Childhood Obesity
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Within schools: Because the majority of young people aged 5-7 years are
enrolled in schools and because of the amount of time that children spend at
school each day, schools provide an ideal setting for teaching children and
teens to adopt healthy eating and physical activity behaviors. According to
the Institute of Medicine (IOM), schools and school districts are,
increasingly, implementing innovative programs that focus on improving the
nutrition and increasing physical activity of students.

Within the community: The built environment within communities influences
access to physical activity opportunities and access to affordable and
healthy foods. For example, a lack of sidewalks, safe bike paths, and parks
in neighborhoods can discourage children from walking or biking to school as
well as from participating in physical activity. Additionally, lack of
access to affordable, healthy food choices in neighborhood food markets can
be a barrier to purchasing healthy foods.

Consequences Childhood obesity is associated with various health-related consequences.
Obese children and adolescents may experience immediate health consequences
and may be at risk for weight-related health problems in adulthood.

Psychosocial Risks

Some consequences of childhood and adolescent obesity are psychosocial.
Obese children and adolescents are targets of early and systematic social
discrimination. The psychological stress of social stigmatization can cause
low self-esteem which, in turn, can hinder academic and social functioning,
and persist into adulthood.

Cardiovascular Disease Risks

Obese children and teens have been found to have risk factors for
cardiovascular disease (CVD), including high cholesterol levels, high blood
pressure, and abnormal glucose tolerance. In a population-based sample of 5-
to 17-year-olds, 70% of obese children had at least one CVD risk factor
while 39% of obese children had two or more CVD risk factors.

Additional Health Risks
Less common health conditions associated with increased weight include
asthma, fatty liver, sleep apnea and Type 2 diabetes.
Asthma is a disease of the lungs in which the airways become blocked or
narrowed causing breathing difficulty. Studies have identified an
association between childhood obesity and asthma.

Hepatic steatosis is the fatty degeneration of the liver caused by a high
concentration of liver enzymes. Weight reduction causes liver enzymes to
normalize.

Sleep apnea is a less common complication of obesity for children and
adolescents. Sleep apnea is a sleep-associated breathing disorder defined as
the cessation of breathing during sleep that lasts for at least 10 seconds.
Sleep apnea is characterized by loud snoring and labored breathing. During
sleep apnea, oxygen levels in the blood can fall dramatically. One study
estimated that sleep apnea occurs in about 7% of obese children.
Type 2 diabetes is increasingly being reported among children and
adolescents who are obese. While diabetes and glucose intolerance, a
precursor of diabetes, are common health effects of adult obesity, only in
recent years has Type 2 diabetes begun to emerge as a health-related problem
among children and adolescents. Onset of diabetes in children and
adolescents can result in advanced complications such as CVD and kidney
failure.
As parents and as a society we have a duty to protect our children
from harm and illness as best we can. The simple act of obesity
prevention is within our control and should be a priotity for us all.

Source:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
1600 Clifton Rd
Atlanta, GA 30333
800-CDC-INFO
(800-232-4636)
TTY: (888) 232-6348
24 Hours/Every Day
cdcinfo@cdc.gov




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