Cultural Factors Of Obesity In Children

The American Heart Association estimates that one out of every three American children between the ages of 2 and 19 is obese. Children and teens are developing adult health problems such as type 2 diabetes, increased blood cholesterol levels and high blood pressure. Cultural factors may be hampering your efforts to help your child or teen exercise more and eat in a healthier manner.

Obese Children Percentages

The American Heart Association, in an essay, "Overweight in Children," summarizes childhood obesity statistics: 31.9 percent of all white male children and 29.5 percent of all white female children are obese. Among African-American children, 30.8 percent of all African-American male children and 39.2 percent of all African-American female children are obese. Among Mexican-American children, 40.8 percent of all Mexican-American male children and 35.0 percent of all Mexican-American female children are obese.

Money and Ethnicity

A 2007 report by the National Heart Blood and Lung Institute, "Future Research Directions in Childhood Obesity Prevention and Treatment," found that low-income children and children who belong to an ethnic minority have an increased risk of obesity. Prosperous white families had fewer obese children; obesity among white children seems tied to poverty. An opposite dynamic exists among African-American and Mexican-American families, where there appears to be more obese teenage girls among middle-class and high-income families than among the low-income families.

Cultural Obstacles

In a 2007 article, "Sociological Factors Affecting Childhood Obesity," published in "The Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance," Professor Latisha Forster-Scott of Montclair State University's Exercise Science department described the many cultural challenges that the poor and ethnic minorities face in fighting childhood obesity. For example, she notes that minorities often find women with fuller figures more attractive than thin women. In some cultures girls are not encouraged to exercise as much as boys. Girls receive the message that a fuller figure is a sign of good eating and good health. Recommended diets for obese children seldom include traditional foods that ethnic minorities like and eat on a regular basis. Many of the foods listed in diet plans are unfamiliar to the poor and minorities, too expensive or not available at all in low-income neighborhood grocery stores.

Getting Advice

If you are trying to help your obese child lose weight in a setting where cultural factors work against weight loss, you may want to enroll in a weight loss program by yourself. A 2010 study by Professor Kerri Boutelle of the University of California and two colleagues at the University of Minnesota, "Parent-Only Treatment for Childhood Obesity," compared a treatment group of parents of obese children with a group of parents participating with their obese children, and found that the parent-only group was just as effective in helping their children lose weight as the group composed of both parents and their obese children. There are also free online plans for helping your obese child lose weight, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's "Tips for Parents -- Ideas to Help Children Maintain a Healthy Weight."