Childhood Obesity: An Epidemic that is Tipping the Scales

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Childhood ObesityAn Epidemic that is Tipping
the Scales

• SC AHEC Dental, Medicine, and Nursing Careers
  Academy
• June 05, 2009
• Deborah Bartley, Lagloria Chisolm, Krishon
  Dillard,
• Tiffany Fishburne, Jordan Greenway

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What the People Say

• Obesity
• 43 year old MUSC graduate someone who is pear
  shaped
• 24 year old telecommunication supervisor
  someone who is 15 to 20lbs over the average
  weight
• 21 year old college student someone is round,
  plump and can pinch their fat!

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What the People Say

• Overweight
• 23 year old, 3rd grade teacher A child should
  not be classified as overweight because they are
  still growing.
• 65 year old great grandmother I dont really
  know but what ever the doctor says, add 20 Ibs to
  that.
• 54 year old DSS social worker 10 Ibs over the
  suggested weight.

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Childhood Obesity vs. Childhood Overweight

• Childhood obesity
• defined as an excessive accumulation of body fat.
• present when total body weight is more than 25
  percent fat in boys and more than 32 percent fat
  in girls
• http//www.emedicinehealth.com/obesity_in_childre
  n/article_em.htm
• Childhood overweight
• More than 85 percent

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Interpreting Body Mass Index

• Body Mass Index (BMI)
• the ratio of weight to height in kilograms (kg)
• body weight in kg /(ht)²
• Overweight BMI for agegt 95th Percentile
• There is no specific BMI chart for children
  because childrens growth has to be taken into
  consideration.
• http//www.healthinschools.org//media/Files/obesi
  tyfs.ashx

www.publicgym.com/media/fatkid.gif
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Childhood Obesity Stats
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Contributing Factors

• Television
• Time spent watching TV
• Food advertisements
• Calorie Intake
• Increased consumption of soft drinks(188
  calories/day)
• Fast food
• Reduced physical activity
• Dropped 14 over the 13 years

www.drivenmg.com
www.reviewsforfood.com/uploads/soda.jpg
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www.dnr.state.md.us/.../inthenews.jpg
Food and beverage industries spend 10-12 billion
dollars a year marketing directly to children and
adolescents (National Effort Urgently 1).
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Consequences of Childhood Obesity

• Severe Asthma
• Type 2 Diabetes
• Cardiovascular Disease
• Sleep Apnea
• Mental Health
• Adult Obesity
• Hypertension
• Strokes
• Cancer (Breast, Colon, Endometrial)
• Osteoarthritis
• Liver and Gallbladder Disease

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Childhood Obesity Statistics

• There are 22 Million Obese Children under five in
  the world.
• Obesity doubles in percentage in the US after the
  age of six.
• Childhood Obesity in the United States is
  greatest in Mexican -Americans.
• In percentages, African-American children are
  intermediate in obesity and Caucasian children
  are lowest in obesity.
• In South Carolina2003-2004, 18.8 of children
  ages 11-16 were overweight.

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Programs in South Carolina to Reduce and Prevent
Childhood Obesity

• CATCH- (Coordinated Approach to Child Health) A
  program that encourages children to exercise and
  make wise decisions about food.
• The National Association of County and City
  Health Officials- Pays for classes for Children
  to advise them on what kinds of food to eat and
  provide places to exercise like bike paths.
• The South Carolina Rural Health Research Center-
  Researches information about diseases like
  diabetes that mostly affect minorities linked to
  reasons as high percentages of Child Obesity.

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Treatment and Prevention

• It is never too early or late to start!
• Who needs to be involved?...EVERYONE!
• Families
• Schools
• Communities
• Consumer Industry
• Health Professionals
• Government
• But How?

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Treatment and Prevention Contd

• Schools, Families, Communities, Consumer
  Industry, Government, Health Professionals
• Physical Activity
• Diet Management
• Behavioral Alteration

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RememberThis is a World-Wide Effort!!!

• People ARE doing their job.
• Nickelodeons Worldwide Day of Play
• Local Churches are creating Get Fit Programs.
• We must act now and we must do this as a nation
• -Jeffrey Koplan, vice president for academic
  health affairs, Emory University

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Reference

• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
  Advancing Excellence in Health Care www.ahrq.gov
• http//www.emedicinehealth.com/obesity_in_children
  /article_em.htm
• Center for Health and Health Care in Schools
  .(2005) Childhood Overweight What the Research
  Tells Us http//www.healthinschools.org//media/F
  iles/obesityfs.ashx
• eMedicine Health Practical Guide Health (2009).
  Obesity in Children
• http//www.emedicinehealth.com/obesity_in_children
  /article_em.htm
• Center for Disease Control and Prevention(2009).
  Overwieight and Obesity.
• http//www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html
• http//www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/obesity/index.htm
• http//www.cdc.gov/obesity/causes/index.html
• William H. Dietz (1997). Health Consequences of
  Obesity in Youth Childhood Predictors of Adult
  Disease.
• http//www.apha.org/progrmas/resources/obesity/pro
  resobesityknow.htm