Childhood Obesity: Looking Into the Future

Abstract

A major concern related to childhood obesity is that obese children tend to become obese adults, with all the risks/ comorbidities associated (ie, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases among many others). The challenges of childhood obesity are not limited to one country but confront most nations around the world. Efforts to manage and to prevent childhood obesity involve education, research, and intervention. Research could drive new directions in prevention and could develop public policy that might help manage the problem. Additionally, research is needed to test these issues. Looking into the future, 6 relevant levels may be involved in the prevention and treatment of pediatric obesity, and each of these needs investigation: family, schools, health care, government, industry, and media. Together, these 6 levels could promote childhood obesity as a high research priority and put it as the first point in the international public agenda.