Pediatric obesity. An introduction

Abstract

The prevalence of child and adolescent obesity in the United States increased dramatically between 1970 and 2000, and there are few indications that the rates of childhood obesity are decreasing. Obesity is associated with myriad medical, psychological, and neurocognitive abnormalities that impact children's health and quality of life. Genotypic variation is important in determining the susceptibility of individual children to undue gains in adiposity; however, the rapid increase in pediatric obesity prevalence suggests that changes to children's environments and/or to their learned behaviors may dramatically affect body weight regulation. This paper presents an overview of the epidemiology, consequences, and etiopathogenesis of pediatric obesity, serving as a general introduction to the subsequent papers in this Special Issue that address aspects of childhood obesity and cognition in detail.

Keywords: Adolescents; Children; Etiology; Hyperphagia; Overeating.

Fig. 1

A Social–Ecological Model of Influences on pediatric obesity. Levels of environmental influence begin with the family environment and extend to larger spheres of influence and include peers, neighborhoods, schools, community, and national factors. Examples of influences within each of these spheres are also given. For example, neighborhood environment may influence children’s activity if there are no sidewalks or if safe areas for play are not available. (Figure courtesy of Denise E Wilfley, PhD, St. Louis, MO; adapted with permission.)