Associations call on schools to address childhood obesity early, guide healthy behaviors
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Key takeaways:
- A statement on childhood obesity calls on schools to promote diet education and physical activity for students.
- Thoughtful screening and management, avoiding stigmatization, can improve healthful behaviors.
School-based screening and management strategies for childhood obesity including dietary and exercise interventions with family and peer participation could improve the trajectory of CV risk in adulthood, according to a scientific statement.
The joint scientific statement of the task force for childhood health of the European Association of Preventive Cardiology and the European Childhood Obesity Group published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology offers recommendations for the prevention, screening and management of childhood obesity to reduce adult CVD risk.
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Impact of childhood obesity on CV health
Childhood obesity —defined as BMI above the 95th percentile for age and sex in children older than 2 years — increased by 47% worldwide between 1980 and 2013, according to the paper.
Additionally, a study published in Nutrients using the WHO European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Program showed that the rates of overweight and obesity among primary school children ranged from 15% to 52% among boys and 13% to 43% among girls.
Hanssen and colleagues stated children with obesity are five times more likely have obesity as adults and childhood obesity is associated with an increased prevalence of elevated and high BP. Therefore, preventive interventions are essential, they wrote.
“Prevention of CVD needs to start early. Rather than wait and see whether or not today’s obese children become tomorrow’s heart attacks and strokes, an action plan is needed now to put a halt to future health problems,” Henner Hanssen, MD, professor and head of preventive sports medicine and systems physiology at the department of sport, exercise and health at of the University of Basel, Switzerland, said in a press release. “We already know that obesity is harming children’s health. What more proof do we need?”
Strategies for screening and management
Prevention and screening strategies should focus on the clustering of risk factors from childhood into adulthood as well as overall CV risk and psychological factors, according to the statement.
On top of school-based education on healthy lifestyle, Hanssen and colleagues emphasized the importance of participation from family and peers and the avoidance of stigmatization while screening children with obesity.
“Schools should take the lead with healthy school meals, cooking classes, education about nutrition and activity, and sports clubs. Family and friends should be invited to take part, as both have an influence on a child’s lifestyle and weight,” Hanssen said in the release. “Healthy, affordable diets should start at the school canteen and physical activity can be promoted through active breaks at schools. Education about healthy lifestyles won’t have much of an impact if parents are not involved.
“How to identify children at risk and offer individual treatment while avoiding stigmatization remains challenging and this needs to be addressed sensitively,” Hanssen said.
Recommended management strategies to reduce CVD risk trajectories among children with obesity include reducing inactivity and the promotion of physical activity and exercise, healthy eating habits and access to psychological support and diet counseling for positive behavior change, according to the statement.
The document also highlighted the impact of unhealthy food marketing in media and social media on childhood obesity.
“Most children are exposed to promotion and marketing of products such as fast food and sugar-sweetened beverages up to about 200 times per week on social media,” the authors wrote.
In addition, Hanssen and colleagues underscored the significance of infrastructure supporting accessibility to healthy food choices and spaces for physical activity and exercise in urban areas.
“Policies to stop CVD later in life need to go beyond just telling young people to exercise and eat a healthy diet,” Hanssen said in the release. “If there are no spaces to enjoy being active and nutritious food is unavailable or unaffordable, it is very difficult to change behavior. Some children will benefit from psychological support to understand which habits are problematic and how to develop new ones. And instead of criticizing children for being inactive and eating junk food, schools and parents can show that being physically active and preparing healthy food is fun.”
For full details on prevention of CVD among children with obesity, please see the scientific statement.
Reference:
- How to stop obese children having heart disease in adulthood. https://www.escardio.org/The-ESC/Press-Office/Press-releases/How-to-stop-obese-children-having-heart-disease-in-adulthood. Published July 26, 2023. Accessed July 26, 2023.
- Williams J, et al. Nutrients. 2020;doi:10.3390/nu12082481.
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