A: The rise in childhood obesity is due to complex interactions
across a number of relevant social, environmental,
and policy contexts that influence eating and physical
activity. Over decades, these have collectively created an
adverse environment for maintaining a healthy weight.
This environment is characterized by:
• urban and suburban designs that discourage walking
and other physical activities;
• pressures on families to minimize food costs, acquisition
and preparation time, resulting in frequent consumption
of convenience foods that are high in calories and fat;
• reduced access and affordability in some communities
to fruits, vegetables, and other nutritious foods;
• decreased opportunities for physical activity at school,
after school, and reduced walking or biking to and from
school; and
• competition for leisure time that was once spent playing
outdoors with sedentary screen time including watching
television or playing computer and video games.
Q: What are immediate risks of obesity to a child's health?
A: Young people are at risk of developing serious psychosocial
burdens related to being obese in a society that stigmatizes
this condition, often fostering shame, self-blame,
and low self-esteem that may impair academic and social
functioning and carry into adulthood. In a populationbased
sample, approximately 60 percent of obese children
aged 5 to 10 years had at least one cardiovascular
disease (CVD) risk factor—such as elevated total cholesterol,
triglycerides, insulin, or blood pressure—and 25
percent had two or more risk CVD risk factors.
Physical, Social, and Emotional Health Consequences
of Obesity in Children and Youth
Physical Health
· Glucose intolerance and insulin resistance
· Type 2 diabetes
· Hypertension
· Dyslipidemia
· Hepatic steatosis
· Cholelithiasis
· Sleep apnea
· Menstrual abnormalities
· Impaired balance
· Orthopedic problems
Emotional Health
· Low self-esteem
· Negative body image
· Depression
Social Health
· Stigma
· Negative stereotyping
· Discrimination
· Teasing and bullying
· Social marginalization
Q: What are Obese Trends?
A: Trends in childhood and youth obesity mirror a similar profound increase over the same approximate period in U.S. adults as well as a concurrent rise internationally, in both developed and developing countries. The obesity epidemic affects both boys and girls and has occurred in the lightest to the heaviest based on their BMI levels from the 1970s, and another line of children were lined up based on their BMIs from the 1990s, approximately the first 25 children in each line would have the same BMI. However, the last 10 (the heaviest) children in the 1990s would be much heavier than his or her counterpart in the 1970s. In adults, the prevalence of overweight and obesity has increased, meaning that more adults have become overweight or obese and they have become heavier which has shifted the adult BMI curve to the right.
Q: What are the Causes of Childhood Obesity?
A: Causes of Childhood Obesity
The rise in childhood obesity is due to complex interactions
across a number of relevant social, environmental,
and policy contexts that influence eating and physical
activity. Over decades, these have collectively created an
adverse environment for maintaining a healthy weight.
This environment is characterized by:
• urban and suburban designs that discourage walking
and other physical activities;
• pressures on families to minimize food costs, acquisition
and preparation time, resulting in frequent consumption
of convenience foods that are high in calories and fat;
• reduced access and affordability in some communities
to fruits, vegetables, and other nutritious foods;
• decreased opportunities for physical activity at school,
after school, and reduced walking or biking to and from
school; and
• competition for leisure time that was once spent playing
outdoors with sedentary screen time including watching
television or playing computer and video games.
