title: The need for bold action to prevent adolescent obesity.
abstract: Record levels of obesity in children and adolescents are predictable in light of powerful conditions that promote high consumption of calorie-dense, nutrient-poor foods and discourage physical activity. Default conditions for youth are dangerous, and include multiple and relentless forms of marketing, poor foods promoted in schools, and a variety of other conditions that undermine personal resources, individual responsibility, and parental authority. This article discusses how optimal defaults can be created using five issues as examples: framing of the obesity issue, treating versus preventing obesity, nutrition in schools, marketing, and addressing weight bias and discrimination. By adopting a public health approach that addresses the conditions causing obesity, there is hope of reversing troubling trends in prevalence.
authors.affiliation: Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA. kelly.brownell@yale.edu
authors.forename: Kelly D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Brownell
authors.forename: Marlene B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.forename: Rebecca M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Puhl
authors.forename: Kathryn E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Henderson
authors.forename: Jennifer L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Harris
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D006801:Humans; D018673:Nutrition Policy; D009765:Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011634:Public Health