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Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
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Published on: February 2, 2017

Overweight in children: definitions, measurements, confounding factors, and health consequences

Lynda R Hardy1, Joanne S Harrell, Ronny A Bell

  • 1Department of Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, NCSchool of Nursing, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA. lhardy@wfubmc.edu

Journal of Pediatric Nursing
|January 8, 2005
PubMed

Insights

Childhood overweight is a growing epidemic, with overweight children often becoming overweight adults facing serious health issues. Nurses play a key role in assessing, educating, and researching childhood obesity.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatrics
  • Public Health
  • Nutrition Science

Background:

  • Childhood overweight rates have increased dramatically, nearly four-fold from 1963 to 2000.
  • Overweight children are at higher risk of becoming overweight adults.
  • Excess weight in childhood is linked to numerous adverse health consequences.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the current literature on childhood overweight.
  • To define and discuss methods for measuring childhood overweight.
  • To explore the health problems associated with childhood overweight.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of existing studies on childhood overweight.
  • Analysis of definitions and measurement techniques for overweight children.
  • Examination of morbidity data linked to childhood overweight.

Main Results:

  • The prevalence of childhood overweight has escalated significantly over recent decades.
  • Established methods exist for defining and measuring childhood overweight.
  • Childhood overweight is associated with a range of negative health outcomes.

Conclusions:

  • Addressing the epidemic of childhood overweight is a critical public health concern.
  • Nurses are vital in identifying, educating, and researching childhood obesity.
  • Further research and intervention are needed to combat childhood overweight and its associated morbidities.

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