Policy Priority Issue: The Childhood Obesity Pandemic
Marla C. Khalikov
Chamberlain College of Nursing
NR506 – 10999: Health Care Policy
Winter 2014

Policy Priority Issue: The Childhood Obesity Pandemic Childhood obesity is a global pandemic requiring prioritization in policy and health care reform. It has many effects on acute and long term health, including increasing the risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis, and certain types of cancer. This paper addresses my personal interest in childhood obesity, the relevance to nursing, problem sources, empirical evidence critique, evidence-based practice options, sites to keep current, and prioritizing the level of action to best accomplish the goal of
I believe that this would be difficult to infer, without considering all of the other pertinent factors. For example, Frieden, et al state that the average high school graduate will have spent about 15,000–18,000 hours watching TV but only 12,000 hours in school (Frieden, et al., 2010). Regardless of food advertising, the amount of time sedentary in front of a TV would be a contributing factor. In addition, dietary consumption, availability of healthy food and a safe place to engage in physical activity contribute.
Childhood Obesity: How to Keep Current Many organizations are publicizing the current state of research and legislation for childhood obesity. The National Conference of State Legislatures provides postings of current childhood obesity legislation. It categorizes the policies by Body Mass Index, School, Task Force, Taxes, Raising Awareness, and a variety of other affiliated legislation. The site also breaks down the fifty states by their involvement in this legislation. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has update literature on the progress on childhood obesity. It lists categories regarding the source of the problem, what groups of professionals (i.e. doctors and nurses, federal government, state government, and families) can do to help, and the science behind the problem. The Office of Legislative Policy and Analysis (OLPA), a division of the National Institute of