Nutrition

Question

I am doing a research project on the effects of childhood obesity. How will the health problems associated with childhood obesity continue into adulthood?

Answer

Hi Connor, Obesity has become the most common nutritional disease in the United States. With the percentage of overweight and obese kids nearly tripling in the last 30 years, childhood obesity has become an epidemic. This epidemic is not limited to the United States; it is all over the world. There are many excellent web sites where you can find information about childhood obesity, its causes, prevention and health risks. Obese children are at high risk of developing the same health problems as obese adults. Many of these problems can be life threatening. The following web sites will help you find information on the types of health problems that affect obese kids. Go to www.google.com and type obesity health consequences in the search box. Look at the hit titled Overweight and Obesity Fact Sheet: Health Consequences,http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/obesity/calltoaction/fact_consequences.htm. This report is from the Surgeon General of the U.S. Government and has a comprehensive list of the health risks of being obese. Another good hit is from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is titled Health Consequences. The URL ishttp://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/consequences.htm. This government web site also has a comprehensive list of health risks for obese adults and children. Go back to www.google.com and type childhood obesity in the search box. Check out the hit from the American Obesity Association. The URL ishttp://www.obesity.org/subs/childhood/. Read the introduction about childhood obesity. After this paragraph is a bulleted list of information. Click on Health Risks, Diagnosis and Treatment. This section gives a brief overview of health problems. Click on the links for Obesity in Youth and Children and Diabetes to get more detailed information. Another good hit is from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and is titled NIH News: The NIH Word on Health. The URL ishttp://www.nih.gov/news/WordonHealth/jun2002/childhoodobesity.htm. This site has good information on health risks. Go back to www.google.com and type health consequences of childhood obesity in the search box. Look at the hit from the Center for Health and Health Care in Schools that is titled School Health Issues. The URL ishttp://www.healthinschools.org/sh/obfs2.asp. The site has a comprehensive list of obesity-related health problems along with definitions of each one. A great place to begin or continue your research is at your public library or your school library. Start with a general encyclopedia such as The World Book Encyclopedia. It has an excellent article on "Weight Control." Diet, exercise and childhood obesity have recently been in many news magazines, such as Newsweek and Time. Also, the impact of childhood obesity on health care costs is a very important current issue that has been the topic of articles in these news magazines plus newspapers such as USA Today. You will also find recent news articles on Type 2 Diabetes, one of the consequences of childhood obesity. Your librarian can help you locate the appropriate issues. Your librarian can also help you locate books on diet, nutrition and health. A very good book source is The Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine and most high school and public libraries should have this set. Good luck with your research! THank you for submitting your question to the NSDL Virtual Reference desk! Melodye C. Librarian