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Title: Combating Childhood Obesity
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Rakofsky, Jeffrey
Combating Childhood Obesity
Working Paper, HSTAT: Health Students Taking Action Together, 2003.
Also: http://www.hstatweb.org/combatting%20childhood%20obesity.htm
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: Health Students Taking Action Together
Keyword(s): Ethnic Differences; Hispanics; Obesity; Peers/Peer influence/Peer relations; Weight

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Think back to the good 'ole days of elementary school. Do you remember the playground politics that unfolded daily and what they were all about? How about middle school? Can you remember what it was like trying to adjust to your suddenly, awkward-looking body while trying to be accepted by your peers? Or high school when serious relationships were budding and you were either in them or watching from the sidelines waiting for your turn. Well, as stressful as these events might or might not have been for all of us, imagine if your were an obese child, adolescent or teenager. Consider how much harder it would have been to avoid being the outcast on the playground, to be accepted by the peer group of your choice and to be desired romantically by some of your high school classmates. These are the hardships that children with many diseases, including obesity, endure.

The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-prospective cohort study, running from 1986 through 1998 had a great deal of information to report. They found that during this time overweight prevalence increased significantly and steadily among African American, Hispanic and white children. African American children had the highest prevalence of 21.5%. They found that overweight children were heavier in 1998 than 1986. They learned that overweight prevalence increased fastest among minorities and southerners. Finally, they discovered that during the time of the study, the number of children with BMI greater than the 85th percentile increased significantly for African American and Hispanic children and non-significantly for white children. Its very clear that childhood obesity is on the rise.

Bibliography Citation
Rakofsky, Jeffrey. "Combating Childhood Obesity." Working Paper, HSTAT: Health Students Taking Action Together, 2003.