This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related article  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Obesity  • Psychosocial Issues  • Adolescent Medicine  • Alert me on articles by topic

Promising Directions for Addressing the Obesity Epidemic

Clea McNeeley, MA, DrPH; Robert Crosnoe, PhD

Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2008;162(1):91-92.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Since 1970, the prevalence of overweight has doubled among Americans, and the prevalence of obesity has quadrupled. As of 2003-2004, 32.2% of Americans (66 million people) were obese.¹ The rates of overweight and obesity are growing even faster among adolescents than adults, particularly among girls. In just 6 years, between 1999 and 2004, the prevalence of overweight among girls aged 12 to 19 years increased from 14.0% to 18.2%. There was no change in obesity among women.²

The toll of overweight and obesity early in life is particularly harmful. Long-term health consequences include cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, and sleep apnea, all of which carry increased medical costs.³ The penalties in terms of social status are particularly high for adolescents compared with adults. Overweight youth are often victimized, both physically and emotionally, by peers at school. Even when they are not explicitly bullied or . . . [Full Text of this Article]

AUTHOR INFORMATION

RELATED ARTICLE

Subjective Social Status in the School and Change in Adiposity in Female Adolescents: Findings From a Prospective Cohort Study
Adina R. Lemeshow, Laurie Fisher, Elizabeth Goodman, Ichiro Kawachi, Catherine S. Berkey, and Graham A. Colditz
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2008;162(1):23-28.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT