Running Head: LITERATURE REVIEW 1

Literature Review on Child Obesity

Fabian A Cano-Romero

University of Texas at El Paso

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Abstract

Child obesity can affect many lives in all facets of the problem from the actual child being

affected by the larger communities and surroundings they or living in. What many people seem

to believe child obesity is much more than just someone that looks fat there are many factors

that go into classifying an obese child and in fact there are two stages one being obese and the

other being overweight. In this paper we will be focusing on the former. One side of this story is

the governments involvement in solving the problem. This paper looks into some of the stuff

they have done and analyses what they can and maybe should and shouldn’t do. Overall this

paper gathers information from many sources as well as fresh look on the subject by college

students on the topic.

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INTRODUCTION

Child Obesity has always been a problem and still is. It has been a battle that many

generations have fought against. Even so child obesity continues to exist and continues to be a

problem. Thankfully in recent years there have been many advancements that can help us fight

the problem in better ways. Still these solutions come with their own problems.

1. What is Child obesity ?

2. Is child obesity a problem and if it is who and what does it affect and how ?

3. What should governments role be ?

4. What can be done to solve the problem ?

These question will help us outline and organize the subject. Also it will be a tool to navigate

through the 4 main key points of this paper defining child obesity, categorizing its cause and

effect, Analyzing the actions government takes and if they are correct, as well as brainstorming

an ideal solution using all the data gathered.

What is Child obesity ?

Child obesity is categorized as an overweight child more specifically as defined by the OAC, “A

child is defined as “affected by obesity” if their body mass index-for-age (or BMI-for-age)

percentile is greater than 95 percent.” Also there is a clear difference between over-weight and

obese the former being defined when the BMI is greater than 85 percent. All if not most
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sources agree with these percentiles to define child obesity including the CDC witch can be seen

in a chart in their main page on overweight and obesity. Something interesting to note is that

the BMI is not calculated solely on body fat it also incorporates skinfold thickness and

underwater weighting and much more (CDC, 2016). Today, about one in three American kids

and teens is overweight or obese, nearly triple the rate in 1963 ( American Heart association,

2016)

Child obesity on its own can be a serious problem causing negative psychological

outcomes for example it can lead to lower self-esteem, behavior and learning issues, risk of

eating disorder, and many more ( Obesity Society, 2014). More widely known it can lead to

severe health risks that otherwise healthy children would not be at risk of. Simply put by the

(CDC, 2015), “ Children who have obesity are more likely to become adults with obesity. Adult

obesity is associated with increased risk of a number of serious health conditions including

heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer.”

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The fact that child obesity has been increasing in our country at an alarming rate (CDC,

2016) could be a reason why so many studies and association have popped up along the years

with the purpose to inform and help cure people with obesity mainly children. Because child

obesity is a problem with so little debate to what it is in fact mostly everyone agrees on what it

is and what it can do. This will lead to a more efficient problem solving journey for policy’s and

ideas placed in public.

Is child obesity a problem and if it is who and what does it affect and how ?

definitely child obesity is a problem as you can see from the previous paragraphs. So

much so that all of the sources involved skip this part as if it were a universal truth and jump

into the meat of the problem immediately. These include looking at the facts of the problem

looking over studies and brainstorming for possible solutions. These thoughts are even

apparent when asking college students in a survey done by the author of this paper 30 out 30

students believe that child obesity is a problem ( personal communication, 29 th march 2018).

As it implies in the name the people that are mostly affected are children. Some children

are more likely to fall victim to obesity. “Behaviors that influence excess weight gain include

eating high-calorie, low-nutrient foods and beverages, not getting enough physical activity,

sedentary activities such as watching television or other screen devices, medication use, and

sleep routines.” (CDC, 2016). The same thought process is present at (CHILD OBESITY

FOUNDATION, 2016) witch believe that the main cause is children eating too much unhealthy

food and not exercising enough. The organization promotes a “5 2 1 0” slogan which means 5
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or more veggies or fruits a day, no more than 2 hours of screen time, 1 hour of physical activity

per day, and 0 sugary drinks. Some factors that can also lead to child obesity are the

environments that they are present at like schools and child care services the more prominent

place begins at home were child spends most of the time. For example in a promotional

program that aired in KSPS Public TV you can see how one of the families shown there would

feed their children McDonalds for breakfast every day and think of it as normal. There is many

more occurrences of this throughout the video and suggestion of it in other sources.

Another variable that increases chances of child obesity is peoples culture, heritage and

income bracket. For example in one area of the video it claims that a Latino family is more

susceptible to child obesity because of the large portions of food they eat and consider normal.

The data says that 35% of African Americans, 40 % of Latinos, and 29% of white children are

obese or overweight (KSPS, 2013). Another study done at the University of Michigan shows that

when poverty rises so does child obesity (Michigan Medicine, 2016). This might be because

lower income families can’t afford to buy the often more expensive healthy foods. Lower

income families have both parents working fulltime jobs most of the time which can lead to

more eating out in fast food restaurants. “In low-income communities where places to play and

supermarkets may be scarce, it can promote consumption of low nutrition and fast food and

little to no physical activity.” (Michigan Medicine, 2016). All these factors that can directly or

indirectly lead to child obesity will be helpful when coming up with a solution and can shape

different polices and ideas depending in what areas we want to focus our efforts.
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What should governments role be ? (will include primary research here)

When looking into the process of coming up with solutions it is natural to think that the

Government would step in and try to solve the issues surrounding child obesity, and done that

they have. According to a survey conducted by the author of this paper an overwhelming

majority of people believe it’s the governments job to step in and help solve the problem

(personal communication, 29th march 2018).

Goverments Role in Solving Child

obesity
30
20
10
0
The government should step in to The government should not step in
solve child obesity to solve child obesity

Series 1 Series 2

With that out of the way the real question in the spotlight seems to be what the government

should actually do in terms of helping out. Starting at the begging seems reasonable enough so

let’s look at what the government has done thus far. One of the more popular instances is

when first lady Michelle Obama revealed her Lets Move Campaign. This shows how the topic

has reached a height were its being recognized as a serious problem by the president of the U.S

and it was a big milestone because of that. Other things that the government has had a hand in

would include the new Healthcare reforms. “The recent enactment of health care reform also

will play a major role in combating obesity, according to experts. For example, the legislation

provides $500 million for prevention (Arvantes , 2010).

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These governmental actions have seemed to be well received by many people. A family surgeon

named Paul Jarris had something to say as well, “Jarris is convinced that the first lady's Let's

Move campaign represents a major turning point in the nation's fight against obesity because

of its extent.” ( Arvantes, 2010). On the other side of the spectrum there are actions that the

government takes that the public does not find appealing. In one scenario New York City Mayor

Michael Bloomberg has pushed through a ban on the sale of sugary drinks larger than 16

ounces (McKay, 2012). This has made many New Yorkers claim that it is an intrusion on

personal choice. According to a survey conducted by the author 24 out of 30 college students

believe that the government does not have the right to infringe on the public’s right to choice

(personal communication, 29th march 2018). Given this information it is clear that the

government has to be careful on what sorts of initiatives it takes on to solve the problem. Still

the government proves to not be doing enough to reach the public since the same survey

conducted by the author of this paper revealed that less than half of the people asked are not

aware of anything the government may be doing in terms of helping to fight child obesity.

What can be done to solve the problem ?

There are many things that can be done to solve the problem of child obesity. First let’s

begin in small more localized areas in this case households where children might be living in.

The Obesity Society has some good suggestions on what to do in this case. Some of the

solutions are to inform the parents about the food they are feeding their children and

ultimately choose what their children eat. There should always be fruit at homes to substitute

other snacks. You can also avoid eating while watching TV. Make sure that parents are always

encouraging children to play indoors and outdoors and provide an area to do so. There are
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many more tips for families but mostly all gravitate around well-educated parents being in

charge of their children and leading by example. When looking to a survey done by the author

of this paper most college students believe that the range of solutions include anywhere from

simple self-made community activities or new family values all the way to having the

government stepping in to solve the problem with big campaigns lets go ahead and look at

what else lies out there as a solution.

On a more larger scale The CDC recommends that the community as a whole

encourages healthy eating and active living. They also propose Early care and education, salad

bars at school, healthy food environments, and healthy hospitals. The next step lies within

schools since it is where children spend most of their time right after home. Schools can

encourage children to drink water instead of sugary drinks, and overall promote a healthy place

and an active mindset to children ( CDC, 2017). Also we can look at a much larger scale where

the government is making decisions to help with the problem. Some of the things they have

done like Michelle Obamas let’s move Campaign has brought great attention to the problem

and has encourage the country to want to change the core of the problem which is our habits

and culture that let for obesity to be born. The government will keep on going with the battle

it’s only a matter of where they land with the publics favor. As we have seen with the negative

outbursts from the public in New York with some of the laws being enacted there. Which

suggest that the public wants Government to be more of a reactive problem solver than that of

a proactive one.
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Conclusion

In Conclusion it is clear to see that Child obesity is in fact looked at as a problem by all if

not most of the public. There is in fact many people that are affected by the problem not just

the children including families, communities, and the public under new regulations to fight

obesity. Government should definitely do something about the problem but it should not step

to out of reach from the publics favor because it will lose support. As far as all the data

gathered the best way to fight the problem is to start with adults by educating them on the

problem how it can come to happen and how to stop it. Finally most importantly Society

especially parents must lead by example in order to make to correct habits to a healthy life

common place.
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REFRENCES

Arvantes, J. (2010, May 17). Federal Government Takes Bigger Role in Combating Obesity.
Retrieved April 03, 2018, from https://www.aafp.org/news/obesity/20100517fed-
initiatives.html

Childhood Overweight. (n.d.). Retrieved March 19, 2018, from

http://www.obesity.org/obesity/resources/facts-about-obesity/childhood-overweight

K. (2013, October 14). Our Supersized Kids. Retrieved March 20, 2018, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNySc_BIl5k

Low-income communities more likely to face childhood obesity. (2016, January 07). Retrieved
April 03, 2018, from https://www.uofmhealth.org/news/archive/201601/low-income-
communities-more-likely-face-childhood-obesity

McKay, B. (2012, September 18). What Role Should Government Play in Combating Obesity?
Retrieved April 03, 2018, from https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-role-should-government-
play-in-combating-obesity-1378333057

Obesity Action Coalition » What is Childhood Obesity? (n.d.). Retrieved April 03, 2018, from
http://www.obesityaction.org/understanding-obesity-in-children/what-is-childhood-obesity

Overweight & Obesity. (2016, December 15). Retrieved March 03, 2018, from
https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/causes.html

What is childhood obesity? (n.d.). Retrieved April 03, 2018, from

http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/HealthyLiving/HealthyKids/ChildhoodObesity/What-is-
childhood-obesity_UCM_304347_Article.jsp#.WsK4PmaZO8U

What is Childhood Obesity? Who is at Risk? (n.d.). Retrieved March 17, 2018, from
http://childhoodobesityfoundation.ca/what-is-childhood-obesity/
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