Childhood Obesity Intervention

Childhood obesity rates have been steadily increasing over the years and is an epidemic in America. “A recent study of 15 industrialized countries revealed that teens in the United States had higher rates of obesity than teens in any other country studied (Hawkins & Linvill, 2010).” Childhood obesity “is linked to a host of physiological problems such as coronary heart diseases and premature mortality (Reilly & Kelly, 2011).” Statistics such as these show a clear need for intervention. In this paper I will discuss two intervention strategies that I think will decrease the prevalence of childhood obesity. Steps need to be taken to educate parents on correct nutrition to better their children’s health to prevent obesity. While parents are a factor …show more content…
Parent-based intervention is important because until a child grows up and can take care of themselves, parents are the main caretaker. The parent’s decisions directly impact a child’s life. For example, if a parent only feeds their child fast food they are likely to become obese. It is very important to give parent-based interventions so they know the health repercussions of living an unhealthy lifestyle. I also believe that school-based intervention is important because school is where children spend a lot of their time. School is a place where children learn. If schools taught about the repercussions of living an unhealthy lifestyle and the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle, I think they would be more inclined to live a healthy lifestyle. Also, children will go home and tell their parents about what they learned. This will create another benefit to this intervention type because parents will want to follow what their children learned about. Although these are only two intervention types out of many other that may decrease childhood obesity. I think that these two would create a step in the right direction to get rid of childhood …show more content…
This creates a huge need for intervention. As stated previously, childhood obesity “is linked to a host of physiological problems such as coronary heart diseases and premature mortality (Reilly & Kelly, 2011).” Public health needs to play a large role in childhood obesity. I think that public health make people aware of the issue at hand and will be a big factor in decreasing it. Without public health’s involvement, the prevalence of childhood obesity is going to grow. If people are unware of the health risk and problems associated they will not feel the need to fix