As you've probably heard, the percentage of obese children in the United State has more than doubled during the past three decades. Past research has shown that American children's less-than-nutritious diets and lack of exercise are significant factors contributing to the national epidemic.
But reducing childhood obesity rates may not be as easy as getting kids to eat healthier and be more physically active. As a post today on GE's Healthymagination blog points out, there may be additional reasons beyond overeating and inactivity to responsible for children's growing waistlines. The entry highlights nationwide research efforts aimed at identifying other contributory causes including at Stanford:
Researchers at Stanford University Medical School have found that children who grow up in troubled homes and violent neighborhoods are twice as likely to be obese as those whose childhood is less traumatic. The study of 710 children from a poor, crime-ridden section of San Francisco suggests that kids who experience high levels of adversity suffer a form of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
For more information about the nation's childhood obesity epidemic and potential solutions, listen to this recent 1:2:1 podcast with Stanford professor Thomas Robinson, MD, director of the Center for Healthy Weight at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital.
Tomorrow, Robinson and colleagues will gather for the Obesity Summit 2 conference, which will highlight the most current and innovative obesity-related research at Stanford.
Previously: Children and obesity: What can parents do to help?, Smaller plates may be a tool to curtail childhood obesity, Obesity prevention in high-risk kids – challenging but worth it, Obesity in kids: A growing and dangerous epidemic, Stanford pediatrician discusses developing effective programs to curtail childhood obesity and Major effort launched to prevent, treat childhood obesity
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