Understanding causes of obesity in Aboriginal children
To fully understand the causes of the obesity epidemic in Aboriginal children requires an understanding of the unique social and historical factors that shape the Aboriginal community. A review article published in Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism emphasizes that early childhood obesity prevention efforts should begin focusing with the parents before and during pregnancy and on breastfeeding initiatives and nutrition in the early childhood development stages.
"There needs to be a focus on improving the risk factors such as income and education" says Noreen Willows, one of the authors of the study. "Additionally, there needs to be a focus on embracing the cultural practices in terms of language and pride in the Aboriginal culture to influence health behaviours and outcomes".
Numerous environments at different times of childhood drive the risk of childhood obesity: the in utero environment, which influences birth weight, growth patterns and disease risk; the family environment, in which the child is raised and nurtured; and the larger surrounding environments encompassing policy, community, and cultural and societal factors.
There is no one fix to the obesity epidemic in Aboriginal children. Strategies for weight management in this population need to focus at changing all influential factors at each level of the child's environment, and the members of the community need to have an active role in pursuing this goal.
More information: Willows, N.D, Hanley, A.J.G., Delormier, T. 2012. A socioecological framework to understand weight-related issues in Aboriginal children in Canada. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 37(1) 1-13. doi:10.1139/H11-128
Journal reference:
Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism
Provided by Canadian Science Publishing (NRC Research Press)
-
Childhood obesity link to parents
Jul 13, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Pediatricians confront the childhood obesity epidemic
May 01, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Social norms for obesity learned in childhood
Dec 19, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Childhood obesity best tackled via social strategies, claims new book
Nov 08, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Parents failing to recognize their children's risk for obesity may be contributing to epidemic
Mar 18, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Motion perception revisited: High Phi effect challenges established motion perception assumptions
Apr 23, 2013 |
3 / 5 (2) |
2
-
Anything you can do I can do better: Neuromolecular foundations of the superiority illusion (Update)
Apr 02, 2013 |
4.5 / 5 (11) |
5
-
The visual system as economist: Neural resource allocation in visual adaptation
Mar 30, 2013 |
5 / 5 (2) |
9
-
Separate lives: Neuronal and organismal lifespans decoupled
Mar 27, 2013 |
4.9 / 5 (8) |
0
-
Sizing things up: The evolutionary neurobiology of scale invariance
Feb 28, 2013 |
4.8 / 5 (10) |
14
-
Classical and Quantum Mechanics via Lie algebras
Apr 15, 2011
- More from Physics Forums - Independent Research
More news stories
Bed sharing with parents increases risk of cot death fivefold
Bed sharing with parents is linked to a fivefold increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), even when the parents are non-smokers and the mother has not been drinking alcohol and does not use illegal drugs, according ...
Health
10 hours ago |
1.3 / 5 (3) |
0
Sports seem OK for many with heart-zapping device
Doctors tell people with a heart-zapping device in their chests to give up intense sports like basketball and soccer in favor of golf or bowling. But lots of patients ignore that advice—and now new research is challenging ...
Health
11 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Gym class reduces probability of obesity, study finds for first time
Little is known about the effect of physical education (PE) on child weight, but a new study from Cornell University finds that increasing the amount of time that elementary schoolchildren spent in gym class reduces the probability ...
Health
13 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Prenatal exposure to traffic is associated with respiratory infection in young children
Living near a major roadway during the prenatal period is associated with an increased risk of respiratory infection developing in children by the age of 3, according to a new study from researchers in Boston.
Health
15 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Combined wood and tobacco smoke exposure increases risk and symptoms of COPD
People who are consistently exposed to both wood smoke and tobacco smoke are at a greater risk for developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and for experiencing more frequent and severe symptoms of the disease, ...
Health
15 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Nobel laureate plays down flu pandemic scaremongering
A Nobel prize-winning scientist Tuesday played down "shock-horror scenarios" that a new virus strain will emerge with the potential to kill millions of people.
No new H7N9 cases in China for a week
No new human cases of the H7N9 virus have been recorded in China for a week, national health authorities said, for the first time since the outbreak began in March.
After a decade, global AIDS program looks ahead
(AP)—The decade-old law that transformed the battle against HIV and AIDS in developing countries is at a crossroads. The dream of future generations freed from the epidemic is running up against an era ...
Genetic predictors of postpartum depression uncovered
Johns Hopkins researchers say they have discovered specific chemical alterations in two genes that, when present during pregnancy, reliably predict whether a woman will develop postpartum depression.
Child maltreatment increases risk of adult obesity
Children who have suffered maltreatment are 36% more likely to be obese in adulthood compared to non-maltreated children, according to a new study by King's College London. The authors estimate that the prevention or effective ...
New immune system discovered
(Medical Xpress)—A research team, led by Jeremy Barr, a biology post-doctoral fellow, unveils a new immune system that protects humans and animals from infection.