Overweight in Children: Definitions, Measurements, Confounding Factors, and Health Consequences

Hardy, Lynda R.; Harrell, Joanne S.; Bell, Ronny A.

doi:10.1016/j.pedn.2004.11.001

Cited by 53 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…Notably, children are struggling with weight problems at earlier ages, particularly low-income children, 2,3 and child overweight is associated with a host of health problems. [4][5][6][7][8][9] Research indicates that overweight children are more likely than normal-weight children to become overweight adolescents and adults. [10][11][12] Thus, preventing obesity early in childhood is the most cost-effective approach to use in addressing the epidemic.…”

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confidence: 99%

Federal Food Policy And Childhood Obesity: A Solution Or Part Of The Problem?

Kimbro

Rigby

2010

Health Affairs

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Amid growing concern about childhood obesity, the United States spends billions of dollars on food assistance: providing meals and subsidizing food purchases. We examine the relationship between food assistance and body mass index (BMI) for young, low-income children, who are a primary target population for federal food programs and for efforts to prevent childhood obesity. Our findings indicate that food assistance may unintentionally contribute to the childhood obesity problem in cities with high food prices. We also find that subsidized meals at school or day care are beneficial for children's weight status, and we argue that expanding access to subsidized meals may be the most effective tool to use in combating obesity in poor children.

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confidence: 99%

Federal Food Policy And Childhood Obesity: A Solution Or Part Of The Problem?

Kimbro

Rigby

2010

Health Affairs

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“…Identifying incorrect or unhealthy behaviors inherent in nutrition and physical activity already in childhood could be an important tool for correcting such factors and hence preventing adult obesity. In fact, various authors [2][3][4]14] agree on the fact that one of the most important interventions on the subject of obesity is prevention, or changing an unhealthy lifestyle.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For the definition of childhood overweight and obesity, we referred to studies [6,10,14,16] that have developed universally accepted definitions for such situations through the use of BMI. Starting with valid cut-off points for adults (25 and 30 kg/m 2 ), Cole, who has then been taken up by other authors, delineated curves that have made it possible to establish specific cut-off points by sex and age that are valid between the ages of 2 and 18 [6,10,14,16].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Heights were measured in an erect, standing position, with feet together and heels resting against a vertical wall marked in centimeters (measured in meters, rounded out to the 0.5 cm). Then the Body Mass Index was calculated (BMI=kg/m 2 ) [6,10,14]. The prevalence of obesity and overweight was calculated by considering the BMI cut-off point related to the average ages calculated in the sample group.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Around 23% of children between ages 10 and 11 have problems with excess weight [5,8,17,18]. Among adolescents, the prevalence of obesity reaches 17% [1,14]. Childhood obesity is one of the major causes of pediatric hypertension, and in the long term, overweight children run a high risk of developing chronic diseases like diabetes, coronary diseases, and orthopedic and respiratory problems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Nutrition, activity behavior and body constitution in primary school children

Carandente

Roveda²,

Montaruli³

et al. 2009

Biol Sport

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Abstract. Child and adolescent obesity currently affects at least 10-25% of the paediatric population in most developed countries. The BMI value is one of the most appropriate method of defining obesity and has a strong association with body fatness and health risk. Two main environmental factors, nutrition and physical activity, could influence paediatric obesity development. This paper studies the relationship between sedentariness, snack and soft drink intake and overweight or obesity in children. 1194 primary school children (age 8-10) participated in the study. For all the subjects we measured the anthropometric data to calculate the BMI. The overweight and obesity prevalence was estimated using age-specific BMI cutoffs. A questionaire was also submitted to all the children by a single interviewer to obtain data about: a) Weekly Physical Activity, b) Weekly Sedentary Activity, c) Alimentary Style. Spearman rank correlation and the Student's t-test were used. The data demonstrated that 23.2% of the children is overweight and the 4.8% obese. BMI is inversely correlated to the physical activity, while there is positive correlation between BMI and number of double portions. Statistically significant positive correlation is present among eating snacks and hours of sedentariness, while there is a negative correlation between physical activity and TV hours. Physical activity in the childhood could be an important tool to prevent obesity development and adult-onset chronic diseases. It is important to encourage an active lifestyle in order to reduce sedentariness.(Biol.Sport 26:349-367, 2009)

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