Childhood Obesity

Childhood obesity is a serious problem in the United States because of its association with detrimental social and physical outcomes and its rising prevalence in recent years. Childhood obesity has been shown to predict adult obesity, indicating that early life factors may be important risk factors for adult obesity. (Goldfield & Epstein, 573-577) A number of studies have shown that overweight children become overweight adults, with a five- to ninefold increase in adult obesity for individuals obese at age 9-13 years. About one-third of obese preschoolers, half of obese school-age children, and 70 percent of obese adolescents were obese as ...