Childhood obesity has become a critical issue in public health area. We searched Wanfang Data and PubMed databases for published studies on health hazards of childhood obesity in China during 2000-2015. From the evidence of the Chinese population studies, we know childhood obesity brings not only cardiovascular, endocrine and respiratory system health hazards, but also other health hazards to liver, moving skeleton, psychological behavior and cognition intelligence, et al. Only to understand the health hazards of childhood obesity, and put the key preventable period of chronic diseases forward to childhood, can pandemic of chronic diseases be controlled from the sources.
China ; Chronic Disease ; prevention & control ; Humans ; Pediatric Obesity ; epidemiology ; physiopathology

Obesity is a growing global public health problem, while 40%-70% of obesity is determined by genetic factors. This article focuses on the classification, disease characteristics, diagnosis and progressive treatment of childhood genetic obesity. The prevention and control of childhood genetic obesity requires early detection of obese individuals and early screening of obesity causes. At the same time, clinicians are advised to propose individualized therapy and intervention measures based on multi-disciplinary opinions to improve the health of genetic obese children.
Child ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; Pediatric Obesity/prevention & control* ; Public Health

As many developed countries have walked through the course, the trends of obesity epidemic among children in China are also rapidly increasing. This article describes the strategies for prevention and control of obesity at home and abroad, as well as the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents at different ages in China. Related factors and negative impacts on overweight and obesity regarding individual health and the society are clarified. Evidence shows that it is imminent to control childhood obesity.
Adolescent ; Child ; China/epidemiology* ; Epidemics ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Obesity ; Overweight/prevention & control* ; Pediatric Obesity/prevention & control* ; Prevalence

Cardiovascular diseases are the major threat to human health and underlie almost half of all deaths in China. Even more serious, obesity and cardiometabolic risk factors have emerged to be prevalent in children and adolescents of some affluent regions. As scientific knowledge emerges on the role of nutritional factors and exposures to environmental risk factors in the developmental origins of health and disease, evidence suggests that it is imperative to create and implement early effective prevention strategies, including optimisation of nutrition at first 1 000 days in life course and reduction of risk factors of obesity exposures during whole childhood, to suppress the rising trend of cardiovascular disease, otherwise, the future costs of diagnosis and treatment are likely to be unaffordable.
Adolescent ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; prevention & control ; Child ; China ; Early Medical Intervention ; Humans ; Pediatric Obesity ; epidemiology ; Risk Factors

BACKGROUND: Childhood and adolescent obesity are major health concern impacting on short and long-term health. Prevention programs for obesity through school channel are essential. With the increasing prevalence of obesity and overweight among children and adolescence since 1990's, obesity prevention and management have been pursued in Korea. Schools, where students spend much of their daytime, are in a unique position to play a pivotal role in performing obesity prevention and management programs. The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of school-based interventions designed to prevent or manage obesity among elementary, middle, and high school students in Korea. METHODS: Electronic database were searched using the following key words; obesity, obesity prevention, obesity prevention program, child, adolescence, and effectiveness. In this systematic review, school-based programs were evaluated with the assessment items. RESULTS: Thirteen studies were included in the study. Most programs include at least one of the following components: dietary changes, physical activity, behavioral modifications, and parental participation. Studies that involved multidisciplinary measures including dietary education, increased physical activity, parental involvement and behavioral modification and studies focused on increased physical activity among subjects showed positive results. But the majority of studies were short-term and secondary prevention among children, not adolescents, not randomized, and without control. Few studies used validated questionnaires and process evaluation. CONCLUSION: The development and application of evidence-based and feasible strategies in support of communities and families to the school-centered obesity prevention program are needed in the near future.
Adolescent ; Child* ; Education ; Humans ; Korea ; Motor Activity ; Obesity* ; Overweight ; Parents ; Pediatric Obesity ; Prevalence ; Secondary Prevention ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Childhood and adolescent obesity has become a global epidemic. The interventions mainly include lifestyle intervention, medication treatment and bariatric surgery. Among them, lifestyle intervention, especially intensive lifestyle intervention with participation of family members, is the first-line treatment for obesity in children and adolescents. Both medication and bariatric surgery are adjuvant treatments for severely obese children and adolescents. Currently, metformin is the most widely used drug for the treatment of obesity in children and adolescents in both China and other countries; orlistat and liraglutide are also the drugs that are safe and often used in other countries; other drugs are not recommended. As a tertiary prevention and treatment strategy for obesity, bariatric surgery should be carried out on the basis of good compliance from both the children and their family members, with the cooperation of multiple disciplines. Sleeve gastrectomy (SG) and Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) are the most common types of procedure performed. Meanwhile, as a new treatment method, intra-gastric balloon procedure needs to be paid more attention to its efficacy and safety.
Adolescent ; Humans ; Child ; Pediatric Obesity/prevention & control* ; Obesity, Morbid/surgery* ; Gastric Bypass/methods* ; Metformin ; Gastrectomy/methods* ; Treatment Outcome ; Retrospective Studies

The prevalence of obesity among children and adolescents (aged 2-18 years) has increased rapidly, with more than 100 million affected in 2015. Moreover, the epidemic of obesity in this population has been an important public health problem in developed and developing countries for the following reasons. Childhood and adolescent obesity tracks adulthood obesity and has been implicated in many chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, childhood and adolescent obesity is linked to adulthood mortality and premature death. Although an imbalance between caloric intake and physical activity is a principal cause of childhood and adolescent obesity, environmental factors are exclusively important for development of obesity among children and adolescents. In addition to genetic and biological factors, socioenvironmental factors, including family, school, community, and national policies, can play a crucial role. The complexity of risk factors for developing obesity among children and adolescents leads to difficulty in treatment for this population. Many interventional trials for childhood and adolescent obesity have been proven ineffective. Therefore, early identification and prevention is the key to control the global epidemic of obesity. Given that the proportion of overweight children and adolescents is far greater than that of obesity, an effective prevention strategy is to focus on overweight youth, who are at high risk for developing obesity. Multifaceted, comprehensive strategies involving behavioral, psychological, and environmental risk factors must also be developed to prevent obesity among children and adolescents.
Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Global Health ; Humans ; Pediatric Obesity ; epidemiology ; etiology ; prevention & control ; therapy ; Risk Assessment ; Risk Factors

Diet-related behavioral modification for healthy eating and lifestyle is required to improve childhood obesity. The present study aimed to develop customized nutritional intervention protocol and education program to find barriers to adhere healthy diet and lifestyle for moderate to severe obese children and adolescents and their families. Theoretical framework approaches can be used to change behavior and achieve goals. Previous studies that described the relationship between behavioral modification and nutrition education theory were reviewed. The social cognitive theory and transtheoretical model were employed with behavioral changes to target a healthful diet and lifestyle. The nutrition care process (NCP) model was adopted to customize nutrition care for the participants. Customized nutritional intervention protocol was developed following as the four steps of the NCP. Firstly, nutrition status of the participants was assessed by the nutrition expert. Nutrition problems were described as “inadequate energy intake,” “overweight/obesity,” or “food and nutrition-related knowledge deficit.” All nutrition sessions were designed for nutrition intervention to give nutritional knowledge and a practical mission in real life for individual goal setting and self-control. Meal planning, portion control, healthy snack selection and cooking with fruits and vegetables were consisted of five components of the nutrition education session. During each session, the participants and their families were interviewed by a nutrition expert for monitoring and evaluating diet-related goal setting and achievement. A theoretical and evidence-based nutritional intervention was developed for the secondary to tertiary prevention of childhood obesity. This nutrition intervention protocol and program might be helpful for the further research on childhood obesity. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinical Research Information Service Identifier: KCT0002111
Adolescent ; Behavior Therapy ; Child ; Cooking ; Diet ; Eating ; Education ; Fruit ; Humans ; Information Services ; Life Style ; Meals ; Nutrition Assessment ; Nutritional Status ; Pediatric Obesity ; Self-Control ; Snacks ; Tertiary Prevention ; Vegetables

PURPOSE: The purpose was to evaluate the effects of a transtheoretical model (TTM) based exercise counseling offered with music skipping rope exercise on components of the TTM (stages of change, decisional balance, and self-efficacy), body mass index, glucose, and lipid profile of overweight/obese children in Korea. METHODS: This study used a nonequivalent pretest and posttest experimental study design. A total of 75 overweight/obese children participated in the study. Eight sessions of exercise counseling combined with music skipping rope exercise for 12 weeks were offered for children in the experimental group, while one session of exercise counseling with music skipping rope exercise for 12 weeks was offered for children in the control group. Outcomes were measured at baseline, and 6 months after the intervention. RESULTS: After the intervention, self-efficacy significantly improved among children in the experimental group (p = .049), while these children maintained their baseline BMI at 6-month follow-up (p > .05). Among children in the control group, BMI significantly increased (p < .05). Fasting blood sugar significantly increased for both groups after the intervention (p < .05). However, a greater increase was observed for the control group. CONCLUSIONS: Our study partially supports the hypothesis that a TTM-based exercise intervention is effective in maintaining BMI and improving self-efficacy of overweight/obese children. The TTM-based counseling combined with exercise classes has potential to control weight among overweight/obese children, while involvement of parents and children in the development of the theory-based intervention may generate further benefits regarding health and well-being of overweight/obese children.
Adolescent ; Attitude to Health ; Body Mass Index ; Child ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Counseling/*methods ; Exercise Therapy/*methods ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Music Therapy/*methods ; Pediatric Obesity/*prevention & control ; Play and Playthings ; Self Efficacy ; Treatment Outcome

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to evaluate a parent involvement intervention for childhood obesity intended to increase parents' skills in managing children's weight-related behavior and to improve child-parent relationships. Many studies reported on parental influence on childhood obesity, emphasizing parent involvement in prevention and management of childhood obesity. METHODS: A randomized controlled trial was conducted. Forty-two parents of overweight/obese children were recruited from four cities and randomized to the experimental group or control group. The parental intervention was provided only to parents in the experimental group and consisted of weekly news-letters and text messages for a period of 5 weeks. Exercise classes and nutrition education were provided to all children. Lifestyle Behaviour Checklist and the Child-Parent Relationship Scale (CPRS) were used for measurement of parent outcome. For the child outcome, dietary self-efficacy, exercise frequency, and body mass index were measured. A mixed-design analysis of variance was performed with city location entered as a random effect. RESULTS: After the intervention, CPRS of parents and dietary self-efficacy of children showed an increase in the experimental group (p < .05). Intervention effects differed significantly according to the city location regarding the control efficacy of parents and dietary self-efficacy of children (p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: The results support the effectiveness of the parent involvement intervention in promoting child-parent relationship and dietary self-efficacy of children. However, a 5-week parent involvement intervention was not sufficient to produce significant changes in children's body mass index. Further research is needed to investigate effects of parent involvement intervention with long-term evaluation.
Adult ; Attitude to Health ; *Body Weight Maintenance ; Child ; Diet Therapy/*psychology ; Feeding Behavior/*psychology ; Female ; Health Promotion/*methods ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Parent-Child Relations ; Parenting/psychology ; Parents/*psychology ; Pediatric Obesity/*prevention & control ; Republic of Korea