alcohol, as alcoholic drinks will add extra calories, no nutrients, and whet your appetite.
Drink plenty of water to quench your thirst. Pure water contains 0 calories, and if you drink a glass of water 30 minutes before a meal, then the feeling of satiety will come earlier. The last meal should be 2.5-3 hours before bedtime.

Physical activity: It is possible to increase the consumption of kilocalories entering the body only through physical activity. An untrained person should not immediately start intensive training. For the prevention of obesity, cyclic types of physical education are best suited: skiing, swimming, running. The easiest is to walk at a brisk pace for 40 minutes 3-4 times a week or take at least 10,000 steps a day every day. A prerequisite is control over your condition.

Psychological problems: Not all causes of obesity are due to human physiology. His psyche plays an important role in the appearance of excess weight. Sleep disturbance, negative emotions, frequent stress can increase appetite and encourage increased food intake, which in turn leads to weight gain. Having solved at least partially the problem associated with the psychological aspect of obesity, it is possible to prevent weight gain.

Remember: By losing weight, you reduce the risk of a large number of diseases such as diabetes, atherosclerosis, arterial hypertension, stroke, myocardial infarction and improve your quality of life!

Endocrinologist State Healthcare Institution “Gryazinskaya Central District Hospital” Ya. I. Bogomolova

Prevention of overweight and obesity

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Prevention Reminders

Prevention of overweight and obesity

Obesity is an excessive deposition of fat in the body, which poses a health risk. in Russia – from 40 to 60%. Patients with obesity are 4 times more likely to see a doctor about a health problem.

There has been an increase in the number of overweight adolescents, caused by the consumption of high-calorie foods and lack of physical activity.

Body mass index (BMI) is used to estimate body weight:

The result is estimated as follows: 085

15 or less Severe malnutrition 15 – 17 Moderate malnutrition 17 – 19 Mild malnutrition 19 – 25

9009 6 Norm-Standard 25 – 30 Overweight 30 – 35 First degree obesity 35 – 40 Second degree obesity 40 or more Obesity third degree (morbid)

Another test is your waist. The larger the waist, the higher the risk to the health of the heart and blood vessels. Waist circumference should be for women – no more than 80-88 cm, for men – no more than 94-102 cm. Anything more is a cause for alarm.

Types of obesity

Abdominal (adipose tissue is deposited in the abdomen and upper body). With this type, diabetes mellitus, arterial hypertension, heart attacks and strokes often develop.

Femoral-gluteal (adipose tissue is deposited in the buttocks and thighs). It is accompanied by the development of diseases of the spine, joints and veins of the lower extremities.

Mixed or intermediate type of obesity with an even distribution of fat throughout the body.

Causes of obesity

Hereditary factors in obesity are not fatal. Of great importance in the emergence of obesity are external factors.

Junk food:

• bad eating habits with excessive consumption of fatty foods and simple carbohydrates (meal for the company), irregular meals (in the evening), large portions, frequent snacks, watching TV during meals, “jamming” stress;
• endocrine disorders.