Childhood and Adolescent Obesity in the United States: A Public Health Concern
Open accessAbstract
Childhood and adolescent obesity have reached epidemic levels in the United States. Currently, about 17% of US children are presenting with obesity. Obesity can affect all aspects of the children including their psychological as well as cardiovascular health; also, their overall physical health is affected. The association between obesity and other conditions makes it a public health concern for children and adolescents. Due to the increase in the prevalence of obesity among children, a variety of research studies have been conducted to discover what associations and risk factors increase the probability that a child will present with obesity. While a complete picture of all the risk factors associated with obesity remains elusive, the combination of diet, exercise, physiological factors, and psychological factors is important in the control and prevention of childhood obesity; thus, all researchers agree that prevention is the key strategy for controlling the current problem. Primary prevention methods are aimed at educating the child and family, as well as encouraging appropriate diet and exercise from a young age through adulthood, while secondary prevention is targeted at lessening the effect of childhood obesity to prevent the child from continuing the unhealthy habits and obesity into adulthood. A combination of both primary and secondary prevention is necessary to achieve the best results. This review article highlights the health implications including physiological and psychological factors comorbidities, as well as the epidemiology, risk factors, prevention, and control of childhood and adolescent obesity in the United States.
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The majority of treatments are substantially conceived to prevent and control the widespread increase of childhood and adolescence obesity through parental education on proper nutritional requirements for their children and the implementation of healthy eating habits and physical activity.
“The majority of treatments are substantially conceived to prevent and control the widespread increase of childhood and adolescence obesity through parental education on proper nutritional requirements for their children and the implementation of healthy eating habits and physical activity [66].”
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- Authors
- Sanyaolu, A., Okorie, C., Qi, X., Locke, J., & Rehman, S.
- Affiliations
- Federal Ministry of Health (NG)
- Essex County College (US)
- Saint James School of Medicine, Anguilla, British West Indies
- Corresponding author
- Sanyaolu, Adekunle
- Venue
- Global Pediatric Health
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2019-01
- Volume
- 6
- Pages
- 2333794X19891305-2333794X19891305
- ISSN
- 2333-794X (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6887808
- OpenAlex
- W2992565440
- Cited by
- 471
- References
- 60
- Citations by year
- 2026: 31 · 2025: 77 · 2024: 97 · 2023: 104 · 2022: 81 · 2021: 64 · 2020: 17
- FWCI
- 6.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Global Pediatric Health (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Obesity and Health Practices
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer Risks and Factors
- Keywords
- childhood obesity, adolescent obesity, obesity risk factors, obesity prevention, primary prevention, secondary prevention, comorbidities, psychological effects of obesity, cardiovascular health, diet and exercise, obesity epidemiology, United States
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