Shaping America’s Youth is dedicated to providing the most up-to-date information on childhood obesity. The following lists contain reports and scientific publications related to the nation’s efforts to increase physical activity and improve dietary practices in children and adolescents.
General Information
Understanding Childhood Obesity is an American Heart Association sourcebook on child nutrition and physical activity. It's a great resource for media, policymakers, health professionals, school officials and other stakeholders to begin meaningful dialogue toward concrete solutions to the obesity epidemic. http://heart.org/idc/groups/heart-public/@wcm/@fc/documents/downloadable/ucm_304175.pdf
White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity Report to the President, May 2010. This task force was created to develop and implement an inter-agency plan that details a coordinated strategy, identifies key benchmarks, and outlines a national action plan to end the problem of childhood obesity within a generation. http://letsmove.gov/white-house-task-force-childhood-obesity-report-president
Reports
Report Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity: School Health Guidelines to Promote Healthy Eating and Physical Activity. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,September 2011. http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/npao/strategies.htm
AHA Scientific Position: Dietary Recommendations for Healthy Children, January 2011. http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/Dietary-Recommendations-for-Healthy-Children_UCM_303886_Article.jsp - .Ty1ljpit-S0.
The Grocery Gap: Who has Access to Healthy Food and Why it Matters, PolicyLink & The Food Trust
Active Transportation: Making the Link Towards Transportation to Physical Activity and Obesity, Active Living Research
Adolescent Obesity: Towards Evidence-Based Policy and Environmental Solutions, Journal of Adolescent Health (Login Required)
Evaluating the Nutrition Quality and Marketing of Children’s Cereals, Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity
The Public Health and Economic Benefits of Taxing Sugar-Sweetened Beverages, The New England Journal of Medicine
Study Shows a Little Money Buys a Lot of Calories at City Corner Stores, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Preventing Childhood Obesity: A School Health Policy Guide, National Association of State Boards of Education
Connecting Active Living Research and Public Policy: Transdisciplinary Research and Policy Intervention to Increase Physical Activity, Journal of Public Health Policy
Beyond Health Care: New Direction to a Healthier America, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Supporting Healthy Communities Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Step-by-Step: A Practical Guide to Assess and Achieve Gender Equity in School Sports, Women's Sports Foundation
Safe Routes to School Improves the Built Environment, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Safe Routes to School Leads to Greater Collaboration with Public Health and School Officials, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Lifetime Medical Cost Burden of Overweight and Obesity: Implications for Obesity Prevention, Obesity (2008)
Childhood Obesity: Harnessing the Power of Public and Private Partnerships, National Institute for Healthcare Management
F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America, Trust For America's Health
Harris Interactive Survey Finds that Most Adults Believe Parents, Schools and Food Industry Can Make Difference in Battling Childhood Obesity, WSJ.com
The Importance of Playing in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds, American Academy of Pediatrics Clinical Report
Progress in Preventing Childhood Obesity: How Do We Measure Up? Institute of Medicine
Making Outdoors In: Fostering Children's Learning in Nature's Neighborhood, Community Foundation for Southeastern Michigan
Outdoor Recreation Participation Report 2008, Outdoor Foundation
The Media Family: Electronic Media in the Lives of Infants, Toddlers, Preschoolers and Their Parents, Kaiser Family Foundation
Shaping America’s Youth Summary Report, Shaping America's Youth
Action for Healthy Kids' Reports, Action for Healthy Kids
Food Marketing to Children and Youth: Threat or Opportunity? Institute of Medicine
The Role of Media in Childhood Obesity, Kaiser Family Foundation
Weighing In – Helping Girls be Healthy Today Healthy Tomorrow, Girl Scouts of the USA
Overweight Children and Youth, Child Trends Databank
Guidelines for School and Community Programs to Promote Lifelong Physical Activity Among Young People, Center for Disease Control
Promoting Better Health for Young People through Physical Activity and Sports: A Report to the President, Center for Disease Control
Public Attitudes Toward Physical Education, National Association for Sport and Physical Education
Does the Built Environment Influence Physical Activity? Transportation Reseach Board and Institute of MedicineExecutive Summary Report: Full Report (224 pages):
Financing Childhood Obesity Prevention Programs. Federal Funding Sources and Other Strategies, The Finance Group
Background Paper on the Prevention and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity, Kaiser Permanente
Healthy Schools for Healthy Kids, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Preventing Childhood Obesity: Health in the Balance, Institute of Medicine
Strategic Plan for Obesity Research, National Institutes of Health
The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity 2001, The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
What Works for Obesity, United Health Foundation Return to Top
Selected Professional Publications
The identification of children with adverse risk factor levels by body mass index cutoffs from 2 classification systems: the Bogalusa Heart Study. Freedman DS, Fulton JE, Dietz WH, Niheser AJ, Scrinivasan SR, et al. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2010;92(6):1-8
The association between school-based physical activity, including physical education, and academic performance; a systematic review of the literature. Rasberry CN, Lee SM, Robin L, Laris BA, Russell LA, Coyle KK, at al. Preventive Medicine 2011;52(Suppl 1):S10-S20.
Long-term health and economic impact of preventing and reducing overweight and obesity in adolescence. Wang LY, Denniston M, Lee S, Galuska D, LOwry R Journal of Adolescent Health 2010; 46(5):467-473
Trends in percieved overwieght status among overweight and nonoverweight adolescents. Foti K, Lowry R Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine 2010; 164:636-642
American Academy of Pediatrics. Children, Adolescents and Advertising. Pediatrics 2006; 118:2563-2569.
Chinali M, de Simone G, Roman MJ, et al. Impact of obesity on cardiac geometry and function in a population of adolescents. Journal of the American College of Cardiology 2006; 47:2267-2273.
Council on Sports Medicine and Fitness; Council on School Health. Active healthy living: prevention of childhood obesity through increased physical activity. Pediatrics 2006; 117:1834-1842.
Hawley SR, Beckman H, Bishop T. Development of an obesity prevention and management program for children and adolescents in a rural setting. J Community Health Nurs 2006; 23:69-80.
Trifiletti LB, Shields W, Bishai D, et al. Tipping the scales: obese children and child safety seats. Pediatrics 2006; 117:1197-1202.
Freedman DS, Khan LK, Serdula MK, Ogden CL, Dietz WH. Racial and ethnic differences in secular trends for childhood BMI, weight, and height. Obesity 2006; 14:301-308.
Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Curtin LR, et al. Prevalence of overweight and obesity in the United States, 1999-2004. JAMA. 2006; 295:1549-1555.
Flodmark CE, Marcus C, Britton M. Interventions to prevent obesity in children and adolescents: a systematic literature review. International Journal of Obesity 2006; 30:579-589.
Lindsay AC, Sussner KM, Kim I, Gortmaker S. The role of parents in preventing childhood obesity. Future of Children 2006; 16: 169-86.
Lumeng JC, Rahnama S, Appugliese D, et al. Television exposure and overweight risk in preschoolers. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine 2006; 160:417-422.
Salsberry P, Reagan P, et al. Dynamics of Early Childhood Overweight. Pediatrics 2005; 116; 1329-1338.
Carrel AL, Clark RR, Peterson SE, et al. Improvement of fitness, body composition, and insulin sensitivity in overweight children in a school-based exercise program: a randomized, controlled study. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine 2005; 159:963-968.
Gidding SS, Dennison BA, Birch LL, et al. Dietary recommendations for children and adolescents: a guide for practitioners. Consensus statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation 2005; 112:2061-2075.
Norman AC, Drinkard B, McDuffie JR, et al. Influence of excess adiposity on exercise fitness and performance in overweight children and adolescents. Pediatrics 2005; 115:690-696.
Murray R, Frankowski B, Taras H. Are soft drinks a scapegoat for childhood obesity? Journal of Pediatrics 2005; 146: 586-590.
Olshansky SJ, Passaro DJ, Hershow RC, et al. A potential decline in life expectancy in the United States in the 21st century. New England Journal of Medicine 2005; 252:1138-1145.
Speiser PW, Rudolf MCJ, Anhalt H, et al. Consensus Statement: Childhood Obesity. Journal of Clinical Endocrinolgy & Metabolism 2005; 90:1871-1887.
Welsh JA, Cogswell ME, Rogers S, Mei Z, Grummer-Strawn LM. Overweight among low-income preschool children associated with the consumption of sweet drinks: Missouri, 1999-2002. Pediatrics 2005; 115:e223-e229.
Yin Z, Hanes J Jr, Moore JB, Humbles P, Barbeau P, Gutin B. An after-school physical activity program for obesity prevention in children: the Medical College of Georgia FitKid Project. Evaluation and the Health Professions 2005; 28:67-89.
Evans WD, Finkelstein EA, Kamerow DB, Renaud JM. Public perceptions of childhood obesity. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 2005; 28:26-32
Bariatric Surgery for Severely Overweight Adolescents: Concerns and Recommendations. Pediatrics. 2004 Jul;114(1):217-23
Relation of Body Mass Index in Young Adulthood and Middle Age to Medicare Expenditures in Older Age. Journal of the American Medical Association - Vol. 292 No. 22, December 8, 2004
National High Blood Pressure Education Program Working Group on High Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents. The Fourth Report on the Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure in Children and Adults. Pediatrics 2004; 114:555-576.
Li X, Li S, Ulusoy E, et al. Childhood adiposity as a predictor of cardiac mass in adulthood: The Bogalusa Heart Study. Circulation 2004; 110:3488-3492.
Pate RR, Pfeiffer KA, Trost SG, Ziegler P, Dowda M. Physical activity among children attending preschools. Pediatrics 2004; 114:1258-1263.
Viner R, Hotopf M. Childhood predictors of self-reported chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis in adults: national birth cohort study. BMJ 2004:329:941-946.
Datar A, Sturm R. Physical education in elementary school and body mass index: evidence from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study. American Journal of Public Health 2004; 94:1501-1506.
Shunk JA, Birch LL. Girls at risk for overweight at age 5 are at risk for dietary restraint, disinhibited overeating, weight concerns, and greater weight gain from 5 to 9 years. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 2004; 104: 1120-1126.
Sturm R, Cohen DA. Suburban sprawl and physical and mental health. Public Health 2004; 118:488-490.
Hayman LL, Williams CL, Daniels, SR, et al. Cardiovascular health promotion in schools. A statement for health and education professionals and child health advocates from the Committee on Atherosclerosis, Hypertension, and Obesity in Youth (AHOY) of the Council on Cardiovascular Disease in the Young, American Heart Assocation. Circulation 2004; 110:2266-2275.
Fowler-Brown A, Kahwati LC. Prevention and treatment of overweight in children and adolescents. American Family Physician 2004: 69:2591-2598.Agras WS, Hammer LD, McNicholas F, Kraemer HC. Risk factors for childhood overweight: a prospective study from birth to 9.5 years. Journal of Pediatrics 2004; 145:20-25.
Hancox RJ, Milne BJ, Poulton R. Association between child and adolescent television viewing and adult health: a longitudinal birth cohort study. Lancet 2004 17; 364:257-262.
Weiss R, Dziura J, Burgert TS, Tamborlane WV, Taksali SE, Yeckel CW, Allen K, Lopes M, Savoye M, Morrison J, Sherwin RS, Caprio S. Obesity and the metabolic syndrome in children and adolescents. New England Journal of Medicine 2004; 350:2362-2374.
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Position Statements & Guidelines
Physical Activity, Overweight and Obesity Aong Latino Youth. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation:December 2011. http://www.rwjf.org/files/research/73676.saludamerica.physicalactivity.pdf
Safe Routes to School:Helping Communities Save Lives and Dollars. Safe Routes to School National Partnership 2011 Policy Report: September 2011. http://www.rwjf.org/files/research/72989.srts.0911.pdf
Shape of the Nation 2010: Status of Physical Education in the USA. National Association for Sport and Physical Education and the American Heart Association. http://www.aahperd.org/naspe/publications/upload/Shape-of-the-Nation-2010-Final.pdf
American Academy of Pediatrics. Active healthy living: prevention of childhood obesity through increased physical activity. Pediatrics 2006; 117:1834-1842.
American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Nutrition. Policy statement: prevention of pediatric overweight and obesity. Pediatrics 2003; 112:424-430. aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;112/2/424
American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists/American College of Endocrinology. AACE/ACE position statement on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of obesity (1998 revision). Endocrine Practice 1998; 4:297-350.
American Dietetic Association. Dietary guidance for healthy children aged 2 to 11 years. Journal of the American Dietetic Association. 2004; 104:660-677.
American Heart Association. AHA scientific statement: obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes, and cardiovascular risk in children. Circulation. 2003; 107:1448-1453.
National Institute for Health Care Management. Childhood obesity advancing effective prevention and treatment: an overview for health professionals. April 2003.
Society for Nutrition Education. Guidelines for childhood obesity prevention programs: promoting healthy weight in children. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior 2003; 35:1-4.
Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity.
Center for Weight and Health, University of California at Berkeley. Prevention of childhood overweight: what should be done?