Running Head: LITERATURE REVIEW 1

Literature Review on Child Obesity

Fabian A Cano-Romero

University of Texas at El Paso

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INTRODUCTION

Child Obesity has been a problem and still is. It has been a battle that many generations

have fought against. Even so child obesity continues to exist and continues to be a problem.

Thankfully in recent years there have been many advancements that can help us fight the

problem in better ways. Still these solutions come with their own problems.

1. What is Child obesity ?

2. Is child obesity a problem and if it is who and what does it affect and how ?

3. What should governments role be ?

4. What can be done to solve the problem ?

These question will help us outline and organize the subject. Also it will be a tool to navigate

through the 4 main key points of this paper defining child obesity, categorizing its cause and

effect, Analyzing the actions government takes and if they are correct, as well as brainstorming

an ideal solution using all the data gathered.

What is Child obesity

Child obesity is categorized as an overweight child more specifically as defined by the OAC, “A

child is defined as “affected by obesity” if their body mass index-for-age (or BMI-for-age)

percentile is greater than 95 percent.” Also there is a clear difference between over-weight and

obese the former being defined when the BMI is greater than 85 percent. All if not most

sources agree with these percentiles to define child obesity including the CDC witch can be seen

in a chart in their main page on overweight and obesity. Something interesting to note is that

the BMI is not calculated solely on body fat it also incorporates skinfold thickness and
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underwater weighting and much more (CDC, 2016). Today, about one in three American kids

and teens is overweight or obese, nearly triple the rate in 1963 ( American Heart association,

2016)

Child obesity on its own can be a serious problem causing negative psychological

outcomes for example it can lead to lower self-esteem, behavior and learning issues, risk of

eating disorder, and many more ( Obesity Society, 2014). More widely known it can lead to

severe health risks that otherwise healthy children would not be at risk of. Simply put by the

(CDC, 2015), “ Children who have obesity are more likely to become adults with obesity. Adult

obesity is associated with increased risk of a number of serious health conditions including

heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer.”

The fact that child obesity has been increasing in our country at an alarming rate (CDC,

2016) could be a reason why so many studies and association have popped up along the years

with the purpose to inform and help cure people with obesity mainly children. Because child

obesity is a problem with so little debate to what it is in fact mostly everyone agrees on what it

is and what it can do. This will lead to a more efficient problem solving journey for policy’s and

ideas placed in public.

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Is child obesity a problem and if it is who and what does it affect and how

definitely child obesity is a problem as you can see from the previous paraphrase. So much so

that all of the sources involved skip this part as if it were a universal truth and jump into the

meat of the problem immediately. These include looking at the facts of the problem looking

over studies and brainstorming for possible solutions.

As it implies in the name the people that are mostly affected are children. Some children

are more likely to fall victim to obesity. “Behaviors that influence excess weight gain include

eating high-calorie, low-nutrient foods and beverages, not getting enough physical activity,

sedentary activities such as watching television or other screen devices, medication use, and

sleep routines.” (CDC, 2016). The same thought process is present at (CHILD OBESITY

FOUNDATION) witch believe that the main cause is children eating too much unhealthy food

and not exercising enough. The organization promotes a 5 2 1 0 slogan which means 5 or more

veggies or fruits a day, no more than 2 hours of screen time, 1 hour of physical activity per day,

and 0 sugary drinks. Some factors that can also lead to child obesity are the environments that

they are present at like schools and child care services the more prominent place begins at

home were child spends most of the time. For example in a promotional program that aired in

KSPS Public TV you can see how one of the families shown there would feed their children

McDonalds for breakfast every day and think of it as normal. There is many more occurrences

of this throughout the video and suggestion of it in other sources.

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