**Childhood Obesity Overview:**
– Classification based on BMI percentiles for boys and girls aged 2 to 20.
– CDC defines obesity as BMI at or above the 95th percentile.
– Effects on health include emotional challenges, diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease.
– Childhood obesity increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and osteoarthritis.
– Overweight children are more likely to become obese adults.
**Causes of Childhood Obesity:**
– Obesogenic environment, genetic predisposition, and parental obesity as significant risk factors.
– Psychological factors, body type, technology, increased snacking, and reduced physical activity contribute.
– Prevalence in low-income, African American, and Hispanic communities.
**Genetic Factors in Childhood Obesity:**
– Genetic and environmental interactions leading to obesity.
– Polymorphisms in genes controlling appetite and metabolism.
– Over 200 genes influencing weight, activity level, and metabolism.
– Specific genetic conditions like Prader-Willi syndrome, Bardet-Biedl syndrome, and MOMO syndrome.
**Prevention and Management of Childhood Obesity:**
– Encouraging healthy eating habits, regular physical activity, and early intervention.
– Involvement of schools, communities, families, and healthcare providers.
– Public health policies to support healthy choices and environments.
– Family practices, social policies, advertising, and socioeconomic status influencing prevention efforts.
**Physical Activity and Childhood Obesity:**
– Physical inactivity linked to obesity risk and chronic diseases.
– Insufficient physical activity contributes to cardiovascular issues, mental health problems, and poor bone health.
– Social impact of physical inactivity on children’s development and relationships.
– Educational implications of physical activity on cognitive function, academic performance, and student engagement.
– Preventive measures including promoting active play, sports participation, safe recreational facilities, and parental education on physical activity.
Childhood obesity is a condition where excess body fat negatively affects a child's health or well-being. As methods to determine body fat directly are difficult, the diagnosis of obesity is often based on BMI. Due to the rising prevalence of obesity in children and its many adverse health effects it is being recognized as a serious public health concern. The term overweight rather than obese is often used when discussing childhood obesity, as it is less stigmatizing, although the term overweight can also refer to a different BMI category. The prevalence of childhood obesity is known to differ by sex and gender.
| Childhood obesity | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Children with varying degrees of body fat | |
| Specialty | Endocrinology, pediatrics, bariatrics  |