Children's health has made tremendous strides over the past century. In general, life expectancy has increased by more than thirty years since 1900 and much of this improvement is due to the reduction of infant and early
childhood mortality. Given this trajectory toward a healthier childhood, we
begin the 21st-century with a shocking development—an epidemic of obesity
in children and youth. The increased number of obese children
throughout the U.S. during the past 25 years has led policymakers to rank
it as one of the most critical public health threats of the 21st-century.


Preventing Childhood Obesity provides a broad-based examination of the
nature, extent, and consequences of obesity in U.S. children and youth,
including the social, environmental, medical, and dietary factors responsible
for its increased prevalence. The book also offers a prevention-oriented
action plan that identifies the most promising array of short-term and
longer-term interventions, as well as recommendations for the roles and
responsibilities of numerous stakeholders in various sectors of society to
reduce its future occurrence. Preventing Childhood Obesity explores the
underlying causes of this serious health problem and the actions needed to
initiate, support, and sustain the societal and lifestyle changes that can
reverse the trend among our children and youth.

Table of Contents


Front Matter
Executive Summary
1 Introduction
2 Extent and Consequences of Childhood Obesity
3 Developing An Action Plan
4 A National Public Health Priority
5 Industry, Advertising, Media, and Public Education
6 Local Communities
7 Schools
8 Home
9 Confronting the Childhood Obesity Epidemic
Appendix A: Acronyms
Appendix B: Glossary
Appendix C: Literature Review
Appendix D: Lessons Learned from Public Health Efforts and Their Relevance to Preventing Childhood Obesity
Appendix E: Workshop Programs
Appendix F: Biographical Sketches
Index