Search

Over the past 2 decades, the incidence of childhood obesity has risen dramatically. This recent rise in childhood obesity is particularly concerning as adults who were obese during childhood develop type II diabetes that is intractable to current forms of treatment compared with individuals who develop obesity in adulthood. While the mechanisms responsible for the exacerbated diabetic phenotype associated with childhood obesity is not clear, it is well known that childhood is an important time period for the establishment of normal white adipose tissue in humans. This association suggests that exposure to obesogenic stimuli during adipose development may have detrimental effects on adipose function and metabolic homeostasis. In this study, we identify the period of development associated with puberty, postnatal days 18–34, as critical for the establishment of normal adipose mass in mice. Exposure of mice to high fat diet only during this time period results in metabolic dysfunction, increased leptin expression, and increased adipocyte size in adulthood in the absence of sustained increased fat mass or body weight. These findings indicate that exposure to obesogenic stimuli during critical developmental periods have prolonged effects on adipose tissue function that may contribute to the exacerbated metabolic dysfunctions associated with childhood obesity.

The purpose of this study was to ascertain how to advertise healthy eating to adolescents in a bid to respond to global childhood obesity. Using an interpretivist research design, a three-year, bi-national study was conducted with English and Swedish participants aged 12-14. Creative research methods explored their relationship to food advertising, consumer self-perception and their own creative recommendations. By taking the adolescents’ perspective, the paper reports on creative strategies likely to increase their receptiveness to healthy food advertising, e.g. use of visual statistics, branding and a departure from the healthy-versus-unhealthy dichotomy. The paper recommends additions to social cognitive theory, an underutilised theory within marketing, by infusing the model with a social marketing orientation intent upon increasing its utility when advertising healthy eating to adolescents.

This qualitative study investigates health care practitioners’ approaches to early childhood obesity in Denmark and their view on their own ability to initiate processes of change in affected families, and it asks the overall question of whether perceived barriers become real through practitioners’ reluctance to intervene in families labelled as ´problematic’. The paper identifies three approaches in the practitioners’ narratives: the socially oriented, the individually oriented, and the mixed. The individually oriented approach was based on a logic resembling individualistic explanatory models of behaviour change, and was related to a positive perspective on their own ability to move families towards healthier habits by health care practitioners. The socially oriented approach borrowed elements from a sociological perspective, which seemed to lead to resigned pessimism in the face of the complexity of the problem of childhood overweight and a reluctance to address early childhood overweight in some families. In practitioners of all three types, widespread cultural essentialism was found. Non-western, ethnic minority background was seen as determining family habits and making preventive action especially difficult. Based on this, the current paper discusses whether individual actions and choices are being ascribed too much explanatory power, and the health system's biased perceptions too little.

This qualitative study explores the structural barriers to preventive interventions targeting childhood obesity in the Danish health care system. Based on interviews with relevant health care professionals, the paper reports on the problems which are experienced by general practitioners and health visitors and which complicate implementation of the policies of the Danish health authorities. Findings show that the current system is not well equipped to treat early overweight. A gap in primary preventive health care for children at age 3-5, indistinct lines of responsibility, inadequate cooperation and lack of resources together make it difficult for health care professionals to initiate interventions and reach the children in need of support. By analyzing the policy implementation process in a theoretical framework that discloses the discursive allocation of responsibilities, the study is able to provide a deeper description and analysis of the problem. The study makes it clear how preventive health care for overweight children rests on the negotiation of formal and performed responsibilities among health practitioners within a framework of scarce resources and communication deficit. This qualitative study explores the structural barriers to preventive interventions targeting childhood obesity in the Danish health care system. Based on interviews with relevant health care professionals, the paper reports on the problems which are experienced by general practitioners and health visitors and which complicate implementation of the policies of the Danish health authorities. Findings show that the current system is not well equipped to treat early overweight. A gap in primary preventive health care for children at age 3–5, indistinct lines of responsibility, inadequate cooperation, and lack of resources together make it difficult for health care professionals to initiate interventions and reach the children in need of support. By analyzing the policy implementation process in a theoretical framework that discloses the discursive allocation of responsibilities, the study is able to provide a deeper description and analysis of the problem. The study makes it clear how preventive health care for overweight children rests on the negotiation of formal and performed responsibilities among health practitioners within a framework of scarce resources and communication deficit.

Background Obesity has become a major public health problem worldwide. The prevalence of obesity is rising alarmingly among children and adolescents in the People's Republic of China, with an estimated 120 million now in the obese range. It is estimated that 8% of children in the People's Republic of China are obese and 12% are overweight. Methods Eligible papers on the prevalence of obesity among primary school students in the People's Republic of China and published between 2006 and 2011 were retrieved from PubMed and from online Chinese periodicals, ie, the full-text databases of VIP, the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Wan Fang. Meta-Analyst software was used to collate and analyze the detection rates cited in the papers retrieved. Results After evaluation of the quality of the papers, 25 were finally included, giving a total sample population size for investigation of obesity of 219,763, in which 28,121 cases were detected. Meta-analysis showed that the combined obesity detection rate was 10.4% (95% confidence interval 8.6-12.6) among primary school students in the People's Republic of China, with a higher detection rate in boys (12.6%) than in girls (7.2%). The prevalence of obesity was higher in the north (11.8%) than in the south (9.5%), east (11.6%), and mid-west (8.0%) regions. Obesity defined according to the World Health Organization weight-for-height standard (14.3%) was higher than that using age-specific and gender-specific cutoff points for body mass index (9.0%). Conclusion Our meta-analysis found an obesity prevalence rate of 10.4%, which does not seem as high as previous reports of childhood obesity rates in other countries. However, the prevalence of childhood obesity in the People's Republic of China is still worrisome, and is likely to rise even further if we fail to take effective and practical measures now.

Developing countries have undergone rapid transitions driven by globalization and development, which have accelerated increases in prevalence of overweight and obesity among children. Schools have been identified as effective settings for early intervention and favorable arenas in which to target children's dietary behaviors. In Guatemala, public schools commonly have food kiosks (casetas) which provide food and drink for sale to children. From July through October 2013, observation during recess, in-depth interviews with school principals (n=4) and caseta vendors (n=4), and focus groups with children (n=48) were conducted. This paper explores products currently available to children at casetas. We found that current factors that impact what casetas offer and subsequent nutrition habits of children at school include: regulations and enforcement; vendor investment and earnings; vendor challenges related to resources (i.e. refrigeration); the current economy and product demand; product pricing; and children's product preferences. These factors influence the products that are available and children's tendency to purchase them. Potential strategies that emerged include healthy food preparation to improve product health and quality, price manipulation and promotions, raffles and games to encourage healthy product consumption, as well as government and corporate involvement to push policy toward development of healthier products.

The 1991 paper, “Physical Education's Role in Public Health” described the importance of physical education in addressing public health problems. On its 20th anniversary, this article reviews accomplishments in improving the health impact of physical education and identifies areas lacking progress. Major accomplishments include development of evidence-based programs, documentation of health and academic benefits of physical education, and acceptance of physical education as a public health resource. Additional work is needed to evaluate the uptake of evidence-based programs, improve national surveillance of physical education quantity and quality, establish stronger policies supporting active physical education, and achieve wide acceptance of public health goals within the physical education field. These opportunities constitute an agenda for actualizing the promise of Health-Optimizing Physical Education before the next 20-year anniversary.

Angelo Tremblay, Émilie Pérusse-Lachance, Patrice BrassardDivision de Kinésiologie, PEPS, Université Laval and Centre de Recherche de l’Institut Universitaire en Cardiologie et Pneumologie de Québec, Québec, CanadaAbstract: The research related to childhood obesity generally emphasizes the impact of unhealthy eating and sedentary behavior as the main determinants of the predisposition to the positive energy balance that underlies excess body fat accumulation. Recent investigations have, however, demonstrated that “noncaloric” activity-related factors can induce a significant imbalance between spontaneous energy intake and energy expenditure. This is the case for short sleep duration that favors hormonal changes that increase hunger and energy intake. This agrees with our research experience demonstrating that short sleeping predicts the risk of obesity in children to a greater extent than sedentary behavior. Recent research by our team has also showed that demanding mental work promotes a substantial increase in energy intake without altering energy expenditure. In addition, our preliminary data suggest that the regular practice of school-related cognitive efforts is predictive of an increase in abdominal fat accumulation. As discussed in this paper, individual variations in brain oxygenation and its related cerebral aerobic fitness might play a role in the relationship between mental work, energy intake, and the risk of excess body weight.Keywords: sleep duration, mental work, brain oxygenation, energy intake, energy expenditure