Childhood obesity has become a major concern in modern society. In fact, today’s children are the first in over a century whose life expectancy falls lower than that of the previous generation (Hills, A., King, N., & Armstrong, T., 2007). Several factors such as processed food, more entertainment options, and a generally increased sedentary lifestyle all contribute to this epidemic. If we do not target children and try to put a stop to childhood obesity it has the ability to lead to other health risks later in life including obesity as adults, diabetes, and risk of heart disease and some cancers (CDC, 2012).
In a research article titled Childhood Obesity: The Health Issue (Deckelbaum &Williams, 2012), much evidence has shown that the number of overweight children has doubled in the last two to three decades in the United States as well as worldwide where a more westernized lifestyle is becoming prevalent. This is troubling because the same study found that elevated blood pressure, dyslipidemia, and a higher prevalence of factors associated with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes appear as frequent comorbidities in the overweight and obese pediatric population. Also, childhood obesity is the key predicting factor in adult obesity, which drastically increases the mortality rate in a person. Though childhood obesity has similar causes as adult obesity, mainly energy burned versus energy consumed, this study showed evidence that the physiological factors of the mother child relationship during pregnancy and the first year of life play a sizable part in risk of obesity.
By targeting mothers, and making them aware of the problems their behaviors can cause to their unborn child, we can take aim at a key chunk of childhood obesity and try to prevent it. Parents shape their children’s eating habits for the majority of their childhood, this is obvious. But what many parents may fail to realize is how important nutritional factors are to a pregnant mother and her...