Overweight in children: definitions, measurements, confounding factors, and health consequences.
The epidemic of childhood overweight continues to grow at staggering rates, increasing nearly four-fold between 1963 and 2000. Children that are overweight are more apt to be overweight adults and are more likely to suffer adverse health consequences associated with excess weight. Nurses have a unique presence in the healthcare environment to assess children for overweight, provide parent/child nutritional education, and conduct obesity-related research. This article provides an overview of the current body of literature surrounding the definition and measurement of overweight and the morbidity association with childhood overweight.
Hardy
Lynda R
LR
Department of Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, NCSchool of Nursing, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA. lhardy@wfubmc.edu
Harrell
Joanne S
JS
Bell
Ronny A
RA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002908:Chronic Disease; D015897:Comorbidity; D015986:Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D009765:Obesity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology