title: Child and adolescent obesity: part of a bigger picture.
abstract: The prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity has risen substantially worldwide in less than one generation. In the USA, the average weight of a child has risen by more than 5 kg within three decades, to a point where a third of the country's children are overweight or obese. Some low-income and middle-income countries have reported similar or more rapid rises in child obesity, despite continuing high levels of undernutrition. Nutrition policies to tackle child obesity need to promote healthy growth and household nutrition security and protect children from inducements to be inactive or to overconsume foods of poor nutritional quality. The promotion of energy-rich and nutrient-poor products will encourage rapid weight gain in early childhood and exacerbate risk factors for chronic disease in all children, especially those showing poor linear growth. Whereas much public health effort has been expended to restrict the adverse marketing of breastmilk substitutes, similar effort now needs to be expanded and strengthened to protect older children from increasingly sophisticated marketing of sedentary activities and energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods and beverages. To meet this challenge, the governance of food supply and food markets should be improved and commercial activities subordinated to protect and promote children's health.
authors.affiliation: World Obesity Federation (formerly the International Association for the Study of Obesity), London, UK. Electronic address: tlobstein@worldobesity.org.
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lobstein
authors.affiliation: World Obesity Federation (formerly the International Association for the Study of Obesity), London, UK.
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jackson-Leach
authors.affiliation: Deakin Health Economics, Deakin University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Marjory L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Moodie
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Kevin D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Steven L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Gortmaker
authors.affiliation: WHO Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention Deakin University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; School of Population Health, University of Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Boyd A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Swinburn
authors.affiliation: World Obesity Federation (formerly the International Association for the Study of Obesity), London, UK.
authors.forename: W Philip T
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: James
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Youfa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: New College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Klim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: McPherson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001827:Body Height / Q000502:physiology; D015984:Causality; D002648:Child; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D019049:Developed Countries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D019649:Food Industry / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D005523:Food Supply / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D018673:Nutrition Policy; D050177:Overweight / Q000503:physiopathology; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D015995:Prevalence; D011322:Primary Prevention / Q000191:economics; D012941:Social Responsibility; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors