Approaches for Preventing Childhood Obesity

Essay from the year 2018 in the subject Medicine - Epidemiology, grade: 1, Egerton University, language: English, abstract: Over the past few decades, the burden of non-communicable diseases seems to have been increasing year-by-year. Childhood obesity serves as an outstanding example of non-communicable conditions whose consequences seem to have reached catastrophic levels. Evidence indicates that obesity and overweight trends have been increasing at alarming rates, especially over the past three decades. This implies that the trends of obesity related health conditions are going to reflect upward changes in the future. According to Parsons, Power, Logan and Summerbell reaffirm that 70% of obese adults became obese during their childhood ages. In retrospect, this phenomenon is believed to be attributable to the greater social inequality in developed countries as compared to developing countries. Nevertheless, primary prevention strategies are required to reverse the diseases' trends across the world. Epidemiological rationale for the emphasis on primary prevention of childhood obesity is based on the fact that the condition is difficult to reverse with secondary interventions. Therefore, this report is intended to inform the Federal Health Minister the scope of childhood obesity and the appropriate interventions which can address its impact.