Childhood Obesity Epidemic
Disease Prevention
Tackling the Childhood Obesity Epidemic through School Reforms
Tackling the Childhood Obesity Epidemic through School Reforms
A current health crisis facing developed nations is the obesity epidemic. In the United States, the prevalence of obese adults has doubled over the past fifty years (reviewed by Hurt, Kulisek, Buchanan, and McClave, 2010). Today, close to a third of Americans are obese and another third are overweight. The increase in childhood obesity is also a major concern, with the prevalence rising from 6% to 19% between 1985 and 2010. Current estimates suggest that close to a third of U.S. children are obese or overweight (reviewed by Salvy, de la Haye, Bowker, and Hermans, 2012). With an estimated yearly healthcare cost of $150 billion, obesity has become a major public health issue and is expected to soon overtake tobacco as the number one cause of preventable disease and death in the U.S. (Hurt, Kulisek, Buchanan, and McClave, 2010).
Being obese or overweight are not diseases per se, but these conditions have been shown to contribute to a number of serious medical problems including type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, liver disease, and coronary artery disease (reviewed by Hurt, Kulisek, Buchanan, and McClave, 2010). In addition, the increased prevalence of childhood obesity has resulted in the diagnosis of diseases in children that were previously considered adult-only, including type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Being obese and overweight therefore contributes to a number of comorbid conditions, in addition to the social stigma and related psychological problems common to this demographic.
To provide a glimpse of public health efforts to reduce the prevalence of childhood obesity in the United States, the following essay will review several recent studies examining obesity trends and interventions in urban schools.
The School Obesity Environment
Efforts to reduce the incidence of childhood obesity naturally focus on the role schools can play (reviewed by Story, Nanney, and Schwartz, 2009). Next to the home environment, which public health officials have little control over, schools represent the best route for influencing the lifestyle habits...
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