Childhood Obesity Prevention ─ International Research, Controversies, and Interventions

Childhood obesity is an international public health concern, with a high profile in both the media and government policy. Controversial issues in the prevention of childhood obesity need to be considered early in the development of school, clinical or community prevention programs, as these issues are often the ones that promote the success or failure of attempts to ameliorate the problem at hand.

This book combines health education theory, research, and practice to guide researchers, students, educators, community health workers and practitioners in the prevention of childhood obesity and the promotion of child and adolescent health and well-being. It examines controversy in childhood obesity, including the link with poverty and the difficulty of addressing obesity whilst also tackling the issue of eating disorders. The prevalence of childhood obesity is covered, with international chapters examining the importance of factors such as social class and ethnic differences, and global and local trends are identified. Approaches to prevention are presented, and the book concludes with the successful outcome of various interventions, demonstrating how the whole school community can collaborate to promote health among young people.

Dr Jenny O'Dea has been an Associate Editor for Health Education Research (Oxford University Press) for several years. She has a Masters in Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley and a PhD in Medicine from the University of Sydney in which she focused on the improvement of body image among young adolescents. Recent research from Dr O'Dea's group of collaborative researchers and students includes a 3-year national Australian Research Council study titled "Youth cultures of eating" and a 5-year study of children's growth, weight, health and participation in physical activity. The results of these two large, national studies add to the research about childhood obesity and the important role of nutrition educators, health professionals, teachers, parents and the media in the promotion of healthy eating and physical activity among young people.