Obesity in Children
William B. Weil Jr MD1
1 Professor of Pediatrics and Human Development, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing
Over the last few decades our national concern has been shifting from undernutrition to obesity as the major nutritional problem of the country. Concern about the health risks created by obesity is shared by health professionals and large segments of society. Public attention has been directed to obesity because it has been identified as a risk factor for many diseases, particularly those of the cardiovascular system. In addition, the public image of the desirable body form is culturally determined and strongly influenced by factors such as advertisements depicting lean individuals, especially lean women, as sexually attractive, intelligent, and popular models for owning everything from beautiful clothing to expensive automobiles. The social bias that is generated is so powerful and widespread among middle and upper middle class Americans that there is well documented discrimination against the obese in education at all levels and in most professional and social organizations.
For pediatricians, the problem of obesity creates four major concerns: (1) obesity in the adult may have its origin in infancy and/or childhood; (2) feeding practices, especially in early life, may be a major etiologic factor in the ultimate development of obesity; (3) obesity in children may be associated with illness during childhood; and (4) discrimination against obese children is inherently serious and may be devastating to long-term personality development.
