Childhood obesity prevention : international research, controversies, and interventions / edited by Jennifer A. O'Dea, Michael Eriksen.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

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.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• List of Contributors (p. xiii)
• Section 1 Controversial issues in childhood obesity prevention
• 1 High body mass index, overweight, and obesity in children: Definitions, terminology, and interpretation (p. 3)
• 2 Stigma and BMI screening in schools, or 'Mom, I hate it when they weigh me' (p. 17)
• 3 Developing positive approaches to nutrition education and the prevention of child and adolescent obesity: First, do no harm (p. 31)
• 4 Low family income and the overweight status of Canadian adolescents (p. 42)
• 5 Issues of teacher training in the prevention of eating disorders and childhood obesity in schools (p. 56)
• Section 2 Prevalence and factors associated with childhood obesity
• 6 Childhood overweight and obesity in developed countries: Global trends and correlates (p. 69)
• 7 A review of prevalence and trends in childhood obesity in the United States (p. 84)
• 8 Overweight, obesity, gender, age, ethnicity, and school SES among Australian schoolchildren in studies from 2000 and 2006 (p. 95)
• 9 Secular trends in childhood obesity and associated risk factors in China from 1982 to 2006 (p. 104)
• 10 Trends in Hong Kong and Macao and other Chinese communities (p. 117)
• 11 Overweight, obesity, and associated factors among Vietnamese and Southeast Asian children and adolescents (p. 132)
• 12 Secular changes in overweight and obesity among Brazilian adolescents from 1974/75 to 2002/03 (p. 144)
• 13 Trends in obesity and hypertension in South African youth (p. 152)
• 14 Childhood obesity-recent trends in Sweden including socioeconomic differences (p. 164)
• 15 Childhood obesity in the Middle Eastern countries with special reference to Iran (p. 174)
• 16 Trends in Israel (p. 187)
• Section 3 Approaches to prevention
• 17 Childhood obesity: Treatment or prevention? (p. 195)
• 18 Relevant health education and health promotion theory for childhood obesity prevention (p. 203)
• 19 The application of public health lessons to childhood obesity prevention (p. 213)
• 20 Towards a children's food and nutrition policy (p. 229)
• 21 Prevention and management of obesity in children and adolescents-the Singapore experience (p. 240)
• 22 Asian adolescents in New Zealand-a health promotion approach (p. 250)
• 23 The role of health professionals (p. 258)
• Section 4 Interventions
• 24 Striving to prevent obesity and other weight-related problems in adolescent girls: The New Moves approach (p. 269)
• 25 Whole-school and health promoting school approaches to obesity prevention-government policy directions in Australia between 2000 and 2010 (p. 278)
• 26 Interventions targeting childhood obesity involving parents (p. 300)
• 27 Promoting optimal weights in Aboriginal children in Canada through ecological research (p. 309)
• 28 Environment and policy interventions to prevent obesity in children (p. 321)
• 29 Individual and environmental interventions to prevent obesity in African American children and adolescents (p. 333)
• 30 Targeted approaches by culturally appropriate programmes (p. 348)
• 31 Weight-related teasing and anti-teasing initiatives in schools (p. 363)
• 32 Physical activity programmes in high schools (p. 380)
• 33 Effective school meal interventions: Lessons learned from Eat Well Do Well in Hull, England (p. 389)
• 34 Obesity prevention interventions for early childhood: An updated systematic review of the literature (p. 396)
• 35 Problems and possible solutions for interventions among children and adolescents (p. 408)
• Index (p. 423)

Author notes provided by Syndetics

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.