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Children's perceptions of obesity and its relation to nutrition and physical activity
Author(s) -
Economos Christina D.,
Bakun Peter J.,
Herzog Julia Bloom,
Dolan Peter R.,
Lynskey Vanessa M.,
Sharma Shanti,
Nelson Miriam E.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.26.1_supplement.377.4
Subject(s) - overweight , worry , childhood obesity , psychological intervention , obesity , psychology , perception , categorization , developmental psychology , medicine , gerontology , psychiatry , anxiety , neuroscience , philosophy , epistemology
Data indicate that about one third of children in the US are overweight/obese (ov/ob). Understanding children's perceptions of obesity and related socio‐behavioral factors is important in crafting child‐receptive interventions to address this epidemic. In 2010 an online Harris Interactive Youth Query omnibus survey among 1224 children age 8–18 yrs in the US was commissioned to capture children's views. Though 46% of children knew that one third of US children are ov/ob another 46% believed that it was half or more. When asked to categorize themselves, only 28% reported being ov/ob compared to 35% among 6–18 yr olds nationally, underscoring the shift in cultural weight norms. 80% of self‐categorized ov/ob children worry about their weight compared to 31% of normal weight children. 92% of children felt it was important to not be overweight at their age and that it leads to teasing at school, inability to play sports well, and overweight and illness in adulthood. Children focused on eating habits (especially sugar intake) as the main reasons for childhood ov/ob. They did not report physical activity as a main reason. Children also focused on food more than physical activity when asked what adults need to know to help people their age achieve a healthy weight. The contemporary knowledge and views of children captured here should be addressed if interventions to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic are to be successful. RWJF