Impacts of Lifestyle and Socioeconomic Status on Childhood Obesity
Journal Title: Obesity Research - Open Journal - Year 2016, Vol 3, Issue 1
Abstract
Childhood obesity is an important indicator to predict adulthood obesity, so monitoring factors that contribute to childhood obesity plays a constructive role in preventing adulthood chronic diseases and metabolic syndrome. The present article attempted to analyze the impacts of lifestyle, sedentary activities, dietary habits and socioeconomic status on childhood obesity, and to provide recommendations for preventing childhood obesity. Research findings showed that childhood obesity results from increasing sedentary time, unhealthy eating behaviors and changes of healthy environment. TV viewing is the most common sedentary activity that children engage in. Although the causal relationship between TV and physical inactivity to obesity is not significant, sedentary lifestyle with long-term TV viewing has potential impact on childhood obesity. Therefore, daily TV viewing should be limited in 2 hours. Additionally, both unhealthy eating behaviors accompany TV viewing and the foods ads on TV are found to result in excess energy intake in children, and serve as critical connecting factors between TV viewing and childhood obesity. Family income and educational background of parents are also healthy indicators of children. Furnishing TV sets in bedroom, dining room or kitchen not only increases TV viewing but also worsens dietary habit. Therefore, increasing physical activity, controlling TV viewing time, carefully selecting TV programs and building healthy environment are effective strategies to prevent childhood obesity.
Authors and Affiliations
CHU Chen-Yi
Sports or Physical Activity for the Inactive World: Should we be Encouraging Safer Physical Activity Patterns more than Sports?
The scientific evidence on the positive effects of physical activity as part of a healthy lifestyle is well established. Physical activity has both direct and indirect effects for preventing several chronic diseases, inc...
Post-Meal Exercise may Attenuate the Glycemic Response to a Carbohydrate Load: Important Implications for Adults who are Obese, with Pre-Diabetes or Diabetes, and/or At-Risk for Dementia
Obese individuals are at risk for insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Both obesity and diabetes are known risk factors for dementia, already a recognized global public health issue. Up to one-third of Alzheimer-type...
Adipocytokines: A Potential Link Between Obesity and CNS Disorders
The interrelationships between obesity and high fat mass with different chronic pathophysiological conditions have been taken into consideration in recent decades along with the growing prevalence of obesity. Epidemiolog...
Reward Deficiency Syndrome in Children: Obesity and Metabolic Disorders are Associated with the SNP TaqIA C32806T of the DRD2 Gene
Background: Reward Deficiency Syndrome (RDS) is a hypo-dopaminergic state that predisposes to obsessive-compulsive behaviors. Obesity is part of RDS since the individual is predisposed to reward-driven eating behavior th...
Examination of the Estimated Resting Metabolic Equivalent (MET) in Overweight and Obesity
Background: Energy expenditure is commonly expressed in multiples of the resting metabolic equivalent task (MET), with 1 MET estimated to be equivalent to 3.5 ml/kg/min or 0.250 L/min of oxygen consumption. This investig...