CHILDHOOD OBESITY

Literature Review of Childhood Obesity

Childhood Obesity

Literature Review

In a study conducted by World Health Organization, obesity is termed as excessive accumulation of fat which presents risk to health. (Byington, 2009) Historically, there have been two types of standards used to define obesity: criterion referenced standards and normative referenced standards. An epidemiological study conducted in the year 2009 for the children among 6 to 18 concluded that the rates of childhood obesity worldwide are increasing in numbers. (Byington, 2009) Search finding of an online research conducted by England Journal of Medicine shows that focused programs of nutrition are helping successful children obesity reduction. (Webster, 2010)

Due to the increasing rates of pediatric obesity in recent years the rate of morbidity and premature mortality among adults increase in numbers. (Logue, 2010) For over three decades researchers have been interested in examining the application of weight-height ratios and other body indices (e.g. skin-fold measures, waist circumference) for the definition of obesity in children. Prior to the year 2000, knowledge of the prevalence of childhood obesity worldwide was unclear due in part to the lack of an internationally agreed upon definition of obesity and the variation in methodologies used to calculate and define obesity (Hodges, 2003).

Childhood is a period of rapid growth when choices related to nutrition; physical activity and lifestyle patterns are initiated. These choices have implications for development of coronary artery disease, respiratory and orthopedic conditions during childhood and later during adulthood. Several outcomes are associated with childhood obesity and overweight including weight loss behaviors, psychosocial and physiological outcomes. Important influences (host and environmental characteristics) for overweight and obesity include age, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, physical activity levels, genetic, prenatal, nutritional, and parental obesity characteristics.

Debate exists as to the role of genetics in childhood obesity. Rarely is obesity an endocrine problem (Arenz, Ruckerl, Koletzko, & von Kries, 2004). At present, results of studies to identify genes responsible for obesity in children are inconclusive. Recently, the Canadian Institute of Child Health (CICH) in 2000 stressed the importance of prenatal environment and the relationship to childhood obesity. Debate exists to the role of prenatal factors with childhood obesity, in particular, the effect of birth weight on childhood obesity. Most of the research concludes that low birth weight has a protective factor for overweight and obesity. Two German research teams, Frye and Heinrich (2003) and von Kries and colleagues (1999) found in large cross-sectional studies on school aged children that low birth weight and higher parental education were protective factors for overweight and obesity. Furthermore, a Finnish birth cohort study concluded that the incidence of obesity rose with increasing birth size (Story, Kaphingst, & French, 2006). Belgium researchers in 2001 completed a prospective study of randomly selected twins. Their findings support a positive association between birth weight and adult fat composition. (Cole, 2000)

Two research studies have found opposite results. Fuentes and colleagues (2003) did not find birth weight was a good predictor of BMI in Finnish ...