The number of cases of childhood obesity in the United States is growing at an alarming rate. Rates of childhood obesity have tripled over the last 30 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Children who are obese often grow up to be obese adults and face a myriad of health issues including diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, cancer and osteoarthritis at much younger ages. Health care providers, public health researchers, policy advisers, parents and school officials are working together to develop solutions to this national epidemic.
At Risk
Children who eat empty calories and are physically inactive are at a greater risk of becoming overweight or obese than are children who eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly. Rates of childhood obesity are highest in low-income communities and among ethnic minority groups. According to the CDC, one in seven preschool-aged children who come from low-income homes is obese, as of 2008 data.
Causes
Many factors that have contributed to the rise in obesity over the last three decades. Children today have greater access to high-energy snacks and drinks and less access to safe outdoor activities. Fruits and vegetables are less available to children who live in poor communities, but fast food restaurants are often abundant. Parents in dual-income and single-parent households are more likely to eat out or make use of convenience foods, and many children spend the majority of their free time watching television, playing video games or surfing the web.
Prevention
Preventing childhood obesity is a public health priority. At the community level, children will benefit from increased access to safe parks and recreational facilities where they can be physically active. Schools can also address the obesity epidemic by providing kids with more opportunities to get moving and with less opportunity to eat lunches that are nutritionally deficient. In the home, parents can encourage their kids to be more active, provide healthy, nutritionally balanced meals, exercise portion control and limit how much time their kids spend engaged in sedentary activities.
Reversing the Trend
In a March, 1998, article in the journal "Pediatrics" titled, "Childhood Obesity: Future Directions and Research Priorities," lead author James O. Hill concluded that as a result of the growing obesity epidemic, future generations of children would grow up to be increasingly overweight and unhealthy, and he called for increased resources for research into the cause, treatment and prevention of childhood obesity. More than a decade later, the future of obesity in children in the United States is still a cause for concern; however, there are some small indications that efforts to stem the growth of the epidemic may be working. For example, between 2003 and 2008, the percentage of low-income preschool aged children diagnosed with obesity only rose by 0.1 percent, according to the CDC.
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