Childhood Obesity Essay

Introduction Obesity is one of the important contributing factors to diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, Type 2 diabetes, stroke, arthritis, depression and several forms of cancer [Williams, 2006]. Obesity is often established in adolescence, [Williams, 2006] examined the effect of child and adolescence high Body Mass Index (BMI) on the prospect of being overweight at 21 and reported that 40% of those who were overweight at 21 could be identified by age of 7, another 25% were identifiable by the time they were 15.   Genetic, familial, socioeconomic, psychological, behavioral and environmental factors have been identified as contributors to increasing prevalence of overweight in the population. Of these, genetics is the only factor, which for the time being is not possible to alter; a known genetic disposition towards overweight however provides more reason to try to control the factors that fall under human control. Parents have an important role in ensuring that their children adopt good eating and physical activity habits from the very beginning to prevent obesity in their children.   Parents have to provide the critical development phase support, beginning before birth and continuing through adolescence.   They are the key in ensuring that their children do not develop habits contributing to overweight and obesity. Family meals, balanced diet, support in getting adequate physical work and exercise and a watchful eye to ensure that their children do not acquire sedentary habits will result in reduced risk of overweight in children and adolescents. Unfortunately economic pressures, working parents, broken families and other social problems means that parents cannot exercise the kind of control required to ensure control of the problem through parental control and guidance.   Another problem is that children and adolescents spend most of their time away from home, in schools. The role school-based approaches can play in preventing and controlling obesity, therefore, acquires immense importance. Social scientists, physicians, schoolteachers, administrators, and parents have long recognized this role. The role schools have played in contributing to the overweight and obesity problem in school age children and adolescents has been the subject of considerable research. Many researchers have developed new school-based approaches and analyzed the effectiveness of the approaches for the prevention and control of obesity. Body Mass Index (BMI) In estimating the overweight and obesity problem, we ideally need to measure the percentage body fat of the subject; however this is an impractical measure. A much more convenient measure of Body mass Index (BMI) is widely used for determining if the person meets the desirable body/mass ratio. The body mass index (BMI) is defined as: BMI= (weight/height2) Where weight is measured in kg and height is specified in meters. For adult population, the cut off point for overweight is taken as 25 kg/m2 while people with BMI of 30  kg/m2 or over are considered obese.   The body mass index among children and adolescents varies significantly with age. [Cole et al, 2000] report the result of their research based on international data consisting of 97,876 males and 94,851 females from birth to 25  years of age from 6 countries including United States. They used this statistical data to tabulate boundary values for children up to 18 years of age. International cut off points for body mass index for overweight and obesity by sex between 2  and 18  years [Cole, 2000] Age (years) Body mass index 25  kg/m2    Body mass index 30  kg/m2 Males Females Males Females    2 18.4 18.0    20.1 20.1 4 17.6 17.3    19.3 19.1 6 17.6 17.3    19.8 19.7 8 18.4 18.3    21.6 21.6 10 19.8 19.9    24.0 24.1 12 21.2 21.7    26.0 26.7 14 22.6 23.3    27.6 28.6 16 23.9 24.4    28.9 29.4 18 25 25    30 30 Subgroups at Increased Risk of Overweight [Sherwood et al, 2004] investigated the children at increased risk of obesity and reported that while childhood obesity is present across all demographic and social classes; however, African American girls were at a higher risk. The data analyses showed that African-American girls of age group 6-11 years of age were almost twice more likely to be overweight. In this age group 22.2% of African- American girls were over weight compared 11.6 % white Americans. Among the adolescents (11-19 years age group), 26.6% African-American girls were overweight while 12.4% white girls were considered overweight. [Sherwood et al, 2004] believe that African–American girls do not face the same kind of social pressure about their weight as their white counterparts. Black American girls face less negative attitudes about overweight and are therefore less likely to be concerned about watching their weight [Kumanyika et al, 1993]. Correct Age for Overweight Intervention in Schools A 5-year British schools-based research project carried out by [Wardle et al, 2006] highlighted the need to target obesity prevention measures to