Tackling child obesity - first steps
Tackling child obesity - first steps

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2007-01-25

Total Pages: 56

ISBN-13: 0215032063

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The Committee of Public Accounts has set out a number of conclusions and recommendations on tackling child obesity, including: that the Public Service Agreement target set by three Government Departments (Health, Education and Culture, Media & Sport), needs to improve in both their responses to this matter and leadership; the complex delivery chain for tackling child obesity, which involves 26 different bodies, needs a set of clear measures to judge performance and contribution; parents need to be engaged with this project, with high profile messages and advice readily available outlining the risk of obesity; the Department of Health's national programme to measure children for obesity in the primary schools of England, should have in place a mechanism for informing individual parents if their child is obese; with a two year delay between the Health Survey for England and the publication of results, Departments should use annual data from weighing and measuring in schools to gauge performance in tackling obesity; the Departments should encourage the growth in the retail market for healthy food and drink for children; Ofcom should liaise with Departments to monitor and assess its new restrictions on the advertising of unhealthy foods; there is scope for encouraging children to lead more active lifestyles, with local authorities and schools providing more public facilities, in 2003-04, 72 playing fields were created against 52 lost, while 131 swimming pools were opened against 27 closed. The background to this report offers a picture of increasing child obesity, with a steady rise in the number of children aged 2-10 who are obese, from 9.9% in 1995 to 13.4% in 2004. Overall it is estimated obesity already costs around £1 billion a year and the UK economy a further £2.3 to £2.6 billion in indirect costs.

Local Government Actions to Prevent Childhood Obesity
Local Government Actions to Prevent Childhood Obesity

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2010-01-10

Total Pages: 107

ISBN-13: 0309139279

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The prevalence of childhood obesity is so high in the United States that it may reduce the life expectancy of today's generation of children. While parents and other adult caregivers play a fundamental role in teaching children about healthy behaviors, even the most positive efforts can be undermined by local environments that are poorly suited to supporting healthy behaviors. For example, many communities lack ready sources of healthy food choices, such as supermarkets and grocery stores. Or they may not provide safe places for children to walk or play. In such communities, even the most motivated child or adolescent may find it difficult to act in healthy ways. Local governments-with jurisdiction over many aspects of land use, food marketing, community planning, transportation, health and nutrition programs, and other community issues-are ideally positioned to promote behaviors that will help children and adolescents reach and maintain healthy weights. Local Government Actions to Prevent Childhood Obesity presents a number of recommendations that touch on the vital role of government actions on all levels-federal, state, and local-in childhood obesity prevention. The book offers healthy eating and physical activity strategies for local governments to consider, making it an excellent resource for mayors, managers, commissioners, council members, county board members, and administrators.

Preventing Childhood Obesity
Preventing Childhood Obesity

Author: Institute of Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2005-01-31

Total Pages: 435

ISBN-13: 0309133408

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Children's health has made tremendous strides over the past century. In general, life expectancy has increased by more than thirty years since 1900 and much of this improvement is due to the reduction of infant and early childhood mortality. Given this trajectory toward a healthier childhood, we begin the 21st-century with a shocking developmentâ€"an epidemic of obesity in children and youth. The increased number of obese children throughout the U.S. during the past 25 years has led policymakers to rank it as one of the most critical public health threats of the 21st-century. Preventing Childhood Obesity provides a broad-based examination of the nature, extent, and consequences of obesity in U.S. children and youth, including the social, environmental, medical, and dietary factors responsible for its increased prevalence. The book also offers a prevention-oriented action plan that identifies the most promising array of short-term and longer-term interventions, as well as recommendations for the roles and responsibilities of numerous stakeholders in various sectors of society to reduce its future occurrence. Preventing Childhood Obesity explores the underlying causes of this serious health problem and the actions needed to initiate, support, and sustain the societal and lifestyle changes that can reverse the trend among our children and youth.

Energy Balance and Obesity
Energy Balance and Obesity

Author: Isabelle Romieu

Publisher: IARC Working Group Report

Published: 2018-01-12

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9789283225195

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Understanding the relationship between energy balance and obesity is essential to develop effective prevention programs and policies. The International Agency for Research on Cancer convened a Working Group of world-leading experts in December 2015 to review the evidence regarding energy balance and obesity, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries, and to consider the following scientific questions: (i) Are the drivers of the obesity epidemic related only to energy excess and/or do specific foods or nutrients play a major role in this epidemic? (ii) What are the factors that modulate these associations? (iii) Which types of data and/or studies will further improve our understanding? This book provides summaries of the evidence from the literature as well as the Working Group's conclusions and recommendations to tackle the global epidemic of obesity.

Early Childhood Obesity Prevention Policies
Early Childhood Obesity Prevention Policies

Author: Institute of Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2011-10-31

Total Pages: 202

ISBN-13: 0309210283

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Childhood obesity is a serious health problem that has adverse and long-lasting consequences for individuals, families, and communities. The magnitude of the problem has increased dramatically during the last three decades and, despite some indications of a plateau in this growth, the numbers remain stubbornly high. Efforts to prevent childhood obesity to date have focused largely on school-aged children, with relatively little attention to children under age 5. However, there is a growing awareness that efforts to prevent childhood obesity must begin before children ever enter the school system. Early Childhood Obesity Prevention Policies reviews factors related to overweight and obese children from birth to age 5, with a focus on nutrition, physical activity, and sedentary behavior, and recommends policies that can alter children's environments to promote the maintenance of healthy weight. Because the first years of life are important to health and well-being throughout the life span, preventing obesity in infants and young children can contribute to reversing the epidemic of obesity in children and adults. The book recommends that health care providers make parents aware of their child's excess weight early. It also suggests that parents and child care providers keep children active throughout the day, provide them with healthy diets, limit screen time, and ensure children get adequate sleep. In addition to providing comprehensive solutions to tackle the problem of obesity in infants and young children, Early Childhood Obesity Prevention Policies identifies potential actions that could be taken to implement those recommendations. The recommendations can inform the decisions of state and local child care regulators, child care providers, health care providers, directors of federal and local child care and nutrition programs, and government officials at all levels.

Bridging the Evidence Gap in Obesity Prevention
Bridging the Evidence Gap in Obesity Prevention

Author: Institute of Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2010-12-24

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 0309149894

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To battle the obesity epidemic in America, health care professionals and policymakers need relevant, useful data on the effectiveness of obesity prevention policies and programs. Bridging the Evidence Gap in Obesity Prevention identifies a new approach to decision making and research on obesity prevention to use a systems perspective to gain a broader understanding of the context of obesity and the many factors that influence it.

Community Perspectives on Obesity Prevention in Children
Community Perspectives on Obesity Prevention in Children

Author: Institute of Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2010-01-01

Total Pages: 112

ISBN-13: 0309140811

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As the public health threat of childhood obesity has become clear, the issue has become the focus of local, state, and national initiatives. Many of these efforts are centered on the community environment in recognition of the role of environmental factors in individual behaviors related to food and physical activity. In many communities, for example, fresh produce is not available or affordable, streets and parks are not amenable to exercise, and policies and economic choices make fast food cheaper and more convenient than healthier alternatives. Community efforts to combat obesity vary in scope and scale; overall, however, they remain fragmented, and little is known about their effectiveness. At the local level, communities are struggling to determine which obesity prevention programs to initiate and how to evaluate their impact. In this context, the Institute of Medicine held two workshops to inform current work on obesity prevention in children through input from individuals who are actively engaged in community- and policy-based obesity prevention programs. Community perspectives were elicited on the challenges involved in undertaking policy and programmatic interventions aimed at preventing childhood obesity, and on approaches to program implementation and evaluation that have shown promise. Highlights of the workshop presentations and discussions are presented in this volume.

Always the Fat Kid
Always the Fat Kid

Author: Jacob Warren

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Published: 2013-03-26

Total Pages: 255

ISBN-13: 1137324198

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Childhood obesity in the United States has tripled in a generation. But while debates continue over the content of school lunches and the dangers of fast food, we are just beginning to recognize the full extent of the long-term physical, psychological, and social problems that overweight children will endure throughout their lives. Most dramatically, children today have a shorter life expectancy than their parents, something never before seen in the course of human history. They will face more chronic illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes that will further burden our healthcare system. Here, authors Jacob Warren and K. Bryant Smalley examine the full effects of childhood obesity and offer the provocative message that being overweight in youth is not a disease but the result of poor lifestyle choices. Theirs is a clarion call for parents to have "the talk" with their kids, which medical professionals say is a harder topic to address than sex or drugs. Urgent, timely, and authoritative, Always the Fat Kid delivers a message our society can no longer ignore.

Obesity Prevention for Children
Obesity Prevention for Children

Author: Alvin Eden, M.D.

Publisher: Hatherleigh Press

Published: 2016-11-15

Total Pages: 211

ISBN-13: 1578266505

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The Definitive Program for Maintaining Healthy Weight for Children Obesity Prevention for Children is the definitive guide for parents and caregivers to put their children on the path to a happy and a healthy life, protected against childhood and adult obesity. Written by Dr. Alvin N. Eden, a well-known pediatrician and authority on childhood nutrition and obesity together with expertly crafted recipes and meal plans provided by Sari Greaves, Obesity Prevention for Children is a practical and authoritative resource for parents and caregivers. A child’s early years are critical. Both in terms of forming lifelong healthy habits and proactive mindsets, the decisions that parents make for their children today will continue to shape them for the rest of their lives. By focusing on these early years, Obesity Prevention for Children puts the knowledge in your hands—the power to positively affect your children’s health and well-being for years to come.

The management of staff sickness absence in the Department for Transport and its agencies
The management of staff sickness absence in the Department for Transport and its agencies

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2007-11-20

Total Pages: 52

ISBN-13: 9780215037213

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The Department of Transport and its seven executive agencies average 10.4 days of sickness for each full-time employee (compared to a Civil Service average of 9.8 days). However the performance is varied. The central Department and four agencies have sickness levels at or below comparable organisations but the Driving Standards Agency and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency have absence rates of 13.1 and 14 day respectively. On the basis of a Comptroller and Auditor General's report the Committee have examined current sickness levels in the Department and actions being taken to meet their 2010 targets. They conclude that the Agencies need a better understanding of why some staff take so much sick leave. Although there appears to be a correlation with low paid repetitive administrative jobs there are also concerns about leadership within the Department. Measures have therefore been taken to strengthen management in areas involving repetitive work.