Childhood obesity
Encyclopedia
Childhood obesity is a condition where excess body fat
negatively affects a child's health or wellbeing. As methods to determine body fat directly are difficult, the diagnosis of obesity
is often based on BMI
. Due to the rising prevalence of obesity in children and its many adverse health effects it is being recognized as a serious public health
concern. The term overweight rather than obese is often used in children as it is less stigmatizing.
Body mass index
(BMI) is acceptable for determining obesity for children two years of age and older. The normal range for BMI in children vary with age and sex. The Center for Disease Control defines obesity as a BMI greater than the 95th percentile. It has published tables for determining this in children.
, high blood pressure
, heart disease
, sleep problems
, cancer
, and other disorders. Some of the other disorders would include liver disease
, early puberty
or menarche, eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia, skin infections, and asthma and other respiratory problems. Studies have shown that overweight children are more likely to grow up to be overweight adults. Obesity during adolescence has been found to increase mortality rates during adulthood.
Obese children often suffer from teasing by their peers. Some are harassed or discriminated against by their own family. Stereotypes abound and may lead to low self esteem and depression.
A 2008 study has found that children who are obese have carotid arteries which have prematurely aged by as much as thirty years as well as abnormal levels of cholesterol
.
Calorie-rich drinks and foods are readily available to children. Consumption of sugar-laden soft drink
s may contribute to childhood obesity. In a study of 548 children over a 19 month period the likelihood of obesity increased 1.6 times for every additional soft drink consumed per day.
Calorie-dense, prepared snacks are available in many locations frequented by children. As childhood obesity has become more prevalent, snack vending machines in school settings have been reduced by law in a small number of localities. Eating at fast food
restaurants is very common among young people with 75% of 7th to 12th grade students consuming fast food in a given week. The fast food industry is also at fault for the rise in childhood obesity. This industry spends about $4.2 billion on advertisements aimed at young children. McDonald's alone has thirteen websites that are viewed by 365,000 children and 294,000 teenagers each month. In addition, fast food restaurants give out toys in children's meals, which helps to entice children. Forty percent of children ask their parents to take them to fast food restaurants on a daily basis. To make matters worse, out of 3000 combinations created from popular items on children's menus at fast food restaurants, only 13 meet the recommended nutritional guidelines for young children. Some literature has found a relationship between fast food consumption and obesity. Including a study which found that fast food restaurants near schools increases the risk of obesity among the student population.
Whole milk
consumption verses 2% milk consumption in children of one to two years of age had no effect on weight, height, or body fat percentage
. Therefore, whole milk continues to be recommended for this age group
. However the trend of substituting sweetened drink for milk has been found to lead to excess weight gain.
to measure each child's level of physical activity. They discovered the obese children were 35% less active on school days and 65% less active on weekends compared to non-obese children.
Physical inactivity as a child could result in physical inactivity as an adult. In a fitness survey of 6,000 adults, researchers discovered that 25% of those who were considered active at ages 14 to 19 were also active adults, compared to 2% of those who were inactive at ages 14 to 19, who were now said to be active adults. Staying physically inactive leaves unused energy in the body, most of which is stored as fat
. Researchers studied 16 men over a 14 day period and fed them 50% more of their energy required every day through fats and carbohydrates. They discovered that carbohydrate overfeeding produced 75–85% excess energy being stored as body fat and fat overfeeding produced 90–95% storage of excess energy as body fat.
Many children fail to exercise because they are spending time doing stationary activities such as computer usage, playing video games or watching television. TV and other technology may be large factors of physically inactive children. Researchers provided a technology questionnaire to 4,561 children, ages 14, 16, and 18. They discovered children were 21.5% more likely to be overweight when watching 4+ hours of TV per day, 4.5% more likely to be overweight when using a computer
one or more hours per day, and unaffected by potential weight gain from playing video games. A randomized trial showed that reducing TV viewing and computer use can decrease age-adjusted BMI; reduced calorie
intake was thought to be the greatest contributor to the BMI decrease.
Technological activities are not the only household influences of childhood obesity. Low-income
households can affect a child's tendency to gain weight. Over a three week period researchers studied the relationship of socioeconomic status
(SES) to body composition
in 194 children, ages 11–12. They measured weight, waist girth, stretch stature, skinfolds, physical activity, TV viewing, and SES; researchers discovered clear SES inclines to upper class
children compared to the lower class children.
Childhood inactivity is linked to obesity
in the United States
with more children being overweight
at younger ages. In a 2009 preschool study 89% of a preschoolers' day was found to be sedentary while the same study also found that even when outside, 56 percent of activities were still sedentary. One factor believed to contribute to the lack of activity found was little teacher motivation, but when toy
s, such as ball
s were made available, the children were more likely to play.
s. Polymorphisms
in various gene
s controlling appetite
and metabolism
predispose individuals to obesity when sufficient calories are present. As such obesity is a major feature of a number of rare genetic conditions that often present in childhood.
In children with early-onset severe obesity (defined by an onset before ten years of age and body mass index over three standard deviation
s above normal), 7% harbor a single locus mutation. One study found that 80% of the offspring of two obese parents were obese in contrast to less than 10% of the offspring of two parents who were of normal weight. The percentage of obesity that can be attributed to genetics varies from 6% to 85% depending on the population examined.
eating questionnaire to 18,177 children, ranging in ages 11–21, and discovered that four out of five parents let their children make their own food decisions. They also discovered that compared to adolescents who ate three or fewer meals per week, those who ate four to five family meals per week were 19% less likely to report poor consumption of vegetables, 22% less likely to report poor consumption of fruits, and 19% less likely to report poor consumption of dairy foods
. Adolescents who ate six to seven family meals per week, compared to those who ate three or fewer family meals per week, were 38% less likely to report poor consumption of vegetables, 31% less likely to report poor consumption of fruits, and 27% less likely to report poor consumption of dairy foods. The results of a survey in the UK published in 2010 imply that children raised by their grandparents are more likely to be obese as adults than those raised by their parents. An American study released in 2011 found the more mothers work the more children are more likely to be overweight or obese.
factors may affects rates of obesity. Breast-feeding
for example may protect against obesity in later life with the duration of breast-feeding inversely associated with the risk of being overweight later on. A child's body growth pattern may influence the tendency to gain weight. Researchers measured the standard deviation
(SD [weight and length]) scores in a cohort study
of 848 babies. They found that infants who had an SD score above 0.67 had catch up growth (they were less likely to be overweight) compared to infants who had less than a 0.67 SD score (they were more likely to gain weight).
A child's weight may be influenced when he/she is only an infant
. Researchers did a cohort study on 19,397 babies, from their birth until age seven and discovered that fat babies at four months were 1.38 times more likely to be overweight at seven years old compared to normal weight babies. Fat babies at the age of one were 1.17 times more likely to be overweight at age seven compared to normal weight babies.
(a condition in which the body contains excess amounts of cortisol
) may also influence childhood obesity. Researchers analyzed two isoforms (proteins that have the same purpose as other proteins, but are programmed by different genes
) in the cells
of 16 adults undergoing abdominal surgery
. They discovered that one type of isoform created oxo-reductase
activity (the alteration of cortisone
to cortisol) and this activity increased 127.5 pmol mg sup when the other type of isoform was treated with cortisol and insulin
. The activity of the cortisol and insulin can possibly activate Cushing's syndrome.
Hypothyroidism
is a hormonal cause of obesity, but it does not significantly affect obese people who have it more than obese people who do not have it. In a comparison of 108 obese patients with hypothyroidism to 131 obese patients without hypothyroidism, researchers discovered that those with hypothyroidism had only 0.077 points more on the caloric intake scale than did those without hypothyroidism.
between obesity and low self esteem in the four year follow up. They also discovered that decreased self esteem led to 19% of obese children feeling sad, 48% of them feeling bored, and 21% of them feeling nervous. In comparison, 8% of normal weight children felt sad, 42% of them felt bored, and 12% of them felt nervous. Stress
can influence a child's eating habits. Researchers tested the stress inventory of 28 college females and discovered that those who were binge eating
had a mean of 29.65 points on the perceived stress scale, compared to the control group who had a mean of 15.19 points. This evidence may demonstrate a link between eating and stress.
Feelings of depression can cause a child to overeat. Researchers provided an in-home interview to 9,374 adolescents, in grades seven through 12 and discovered that there was not a direct correlation with children eating in response to depression. Of all the obese adolescents, 8.2% had said to be depressed, compared to 8.9% of the non-obese adolescents who said they were depressed. Antidepressants, however, seem to have very little influence on childhood obesity. Researchers provided a depression questionnaire to 487 overweight/obese subjects and found that 7% of those with low depression symptoms were using antidepressants and had an average BMI score of 44.3, 27% of those with moderate depression symptoms were using antidepressants and had an average BMI score of 44.7, and 31% of those with major depression
symptoms were using antidepressants and had an average BMI score of 44.2.
and sibutramine
may however be helpful in managing moderate obesity in adolescence. Sibutramine is approved for adolescents older than 16. It works by altering the brain's chemistry and decreasing appetite. Orlistat is approved for adolescents older than 12. It works by preventing the absorption of fat in the intestines.
, Australia
tested a program of restricted diet (no carbonated drinks or sweets) and increased exercise. Interim results included a 68% increase in after school activity programs, 21% reduction in television viewing, and an average of 1 kg weight reduction compared to a control group.
A survey carried out by the American Obesity Association
into parental attitudes towards their children's weight showed the majority of parents think that recess should not be reduced or replaced. Almost 30% said that they were concerned with their child's weight. 35% of parents thought that their child's school was not teaching them enough about childhood obesity, and over 5% thought that childhood obesity was the greatest risk to their child's long term health.
A Northwestern University
study indicates that inadequate sleep
has a negative impact on a child's performance in school, their emotional and social welfare, and increases their risk of being overweight. This study was the first nationally represented, longitudinal investigation of the correlation between sleep, Body Mass Index (BMI) and overweight status in children between the ages of 3 and 18. The study found that an extra hour of sleep lowered the children's risk of being overweight from 36% to 30%, while it lessened older children's risk from 34% to 30%.
Obese children and adolescents are more likely to become obese as adults. For example, one study found that approximately 80% of children who were overweight at aged 10–15 years were obese adults at age 25 years. Another study found that 25% of obese adults were overweight as children. The latter study also found that if overweight begins before 8 years of age, obesity in adulthood is likely to be more severe.
A study has also found that tackling childhood obesity will not necessarily lead to eating disorders later in life.
Adipose tissue
In histology, adipose tissue or body fat or fat depot or just fat is loose connective tissue composed of adipocytes. It is technically composed of roughly only 80% fat; fat in its solitary state exists in the liver and muscles. Adipose tissue is derived from lipoblasts...
negatively affects a child's health or wellbeing. As methods to determine body fat directly are difficult, the diagnosis of obesity
Obesity
Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems...
is often based on BMI
Body mass index
The body mass index , or Quetelet index, is a heuristic proxy for human body fat based on an individual's weight and height. BMI does not actually measure the percentage of body fat. It was invented between 1830 and 1850 by the Belgian polymath Adolphe Quetelet during the course of developing...
. Due to the rising prevalence of obesity in children and its many adverse health effects it is being recognized as a serious public health
Public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
concern. The term overweight rather than obese is often used in children as it is less stigmatizing.
Classification
 |
 |
Body mass index
Body mass index
The body mass index , or Quetelet index, is a heuristic proxy for human body fat based on an individual's weight and height. BMI does not actually measure the percentage of body fat. It was invented between 1830 and 1850 by the Belgian polymath Adolphe Quetelet during the course of developing...
(BMI) is acceptable for determining obesity for children two years of age and older. The normal range for BMI in children vary with age and sex. The Center for Disease Control defines obesity as a BMI greater than the 95th percentile. It has published tables for determining this in children.
Effects on health
The first problems to occur in obese children are usually emotional or psychological. Childhood obesity however can also lead to life-threatening conditions including diabetesDiabetes mellitus
Diabetes mellitus, often simply referred to as diabetes, is a group of metabolic diseases in which a person has high blood sugar, either because the body does not produce enough insulin, or because cells do not respond to the insulin that is produced...
, high blood pressure
Hypertension
Hypertension or high blood pressure is a cardiac chronic medical condition in which the systemic arterial blood pressure is elevated. What that means is that the heart is having to work harder than it should to pump the blood around the body. Blood pressure involves two measurements, systolic and...
, heart disease
Heart disease
Heart disease, cardiac disease or cardiopathy is an umbrella term for a variety of diseases affecting the heart. , it is the leading cause of death in the United States, England, Canada and Wales, accounting for 25.4% of the total deaths in the United States.-Types:-Coronary heart disease:Coronary...
, sleep problems
Sleep apnea
Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder characterized by abnormal pauses in breathing or instances of abnormally low breathing, during sleep. Each pause in breathing, called an apnea, can last from a few seconds to minutes, and may occur 5 to 30 times or more an hour. Similarly, each abnormally low...
, cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
, and other disorders. Some of the other disorders would include liver disease
Liver
The liver is a vital organ present in vertebrates and some other animals. It has a wide range of functions, including detoxification, protein synthesis, and production of biochemicals necessary for digestion...
, early puberty
Precocious puberty
As a medical term, precocious puberty describes puberty occurring at an unusually early age. In most of these children, the process is normal in every respect except the unusually early age, and simply represents a variation of normal development. In a minority of children, the early development is...
or menarche, eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia, skin infections, and asthma and other respiratory problems. Studies have shown that overweight children are more likely to grow up to be overweight adults. Obesity during adolescence has been found to increase mortality rates during adulthood.
Obese children often suffer from teasing by their peers. Some are harassed or discriminated against by their own family. Stereotypes abound and may lead to low self esteem and depression.
A 2008 study has found that children who are obese have carotid arteries which have prematurely aged by as much as thirty years as well as abnormal levels of cholesterol
Cholesterol
Cholesterol is a complex isoprenoid. Specifically, it is a waxy steroid of fat that is produced in the liver or intestines. It is used to produce hormones and cell membranes and is transported in the blood plasma of all mammals. It is an essential structural component of mammalian cell membranes...
.
| System | Condition | System | Condition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Endocrine |
|
Cardiovascular |
Hypertension Hypertension or high blood pressure is a cardiac chronic medical condition in which the systemic arterial blood pressure is elevated. What that means is that the heart is having to work harder than it should to pump the blood around the body. Blood pressure involves two measurements, systolic and... Hyperlipidemia Hyperlipidemia, hyperlipoproteinemia, or hyperlipidaemia is the condition of abnormally elevated levels of any or all lipids and/or lipoproteins in the blood... Coronary heart disease Coronary artery disease is the end result of the accumulation of atheromatous plaques within the walls of the coronary arteries that supply the myocardium with oxygen and nutrients. It is sometimes also called coronary heart disease... as an adult |
| Gastroentestinal |
|
Respiratory Respiratory system The respiratory system is the anatomical system of an organism that introduces respiratory gases to the interior and performs gas exchange. In humans and other mammals, the anatomical features of the respiratory system include airways, lungs, and the respiratory muscles... |
Obstructive sleep apnea Obstructive sleep apnea or obstructive sleep apnea syndrome is the most common type of sleep apnea and is caused by obstruction of the upper airway. It is characterized by repetitive pauses in breathing during sleep, despite the effort to breathe, and is usually associated with a reduction in... |
| Musculoskeletal |
Slipped capital femoral epiphysis Slipped capital femoral epiphysis is a medical term referring to a fracture through the physis , which results in slippage of the overlying epiphysis.... (SCFE) Blount's disease Blount's disease is a growth disorder of the tibia that causes the lower leg to angle inward, resembling a bowleg.It is also known as "tibia vara".It is named for Walter Putnam Blount.-Causes:... (Blount disease) |
Neurological |
Idiopathic intracranial hypertension Idiopathic intracranial hypertension , sometimes called by the older names benign intracranial hypertension or pseudotumor cerebri , is a neurological disorder that is characterized by increased intracranial pressure in the absence of a tumor or other diseases... |
| Psychosocial |
Anxiety Anxiety is a psychological and physiological state characterized by somatic, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral components. The root meaning of the word anxiety is 'to vex or trouble'; in either presence or absence of psychological stress, anxiety can create feelings of fear, worry, uneasiness,... Depression (mood) Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behaviour, feelings and physical well-being. Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, or restless... |
Skin |
Intertrigo An intertrigo is an inflammation of the body folds .An intertrigo sometimes refers to a bacterial, fungal, or viral infection that has developed at the site of broken skin due to such inflammation... |
Causes
Childhood obesity can be brought on by a range of factors which often act in combination.Prevention
"Obesity of mothers predisposes their offsprings to obesity by epigenetic, prenatal effects." Prevention and awareness programs should target children as early as kindergarten with the involvement of parents. The approaches include changing the environment children are in. For example, the banning of pop being sold at vending machines in school.Dietary
The effects of eating habits on childhood obesity are difficult to determine. A three year randomized controlled study of 1,704 3rd grade children which provided two healthy meals a day in combination with an exercise program and dietary counsellings failed to show a significant reduction in percentage body fat when compared to a control group. This was partly due to the fact that even though the children believed they were eating less their actual calorie consumption did not decrease with the intervention. At the same time observed energy expenditure remained similar between the groups. This occurred even though dietary fat intake decreased from 34% to 27%. A second study of 5,106 children showed similar results. Even though the children ate an improved diet there was no effect found on BMI. Why these studies did not bring about the desired effect of curbing childhood obesity has been attributed to the interventions not being sufficient enough. Changes were made primarily in the school environment while it is felt that they must occur in the home, the community, and the school simultaneously to have a significant effect.Calorie-rich drinks and foods are readily available to children. Consumption of sugar-laden soft drink
Soft drink
A soft drink is a non-alcoholic beverage that typically contains water , a sweetener, and a flavoring agent...
s may contribute to childhood obesity. In a study of 548 children over a 19 month period the likelihood of obesity increased 1.6 times for every additional soft drink consumed per day.
Calorie-dense, prepared snacks are available in many locations frequented by children. As childhood obesity has become more prevalent, snack vending machines in school settings have been reduced by law in a small number of localities. Eating at fast food
Fast food
Fast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a...
restaurants is very common among young people with 75% of 7th to 12th grade students consuming fast food in a given week. The fast food industry is also at fault for the rise in childhood obesity. This industry spends about $4.2 billion on advertisements aimed at young children. McDonald's alone has thirteen websites that are viewed by 365,000 children and 294,000 teenagers each month. In addition, fast food restaurants give out toys in children's meals, which helps to entice children. Forty percent of children ask their parents to take them to fast food restaurants on a daily basis. To make matters worse, out of 3000 combinations created from popular items on children's menus at fast food restaurants, only 13 meet the recommended nutritional guidelines for young children. Some literature has found a relationship between fast food consumption and obesity. Including a study which found that fast food restaurants near schools increases the risk of obesity among the student population.
Whole milk
Milk
Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...
consumption verses 2% milk consumption in children of one to two years of age had no effect on weight, height, or body fat percentage
Body fat percentage
A person's body mass percentage is the total weight of the person's fat divided by the person's weight and consists of essential body fat and storage body fat. Essential body fat is necessary to maintain life and reproductive functions. The percentage of essential body fat for women is greater than...
. Therefore, whole milk continues to be recommended for this age group
Demographic profile
A demographic or demographic profile is a term used in marketing and broadcasting, to describe a demographic grouping or a market segment...
. However the trend of substituting sweetened drink for milk has been found to lead to excess weight gain.
Sedentary lifestyle
Physical inactivity of children has also shown to be a serious cause, and children who fail to engage in regular physical activity are at greater risk of obesity. Researchers studied the physical activity of 133 children over a three week period using an accelerometerAccelerometer
An accelerometer is a device that measures proper acceleration, also called the four-acceleration. This is not necessarily the same as the coordinate acceleration , but is rather the type of acceleration associated with the phenomenon of weight experienced by a test mass that resides in the frame...
to measure each child's level of physical activity. They discovered the obese children were 35% less active on school days and 65% less active on weekends compared to non-obese children.
Physical inactivity as a child could result in physical inactivity as an adult. In a fitness survey of 6,000 adults, researchers discovered that 25% of those who were considered active at ages 14 to 19 were also active adults, compared to 2% of those who were inactive at ages 14 to 19, who were now said to be active adults. Staying physically inactive leaves unused energy in the body, most of which is stored as fat
Fat
Fats consist of a wide group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and generally insoluble in water. Chemically, fats are triglycerides, triesters of glycerol and any of several fatty acids. Fats may be either solid or liquid at room temperature, depending on their structure...
. Researchers studied 16 men over a 14 day period and fed them 50% more of their energy required every day through fats and carbohydrates. They discovered that carbohydrate overfeeding produced 75–85% excess energy being stored as body fat and fat overfeeding produced 90–95% storage of excess energy as body fat.
Many children fail to exercise because they are spending time doing stationary activities such as computer usage, playing video games or watching television. TV and other technology may be large factors of physically inactive children. Researchers provided a technology questionnaire to 4,561 children, ages 14, 16, and 18. They discovered children were 21.5% more likely to be overweight when watching 4+ hours of TV per day, 4.5% more likely to be overweight when using a computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
one or more hours per day, and unaffected by potential weight gain from playing video games. A randomized trial showed that reducing TV viewing and computer use can decrease age-adjusted BMI; reduced calorie
Diet food
Diet food refers to any food or drink whose recipe has been altered in some way to make it part of a body modification diet...
intake was thought to be the greatest contributor to the BMI decrease.
Technological activities are not the only household influences of childhood obesity. Low-income
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
households can affect a child's tendency to gain weight. Over a three week period researchers studied the relationship of socioeconomic status
Socioeconomic status
Socioeconomic status is an economic and sociological combined total measure of a person's work experience and of an individual's or family’s economic and social position in relation to others, based on income, education, and occupation...
(SES) to body composition
Body composition
In physical fitness, body composition is used to describe the percentages of fat, bone and muscle in human bodies. Because muscular tissue takes up less space in our body than fat tissue, our body composition, as well as our weight, determines leanness...
in 194 children, ages 11–12. They measured weight, waist girth, stretch stature, skinfolds, physical activity, TV viewing, and SES; researchers discovered clear SES inclines to upper class
Upper class
In social science, the "upper class" is the group of people at the top of a social hierarchy. Members of an upper class may have great power over the allocation of resources and governmental policy in their area.- Historical meaning :...
children compared to the lower class children.
Childhood inactivity is linked to obesity
Obesity
Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
with more children being overweight
Overweight
Overweight is generally defined as having more body fat than is optimally healthy. Being overweight is a common condition, especially where food supplies are plentiful and lifestyles are sedentary...
at younger ages. In a 2009 preschool study 89% of a preschoolers' day was found to be sedentary while the same study also found that even when outside, 56 percent of activities were still sedentary. One factor believed to contribute to the lack of activity found was little teacher motivation, but when toy
Toy
A toy is any object that can be used for play. Toys are associated commonly with children and pets. Playing with toys is often thought to be an enjoyable means of training the young for life in human society. Different materials are used to make toys enjoyable and cuddly to both young and old...
s, such as ball
Ball
A ball is a round, usually spherical but sometimes ovoid, object with various uses. It is used in ball games, where the play of the game follows the state of the ball as it is hit, kicked or thrown by players. Balls can also be used for simpler activities, such as catch, marbles and juggling...
s were made available, the children were more likely to play.
Genetics
Childhood obesity is often the result of an interplay between many genetic and environmental factorEnvironmental factor
Environmental factor or ecological factor or ecofactor is any factor, abiotic or biotic, that influences living organisms.- Environmental factors inducing diseases :...
s. Polymorphisms
Polymorphism (biology)
Polymorphism in biology occurs when two or more clearly different phenotypes exist in the same population of a species — in other words, the occurrence of more than one form or morph...
in various gene
Gene
A gene is a molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. It is a name given to some stretches of DNA and RNA that code for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living beings depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains...
s controlling appetite
Appetite
The appetite is the desire to eat food, felt as hunger. Appetite exists in all higher life-forms, and serves to regulate adequate energy intake to maintain metabolic needs. It is regulated by a close interplay between the digestive tract, adipose tissue and the brain. Decreased desire to eat is...
and metabolism
Metabolism
Metabolism is the set of chemical reactions that happen in the cells of living organisms to sustain life. These processes allow organisms to grow and reproduce, maintain their structures, and respond to their environments. Metabolism is usually divided into two categories...
predispose individuals to obesity when sufficient calories are present. As such obesity is a major feature of a number of rare genetic conditions that often present in childhood.
- Prader-Willi syndromePrader-Willi syndromePrader–Willi syndrome is a rare genetic disorder in which seven genes on chromosome 15 are deleted or unexpressed on the paternal chromosome...
with an incidence between 1 in 12,000 and 1 in 15,000 live births is characterized by hyperphagia and food preoccupations which leads to rapid weight gain in those affected. - Bardet-Biedl syndromeBardet-Biedl syndromeThe Bardet–Biedl syndrome is a ciliopathic human genetic disorder that produces many effects and affects many body systems. It is characterized principally by obesity, retinitis pigmentosa, polydactyly, mental retardation, hypogonadism, and renal failure in some cases.-Summary of the...
- MOMO syndromeMOMO syndromeMOMO syndrome is an extremely rare genetic disorder which belongs to the overgrowth syndromes and has been diagnosed in only six cases around the world, and occurs in 1 in 100 million births. The name is an acronym of the four primary aspects of the disorder: Macrosomia , Obesity, Macrocephaly and...
- Leptin receptorLeptin receptorLeptin receptor also known as LEP-R is a protein that in humans is encoded by the LEPR gene. LEP-R functions as a receptor for the fat cell-specific hormone leptin...
mutations - Congenital leptin deficiency
- Melanocortin receptorMelanocortin receptorMelanocortin receptors are members of the rhodopsin family of 7-transmembrane, G protein-coupled receptors.There are five known members of the melanocortin receptor system each with differing specificities for melanocortins:...
mutations
In children with early-onset severe obesity (defined by an onset before ten years of age and body mass index over three standard deviation
Standard deviation
Standard deviation is a widely used measure of variability or diversity used in statistics and probability theory. It shows how much variation or "dispersion" there is from the average...
s above normal), 7% harbor a single locus mutation. One study found that 80% of the offspring of two obese parents were obese in contrast to less than 10% of the offspring of two parents who were of normal weight. The percentage of obesity that can be attributed to genetics varies from 6% to 85% depending on the population examined.
Home environment
Children's food choices are also influenced by family meals. Researchers provided a householdHousehold
The household is "the basic residential unit in which economic production, consumption, inheritance, child rearing, and shelter are organized and carried out"; [the household] "may or may not be synonymous with family"....
eating questionnaire to 18,177 children, ranging in ages 11–21, and discovered that four out of five parents let their children make their own food decisions. They also discovered that compared to adolescents who ate three or fewer meals per week, those who ate four to five family meals per week were 19% less likely to report poor consumption of vegetables, 22% less likely to report poor consumption of fruits, and 19% less likely to report poor consumption of dairy foods
Dairy product
Dairy products are generally defined as foods produced from cow's or domestic buffalo's milk. They are usually high-energy-yielding food products. A production plant for such processing is called a dairy or a dairy factory. Raw milk for processing comes mainly from cows, and, to a lesser extent,...
. Adolescents who ate six to seven family meals per week, compared to those who ate three or fewer family meals per week, were 38% less likely to report poor consumption of vegetables, 31% less likely to report poor consumption of fruits, and 27% less likely to report poor consumption of dairy foods. The results of a survey in the UK published in 2010 imply that children raised by their grandparents are more likely to be obese as adults than those raised by their parents. An American study released in 2011 found the more mothers work the more children are more likely to be overweight or obese.
Developmental factors
Various developmentalChild development
Child development stages describe theoretical milestones of child development. Many stage models of development have been proposed, used as working concepts and in some cases asserted as nativist theories....
factors may affects rates of obesity. Breast-feeding
Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding is the feeding of an infant or young child with breast milk directly from female human breasts rather than from a baby bottle or other container. Babies have a sucking reflex that enables them to suck and swallow milk. It is recommended that mothers breastfeed for six months or...
for example may protect against obesity in later life with the duration of breast-feeding inversely associated with the risk of being overweight later on. A child's body growth pattern may influence the tendency to gain weight. Researchers measured the standard deviation
Standard deviation
Standard deviation is a widely used measure of variability or diversity used in statistics and probability theory. It shows how much variation or "dispersion" there is from the average...
(SD [weight and length]) scores in a cohort study
Cohort study
A cohort study or panel study is a form of longitudinal study used in medicine, social science, actuarial science, and ecology. It is an analysis of risk factors and follows a group of people who do not have the disease, and uses correlations to determine the absolute risk of subject contraction...
of 848 babies. They found that infants who had an SD score above 0.67 had catch up growth (they were less likely to be overweight) compared to infants who had less than a 0.67 SD score (they were more likely to gain weight).
A child's weight may be influenced when he/she is only an infant
Infant
A newborn or baby is the very young offspring of a human or other mammal. A newborn is an infant who is within hours, days, or up to a few weeks from birth. In medical contexts, newborn or neonate refers to an infant in the first 28 days after birth...
. Researchers did a cohort study on 19,397 babies, from their birth until age seven and discovered that fat babies at four months were 1.38 times more likely to be overweight at seven years old compared to normal weight babies. Fat babies at the age of one were 1.17 times more likely to be overweight at age seven compared to normal weight babies.
Medical illness
Cushing's syndromeCushing's syndrome
Cushing's syndrome is a hormone disorder caused by high levels of cortisol in the blood. This can be caused by taking glucocorticoid drugs, or by tumors that produce cortisol or adrenocorticotropic hormone or CRH...
(a condition in which the body contains excess amounts of cortisol
Cortisol
Cortisol is a steroid hormone, more specifically a glucocorticoid, produced by the adrenal gland. It is released in response to stress and a low level of blood glucocorticoids. Its primary functions are to increase blood sugar through gluconeogenesis; suppress the immune system; and aid in fat,...
) may also influence childhood obesity. Researchers analyzed two isoforms (proteins that have the same purpose as other proteins, but are programmed by different genes
Gênes
Gênes is the name of a département of the First French Empire in present Italy, named after the city of Genoa. It was formed in 1805, when Napoleon Bonaparte occupied the Republic of Genoa. Its capital was Genoa, and it was divided in the arrondissements of Genoa, Bobbio, Novi Ligure, Tortona and...
) in the cells
Cell (biology)
The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all known living organisms. It is the smallest unit of life that is classified as a living thing, and is often called the building block of life. The Alberts text discusses how the "cellular building blocks" move to shape developing embryos....
of 16 adults undergoing abdominal surgery
Abdominal surgery
The term abdominal surgery broadly covers surgical procedures that involve opening the abdomen. Surgery of each abdominal organ is dealt with separately in connection with the description of that organ Diseases affecting the abdominal cavity are dealt with generally under their own names The term...
. They discovered that one type of isoform created oxo-reductase
Reductase
-Examples:* 5-alpha reductase* Dihydrofolate reductase* HMG-CoA reductase* Methemoglobin reductase* Ribonucleotide reductase* Thioredoxin reductase* E. coli nitroreductase* Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase...
activity (the alteration of cortisone
Cortisone
Cortisone is a steroid hormone. It is one of the main hormones released by the adrenal gland in response to stress. In chemical structure, it is a corticosteroid closely related to corticosterone. It is used to treat a variety of ailments and can be administered intravenously, orally,...
to cortisol) and this activity increased 127.5 pmol mg sup when the other type of isoform was treated with cortisol and insulin
Insulin
Insulin is a hormone central to regulating carbohydrate and fat metabolism in the body. Insulin causes cells in the liver, muscle, and fat tissue to take up glucose from the blood, storing it as glycogen in the liver and muscle....
. The activity of the cortisol and insulin can possibly activate Cushing's syndrome.
Hypothyroidism
Hypothyroidism
Hypothyroidism is a condition in which the thyroid gland does not make enough thyroid hormone.Iodine deficiency is the most common cause of hypothyroidism worldwide but it can be caused by other causes such as several conditions of the thyroid gland or, less commonly, the pituitary gland or...
is a hormonal cause of obesity, but it does not significantly affect obese people who have it more than obese people who do not have it. In a comparison of 108 obese patients with hypothyroidism to 131 obese patients without hypothyroidism, researchers discovered that those with hypothyroidism had only 0.077 points more on the caloric intake scale than did those without hypothyroidism.
Psychological factors
Researchers surveyed 1,520 children, ages 9–10, with a four year follow up and discovered a positive correlationCorrelation
In statistics, dependence refers to any statistical relationship between two random variables or two sets of data. Correlation refers to any of a broad class of statistical relationships involving dependence....
between obesity and low self esteem in the four year follow up. They also discovered that decreased self esteem led to 19% of obese children feeling sad, 48% of them feeling bored, and 21% of them feeling nervous. In comparison, 8% of normal weight children felt sad, 42% of them felt bored, and 12% of them felt nervous. Stress
Stress (medicine)
Stress is a term in psychology and biology, borrowed from physics and engineering and first used in the biological context in the 1930s, which has in more recent decades become commonly used in popular parlance...
can influence a child's eating habits. Researchers tested the stress inventory of 28 college females and discovered that those who were binge eating
Binge eating
Binge eating is a pattern of disordered eating which consists of episodes of uncontrollable eating. It is sometimes as a symptom of binge eating disorder. During such binges, a person rapidly consumes an excessive amount of food...
had a mean of 29.65 points on the perceived stress scale, compared to the control group who had a mean of 15.19 points. This evidence may demonstrate a link between eating and stress.
Feelings of depression can cause a child to overeat. Researchers provided an in-home interview to 9,374 adolescents, in grades seven through 12 and discovered that there was not a direct correlation with children eating in response to depression. Of all the obese adolescents, 8.2% had said to be depressed, compared to 8.9% of the non-obese adolescents who said they were depressed. Antidepressants, however, seem to have very little influence on childhood obesity. Researchers provided a depression questionnaire to 487 overweight/obese subjects and found that 7% of those with low depression symptoms were using antidepressants and had an average BMI score of 44.3, 27% of those with moderate depression symptoms were using antidepressants and had an average BMI score of 44.7, and 31% of those with major depression
Clinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
symptoms were using antidepressants and had an average BMI score of 44.2.
Lifestyle
Exclusive breast-feeding is recommended in all newborn infants for its nutritional and other beneficial effects. It may also protect against obesity in later life.Medications
There are no medications currently approved for the treatment of obesity in children. OrlistatOrlistat
Orlistat , also known as tetrahydrolipstatin, is a drug designed to treat obesity. Its primary function is preventing the absorption of fats from the human diet, thereby reducing caloric intake...
and sibutramine
Sibutramine
Sibutramine is an oral anorexiant. Until 2010 it was marketed and prescribed as an adjunct in the treatment of exogenous obesity along with diet and exercise...
may however be helpful in managing moderate obesity in adolescence. Sibutramine is approved for adolescents older than 16. It works by altering the brain's chemistry and decreasing appetite. Orlistat is approved for adolescents older than 12. It works by preventing the absorption of fat in the intestines.
Epidemiology
Rates of childhood obesity have increased greatly between 1980 and 2010. Currently 10% of children worldwide are either overweight or obese.Canada
The rate of overweight and obesity among Canadian children has increased dramatically in recent years. In boys, the rate increased from 11% in 1980s to 30% in 1990s.Brazil
The rate of overweight and obesity in Brazilian children increased from 4% in the 1980s to 14% in the 1990s.United States
The rate of obesity among children and adolescents in the United States has nearly tripled between the early 1980s and 2000. It has however not changed significantly between 2000 and 2006 with the most recent statistics showing a level just over 17 percent. In 2008, the rate of overweight and obese children in the United States was 32%, and had stopped climbing. In 2011, a national cohort study of infants and toddlers found that nearly one-third of US children were overweight or obese at 9 months and 2 years old.Australia
Since the onset of the 21st Century, Australia has found that childhood obesity has followed trend with the United States. Information garnered has concluded that the increase has occurred in the lower socioeconomic areas where poor nutritional education has been blamed.Research
A study of 1800 children aged 2 to 12 in ColacColac, Victoria
Colac is a small city located in the Western District of Victoria, Australia, situated approximately 150 kilometres south-west of Melbourne on the southern shore of Lake Colac and the surrounding volcanic plains, approximately 40 km inland from Bass Strait. Colac is the largest city in and...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
tested a program of restricted diet (no carbonated drinks or sweets) and increased exercise. Interim results included a 68% increase in after school activity programs, 21% reduction in television viewing, and an average of 1 kg weight reduction compared to a control group.
A survey carried out by the American Obesity Association
American Obesity Association
The American Obesity Association is a non-profit organization founded in 1995 by Richard L. Atkinson, M.D. and Judith S. Stern, Sc.D., R.D. Its goal is to educate and research obesity as a disease...
into parental attitudes towards their children's weight showed the majority of parents think that recess should not be reduced or replaced. Almost 30% said that they were concerned with their child's weight. 35% of parents thought that their child's school was not teaching them enough about childhood obesity, and over 5% thought that childhood obesity was the greatest risk to their child's long term health.
A Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
study indicates that inadequate sleep
Sleep deprivation
Sleep deprivation is the condition of not having enough sleep; it can be either chronic or acute. A chronic sleep-restricted state can cause fatigue, daytime sleepiness, clumsiness and weight loss or weight gain. It adversely affects the brain and cognitive function. Few studies have compared the...
has a negative impact on a child's performance in school, their emotional and social welfare, and increases their risk of being overweight. This study was the first nationally represented, longitudinal investigation of the correlation between sleep, Body Mass Index (BMI) and overweight status in children between the ages of 3 and 18. The study found that an extra hour of sleep lowered the children's risk of being overweight from 36% to 30%, while it lessened older children's risk from 34% to 30%.
Obese children and adolescents are more likely to become obese as adults. For example, one study found that approximately 80% of children who were overweight at aged 10–15 years were obese adults at age 25 years. Another study found that 25% of obese adults were overweight as children. The latter study also found that if overweight begins before 8 years of age, obesity in adulthood is likely to be more severe.
A study has also found that tackling childhood obesity will not necessarily lead to eating disorders later in life.
See also
- International Journal of Pediatric ObesityInternational Journal of Pediatric ObesityThe International Journal of Pediatric Obesity is a peer-reviewed medical journal covering research into all aspects of obesity during childhood and adolescence. The journal is published by Informa on behalf of the International Association for the Study of Obesity. The editor in chief is Louise...
- Task Force on Childhood ObesityTask Force on Childhood ObesityThe Childhood Obesity Task Force is a United States Government task force charged with reducing childhood obesity in the United States. It was founded on February 9, 2010 by the Obama Administration through a Presidential Memorandum, announcing the establishment of a Task Force on Childhood...
External links
- Childhood Obesity, The Institute for Good Medicine at the Pennsylvania Medical SocietyPennsylvania Medical SocietyThe Pennsylvania Medical Society is the professional association for the state’s physicians and physicians in training.Headquartered in Harrisburg, Pa., the non-profit organization represents about 20,000 physicians, residents, fellows, medical students, and practice administrators.The Pennsylvania...
- Mindless eatingMindless EatingMindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think is a nonfiction book by Cornell University consumer behavior professor Brian Wansink. Based upon award-winning research discoveries at the Cornell Food and Brand Lab, the book was cited by the National Action Against Obesity as being a 2006 hero in...
Cornell UniversityCornell UniversityCornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
Food and Brand LabFood and Brand LabThe Food and Brand Lab is a non-profit research facility at Cornell University which focuses on why people buy and eat the foods they do in the quantities they do... - Mayo clinic article on preventing childhood obesity
- Hereditary Obesity
- Obesity gene
- Leadership for Healthy Communities - Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
- Obesity genes and risk factors