Preventing Childhood Obesity - Evidence Policy and Practice.pdf

Chapter 18
Ironically, these countries have struggled to eradicate
child hunger and undernutrition for decades.
Setting the c ontext
for i nterventions
While a few countries, such as Chile, have come close
Childhood o besity t rends
to totally eradicating malnutrition, stunting is still
A detailed description of international obesity trends prevalent in most other countries where a growing
and prevalences has been presented in earlier chapters.
Nevertheless, it is necessary to give a general as countries progressively undergo rapid economic
incidence of obesity has been documented. In turn,
overview of the current situation with regards to growth and urbanization they are faced with implications
and challenges posed by the coexistence of
overweight and obesity trends in the developing
world in order to ascertain the need for developing undernutrition and obesity.
appropriate childhood obesity prevention strategies An example of the type of challenges brought about
and interventions.
by this phenomenon is the recent finding that children
For over a decade the increasing prevalence of who are undernourished in the first two years of life,
overweight and obesity among all age groups in developing
countries has been documented. 1,2 Today, milcence,
are at higher risk of developing nutrition -
but who rapidly gain weight in childhood or adoleslions
of adults and children alike, in Latin America and related chronic disease later in life. 10 These children
the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa, Asia will most likely face the common long - term outcomes
and Central Europe suffer from obesity. 3 – 5 For the most of suffering from undernutrition during the critical
part, the rates of obesity are still much higher among development period, including shorter adult height
the adult population. However, the information and reduced human capital formation, as well as the
currently available on overweight and obesity trends multiple social, emotional and economic costs associated
with obesity later in life. The long term impact of
indicates that in many countries the problem is rapidly
escalating among the younger populations.
such a cycle being repeated among large numbers of
According to WHO, in 2007 nearly 22 million children
under the age of 5 years were overweight world-
majority of developing countries will not have the
children could be catastrophic. Most notably, the
wide; an estimated 16.5 million of them lived in capacity to deal with the demands that such a cycle
developing countries. Available data from multiple would pose on the medical system.
countries on childhood obesity prevalences using the In view of the multiple short - and long - term negative
implications associated with the obesity epidemic
International Obesity Task Force (IOTF)—cut-off
points also highlight alarming trends among school - facing developing countries around the globe, particularly
when the condition is observed at an early age, 11
aged children worldwide. For instance, in China the
prevalence of childhood overweight among 2 – 6 - year - the need for timely and comprehensive interventions
old children rose from 14.6% to 28.6% and the prevalence
of obesity increased over 700% (1.5% to 12.6%) availability of effective actions and interventions for
is evident. However, in contrast to the recognized
in less than a decade. 6 In Pakistan a two - fold increase the prevention and control of childhood undernutrition
globally, 12,13 evidence is lacking on efficacious and
in prevalence of obesity among 5 –14-year-old children
has been observed in the ten - year span between effective intervention for the prevention and control
1997 and 2007. 7 Similarly, in Thailand the prevalence of overweight and obesity in both the developed and
of obesity in children 6 – 12 years of age increased by developing world.
27.9% in just two years. 8 In Latin America, evidence
from Chile indicates that from 1987 to 2000 the prevalence
of obesity among first grade Chilean boys and
Childhood o besity p revention
i nterventions in the
girls increased by 161.5% and 138.0%, respectively. 3
d eveloping w orld
While according to the Mexican National Health and
Nutrition Survey 2006 ( NNHS - 06 ) the overall national Evidence of i nterventions
prevalence of overweight and obesity among Mexican To date, innumerable interventions, programs and
children ages 2 – 18 increased from 16% in 1999 to initiatives have been developed and implemented to
24.3% — a 52% increase in a seven - year period. 9 counteract childhood obesity worldwide. Innovative
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