Encouraging Exercise:

Combatting Childhood Obesity

By
Sabrina Carlson
Amy Fox
Rebecca Williams
Lindsay Vasquez

Growing Demography of Obesity

States with greater than 30% obesity rates: Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana,
Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and
West Virginia (Center for Disease Control & Prevention, CDC, 2010).

Growing Demography of Obesity

Approximately 17% of American children and adolescents are obese.

-8.4% of 2-5 year olds obese

-17.7% of 6-11 year olds obese

-20.5% of 12-19 year olds obese

Obesity is higher among Hispanics (22.4%).

Obesity of non-Hispanic black youth higher (20.2%) than non-Hispanic white

youth (14.1%) (CDC, 2012).

Similar to minorities having lower socioeconomic status, they have higher rates
of obesity. This demonstrates the direct correlation between wealth and obesity
(Cunningham, Kramer, & Narayan, 2014).

Health Risk Factors for Obese Children

Immediate Health Effects

Cardiovascular disease

High cholesterol or high blood pressure.

Pre-Diabetes

Glucose levels which indicate a high risk for developing diabetes.

Bone and joint problems.

Sleep apnea.

Social and psychological problems

Stigmatization and poor self esteem.

(CDC, 2014).

Health Risk Factors for Obese Children

Long Term Health Effects

More likely to be obese as adults.

More likely to develop heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, cancer, and
osteoarthritis.
(CDC, 2014).

Bing image search, obesity and health

Statistics on Childhood Obesity

Children ages 6-11 who were obese increased from 7% in 1980 to 18% in 2012.

Childhood obesity has doubled in the last 30 years.

In 2012, more than one third of children and adolescents were marked as being
obese or overweight.

(CDC, 2014).

Socioeconomic Risk Factors

Income:

Fats and sweets cost only 30% more than 20 years ago, while fresh produce
has increased more than 100% (Caprio, et al, 2008).

Lower cost foods make up a greater proportion of the diet of lower income
individuals (Caprio, et al, 2008).

Time:

The concept of time poverty addresses the difficult choices faced by

lower income households; diet selection is based on a trade off between
time and money (Caprio, et al, 2008).

Environmental Risk Factors

Built Environment & Cultural Influence:

Children model the types of physical activity undertaken by their parents

(Caprio, et al, 2008).

Increased use of motorized transportation, fewer opportunities for

recreational physical activity, and increased sedentary recreation, increase
risk for obesity (Caprio, et al, 2008).

A childs odds of being overweight or obese were 43% and 61% higher,
respectively, if their parent or guardian thought the neighborhood was
unsafe (Miranda, et al, 2012).

Bing image search. Health risk factors in obese children

Health Promotion Model for Increased

Physical Activity

Benefits of action:

Barriers to action:

Fun and enjoyable activities are more likely to be repeated.

Interpersonal Influences:

Encouraging behaviors that match individuals idea of skill sets to increase motivation.

Activity-related Affect:

Safe environments, time poverty, cost.

Self-efficacy:

Improved perceived body image, improved self-esteem, improved overall health.

Environmental norms, social support, and modeling behavior can influence participation.

Situational Influences:

Safe environments promote health behaviors.

(Pender, 2011, p.44-48).

Plan of Action

Develop a community map of all current safe walking and biking paths for children and
mail it to all community members with school-aged children. On this map will be a link to
www.saferoutesinfo.org for parents to browse what projects are occurring in their
neighborhood. (National Center for Safe Routes to School, 2014).

Conduct age-appropriate educational sessions in classrooms K-12.

Source: www.butlertwp.org

Plan fun non-structured exercise activities at a community building for different age
groups.

Organize a fundraising bike ride for walking and biking paths in the community.

Setting for Health Promotion Activity

Exercise classes would take place in community buildings and would be different for
each age group. Non-structured for younger children and structured for older children.

After school programs would use the readily accessible facilities in school buildings.

Educational sessions will occur in all classrooms K-12 as resources are available.

Source: www.carrollseating.com

Source: www.brandonhall.com

Encouraging Exercise & Healthy People 2020

Our health promotion topic is highly focused on the physical activity objectives of Healthy
People 2020.

The 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans outlines all goals in physical activity
for individuals of all ages.

Our objectives address the goals of Healthy People 2020:

New to Healthy People 2020 are objectives related to policies targeting younger children
through physical activity in childcare settings, television viewing and computer usage, and recess
and physical education in the nations public and private elementary schools (U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services, 2013).

Source: http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/default.aspx

References
Caprio, S., Daniels, S. R., Drewnowski, A., Kaufman, F. R., Palinkas, L. A., Rosenbloom, A. L., & Schwimmer, J. B.
(2008). Influence of race, ethnicity, and culture on childhood obesity: Implications for prevention and treatment.
Diabetes Care, 31(11), 2211-2221. doi: 10.2337/dc08-9024
Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014). Childhood obesity facts. Retrieved from:
www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/obesity/facts.htm
Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2012). Prevalence of Childhood Obesity in the United States. Retrieved from
cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html.
Cunningham, S.A., Kramer, M.R., & Narayan, K.M. (2014). Incidence of Childhood Obesity in the United States. The New
England Journal of Medicine, 370, p. 403-411. doi 10.1056/NEJMoa1309753
Miranda, M. L., Edwards, S. E., Anthopolos, R., Dolinsky, D. H., Kemper, A. R., (2012). The built environment and
childhood obesity in Durham, North Carolina. Clinical Pediatrics, 51(8), 750-758. doi: 10.1177/0009922812446010
National Center for Safe Routes to School (2014). Retrieved from www.saferoutesinfo.org
Pender, N.J., Murdaugh, C.L. & Parsons, M.A. (2011). Health promotion in nursing practice (6th ed.) Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Pearson.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, (2013). Healthy People 2020-Physical Activity. Retrieved from
http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topicsobjectives2020/overview.aspx?topicid=33m