which is not a factor affecting the increase in childhood obesity? course hero

What causes obesity in children?

Lifestyle issues — too little activity and too many calories from food and drinks — are the main contributors to childhood obesity. But genetic and hormonal factors might play a role as well. For example, recent research has found that changes in digestive hormones can affect the signals that let you know you're full.

What are the factors that influence the development of obesity?

Family characteristics parenting style, parents’ lifestyles also play a role. Environmental factors such as school policies, demographics, and parents’ work-related demands further influence eating and activity behaviors. Genetics are one of the biggest factors examined as a cause of obesity.

How does childhood obesity affect adult health?

Although most of the physical health conditions associated with childhood obesity are preventable and can disappear when a child or adolescent reaches a healthy weight, some continue to have negative consequences throughout adulthood.[46] In the worst cases, some of these health conditions can even result in death.

Why is it important to prevent childhood obesity?

Childhood obesity can also lead to poor self-esteem and depression. One of the best strategies to reduce childhood obesity is to improve the eating and exercise habits of your entire family. Treating and preventing childhood obesity helps protect your child's health now and in the future. Not all children carrying extra pounds are overweight.

Why is obesity increasing in childhood?

Also, during childhood, excess fat accumulates when the increase in caloric intake exceeds the total energy expenditure .26Furthermore, children living in the United States today compared with children living in the 1900s are participating in more than 6 hours per day activities on social media. This includes but is not limited to traditional television, video gaming, and blogging/Facebook activities. An additional economic rationalization for the increase in childhood obesity is technology. In other words, Americans can now eat more in less time.

What are the effects of obesity on children?

The effect of obesity on the tissue can manifest in the development of insulin-resistant type 2 diabetes, the risk of cancer, and pulmonary diseases.45.

What is the cause of obesity?

Obesity is a chronic multifactorial disease, characterized by an excessive accumulation of adipose tissue, commonly as a result of excessive food intake and/or low energy expenditure. Obesity can be triggered by genetic, psychological, lifestyle, nutritional, environmental, and hormonal factors.15.

What is the inflammatory response to obesity?

The inflammatory response to obesity triggers pathogens, systematic increases in circulatory inflammatory cytokines, and acute-phase reactants (eg, C-reactive proteins), which inflames the tissues. This is often caused by the activation of tissue leukocytes.

How does stress affect obesity?

Changes in the circadian clock are associated with temporal alterations in feeding behavior and increased weight gain.21Stress interferes with cognitive processes such as executive function and self-regulation. Second, stress can affect behavior by inducing overeating and consumption of foods that are high in calories, fat, or sugar; by decreasing physical activity; and by shortening sleep. Third, stress triggers physiological changes in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, reward processing in the brain, and possibly the gut microbiome. Finally, stress can stimulate the production of biochemical hormones and peptides such as leptin, ghrelin, and neuropeptide Y.17

How many children are obese in the US?

Childhood and adolescent obesity have reached epidemic levels in the United States. Currently, about 17% of US children are presenting with obesity. Obesity can affect all aspects of the children including their psychological as well as cardiovascular health; also, their overall physical health is affected. The association between obesity and other ...

Why is food consumption increasing?

The result of this change has been a significant reduction in the time costs for food production. These lower time costs have led to increased food consumption and, ultimately, increased weights.27Eliminating the time cost of food preparation disproportionately increases consumption for hyperbolic discounters because time delay is a particularly important mechanism for discouraging those individuals from consuming.27Society today prefers immediate satisfaction with regard to food and convenience over the long-term goals of living a long, healthy life. The availability of high-caloric, less-expensive food coupled with the extensive advertisement and easy accessibility of these foods has contributed immensely to the rising trend of obesity.28For example, there have been reductions in the price of McDonalds and Coca-Cola (5.44% and 34.89%, respectively) between 1990 and 2007, while there was about a 17% increase in the price of fruits and vegetables between 1997 and 2003.29

Why is obesity a problem for children?

Psychological factors. Personal, parental and family stress can increase a child's risk of obesity.

Why do kids get obesity?

Causes. Lifestyle issues — too little activity and too many calories from food and drinks — are the main contributors to childhood obesity. But genetic and hormonal factors might play a role as well.

What are the complications of obesity?

Physical complications of childhood obesity may include: 1 Type 2 diabetes. This chronic condition affects the way your child's body uses sugar (glucose). Obesity and a sedentary lifestyle increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. 2 High cholesterol and high blood pressure. A poor diet can cause your child to develop one or both of these conditions. These factors can contribute to the buildup of plaques in the arteries, which can cause arteries to narrow and harden, possibly leading to a heart attack or stroke later in life. 3 Joint pain. Extra weight causes extra stress on hips and knees. Childhood obesity can cause pain and sometimes injuries in the hips, knees and back. 4 Breathing problems. Asthma is more common in children who are overweight. These children are also more likely to develop obstructive sleep apnea, a potentially serious disorder in which a child's breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep. 5 Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This disorder, which usually causes no symptoms, causes fatty deposits to build up in the liver. NAFLD can lead to scarring and liver damage.

What are the causes of type 2 diabetes in children?

Type 2 diabetes. This chronic condition affects the way your child's body uses sugar (glucose). Obesity and a sedentary lifestyle increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. High cholesterol and high blood pressure. A poor diet can cause your child to develop one or both of these conditions.

Why do kids gain weight?

Diet. Regularly eating high-calorie foods, such as fast foods, baked goods and vending machine snacks, can cause your child to gain weight. Candy and desserts also can cause weight gain, and more and more evidence points to sugary drinks, including fruit juices and sports drinks, as culprits in obesity in some people. Lack of exercise.

Why is it so bad for kids to be obese?

It's particularly troubling because the extra pounds often start children on the path to health problems that were once considered adult problems — diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Childhood obesity can also lead to poor self-esteem and depression.

What is the BMI of a child?

So you might not know by how your child looks if weight is a health concern. The body mass index (BMI), which provides a guideline of weight in relation to height, is the accepted measure of overweight and obesity. Your child's doctor can use growth charts, the BMI and, if necessary, other tests to help you figure out if your child's weight could ...

What are the causes of obesity?

These include diet, lack of exercise, factors in a person’s environment, and genetics.

What causes obesity and overweight?

Some hormone problems may cause overweight and obesity, such as underactive thyroid, Cushing syndrome and polycystic ovary syndrome.

Why do people gain weight?

People gain weight when they eat more calories than they burn through activity. This imbalance is the greatest contributor to weight gain.

Does genetics cause obesity?

Research shows that genetics plays a role in obesity. Genes can directly cause obesity in such disorders as Prader-Willi syndrome. Genes also may contribute to a person’s susceptibility to weight gain. Scientists believe that genes may increase a person’s likelihood of becoming obese but that outside factors, such as an abundant food supply ...

What are the causes of obesity?

Children are often unaware of the patterns or conditions that cause obesity, therefore, placing the responsibility on adults to lead them in the right direction. Factor 1: Genetics.

How do transportation and neighborhood features affect the resources children have in their fight against obesity?

Children who live in unsafe areas with poorly lit walking paths have fewer opportunities to be physically active outside. They may be more likely to ride a bus or have a parent drive them to school, in comparison to walking or riding a bike. A lack of healthy grocery stores also contributes to food consumption and a family’s ability to eat home-cooked meals. Environmental resources play a significant role in how children grow up and the lifestyle to which they are exposed.

How much of the obesity epidemic is genetic?

Studies show that genetics account for less than 5% of obesity cases.

Why does lack of physical activity cause obesity?

A lack of physical activity progresses childhood obesity because the body begins to store unused calories as fat. For children, physical activity comes in the form of outside play-time or extracurricular sports. This digital-age brings increasingly popular and accessible video games and television shows.

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What happens if a parent doesn't believe their child's weight needs to be addressed?

If a parent doesn’t believe their child’s weight needs to be addressed, they will be less likely to initiate healthier habits at home. For children that depend on a parents’ guidance for nutritional meals, continuing poor habits could have damaging effects on their mental and physical health.

Why is lack of healthy grocery stores bad?

A lack of healthy grocery stores also contributes to food consumption and a family’s ability to eat home-cooked meals. Environmental resources play a significant role in how children grow up and the lifestyle to which they are exposed. Childhood obesity is not a simple issue.

What are the factors that influence obesity in children?

Factors that Influence Childhood Obesity. The cause of pediatric obesity is multifactorial (1). There is not a single cause, nor solution, found that leads to all cases of pediatric obesity. Parental discipline in regard to the child is not proven to lead to less adiposity or obesity in children. Parental feeding strategy may actually be a cause ...

Why are children more likely to be obese?

Specifically, when either both parents or the paternal figure worked nontraditional work schedules, the child was more likely to be obese. Parents ultimately have a large amount of influence on the child, but there are other factors that lead to obesity in children. Although parental engagement is responsible for many of ...

What are the factors that contribute to obesity?

Socioeconomic status, genetic factors, and an increasingly sedentary lifestyle are all contributing factors in childhood obesity. Multicomponent prevention and treatment strategies are needed to combat the childhood obesity epidemic.

How does genetics affect obesity?

While genetic factors alone not make a child obese (1, 8), genetics can increase the risk of developing obesity (1, 9) . Genetics are something that cannot yet be effectively manipulated to change the risk of obesity in children. Thus, this is out of the control of the parent.

Does watching TV cause obesity?

Television (tv) viewing over about two hours is associated with increased obesity (11, 12). Part of this is thought that increased tv viewing is related to increased calorie consumption while tv viewing (12). Lack of physical activity can also contribute to increased risk of obesity. Those that were below a normal threshold ...

Is parental engagement a factor in obesity?

Although parental engagement is responsible for many of the habits children form that can lead to obesity, there are more factors that result in obesity in children. Socioeconomic status seems to play a part in obesity (6,7). There is evidence to support the fact that there are differences in prevalence of obesity between income as it relates ...

Is parental lifestyle more important than discipline?

Parental lifestyle may play a more important role than the actual discipline the parent instills on food. In a systematic review, it was found that parental screen time and physical activity could influence how a child behaved in a similar way (4).