Childhood obesity is a well-known health problem internationally. A major spike in cases of child obesity have been observed from the 1980s to the present day, and the World Health Organization has even declared that around 1 in 3 eleven-year-olds are overweight or obese. Behavioral, genetic, and environmental factors have been said to be causes of obesity in children.
Lisa Chamberlain, assistant professor of pediatrics, has mentioned that we’re in a situation in which one-third of all children born in this decade will develop type-2 diabetes because they are overweight. She also said that factors such as food prices, family life, the public school system, and television are all aspects that lead to a child’s obesity.
Not only can this issue cause major risks to a child’s health and lifestyle, but it has also been associated with physical and physiological problems. Important organizations such as the United Nations and World Health Organization have already started taking action and promoting some behaviors and campaigns to better the situation. Some workshops, like, for example, the Alliance for Obesity Prevention: Finding Common Ground, held on October 20, 2011, in Washington, DC, have also arisen in hopes to keep supporting obesity prevention.
All the solutions that have been thought of in order to resolve this issue can be broken down easily into three sections.
The first section includes using the government to prevent obesity in children by implementing policies, such as a 'health-in-all' policy, and interventions. Governments can also fund health promotion, monitor non-communicable diseases, and use partnerships and networks that can enhance the effectiveness of initiatives in communities.
The second section includes policies and initiatives nationwide. This focuses on making environments that support healthy diets and physical activity. Marketing campaigns that can affect the whole population are also a characteristic. These campaigns can help with nutritional labeling, food taxes, and restrictions on unhealthy foods and non-alcoholic beverages for children.
The third and last section is community-based. These are usually minor changes only focused on a specific group in a certain place in multiple settings, most commonly in childcare, schools, and community centers.
For example, Thomas Robinson, a professor that has worked on alliances between organizations to prevent childhood obesity, targets behaviors that are motivating in themselves. He uses ethnic dance to encourage pre-adolescent girls to do physical activity while also learning about traditional dances from their country. Another example is that since overweight children tend to not join sports teams, they are more likely to join a team that is only for overweight kids. A study on this found that the BMI decreased in these intervention groups.
In conclusion, this issue has a rather simple solution that includes encouraging certain behaviors that all of society can take part in doing. It’s only a matter of educating, preventing, and sustaining some interventions that promote healthy eating and physical activity practices and promotions.