How to Cure Childhood Obesity
HCA415: Community & Public Health

How to Cure Childhood Obesity Childhood obesity is a huge problem in many community; and the source of this issue is poor eating habits, the lack of exercise and mental health. Most people would say in order to cure this problem of childhood obesity one would need to provide a healthy life style of exercise and nutritional meals. Of course this is true but what many people do not understand is mental health play a big part in this disease. Though there are many service that provide a solution to cure this problem many of them do not have all key component to insure the successes of a child over coming obesity. According to National Institute of Health (NIH), “Obesity has received considerable attention as a major health hazard. This review aims at describing some of the epidemiological features of obesity including global prevalence, secular trends, risk factors, and burden of illness related to obesity. We have placed special emphasis on obesity trends in the United States. Obesity is caused by a complex interaction between the environment, genetic predisposition, and human behavior. Environmental factors are likely to be major contributors to the obesity epidemic. It is certain that obesity develops when there is a positive imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure, but the relative contribution of these factors is poorly understood.” (hhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/) Understanding how children becomes overweight in is a vital step toward breaking the cycle. In most cases childhood obesity is caused by over eating and little to no exercise, though other factors contribute to this rising imbalance of an unhealthy life style. Children spend more time in front of the TV and less time outside play burning of calories. Now that the population is aware of this growing problem of obesity what efforts will be made to fix this issue? According to the CDC, “The Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene collaborated with the Maryland Department of Planning to ensure that policies that promote physical activity access were included in Plan Maryland, the state’s first comprehensive policy plan for sustainable growth and development. Policy briefs were developed that identified strategies for increasing physical activity through comprehensive plans.” (cdc.gov) There are several organization in my state that provide service to help cure this issue, however there is only one that I find to be well rounded. The Johns Hopkins Children's Nutrition Center offers nutrition counseling for obese children, and family-based group therapy approach to healthier life style. During a two-hour sessions a small groups of overweight children and their families, meets with a nutritionist to talk about their daily eating habits and learn how to choose healthier foods. The center have also included 60 minutes of group exercise in the hospital’s gym. It is important for children to understand what food choices are good for them in order to understand keep a healthy body as well as being active in there every day routine. Schools are becoming more proactive in providing healthier meals and provide after school activity that allow children to more active instead of going home and sitting in front of the TV eating unhealthy foods. Many years ago school menu had meals such as steak and cheese and double decker hamburger which is not healthier food choices. Because of the awareness of childhood obesity schools have added healthier foods to the menu. As healthy eating helps prevent obesity it is vital to also promote physical activity as well. The epidemiological data and the information provided by the Johns Hopkins Children's Nutrition Center is similar in the sense of reaching the