Childhood Obesity

An Ounce of Prevention

As many as one out of every five American kids is now obese, a trend that puts those children at a higher risk of becoming overweight adults. Parents, educators and policy-makers are relying on the work of researchers at universities like the University of Washington to profile the problem and suggest individual and public policy best practices, which include opportunities to choose healthy foods in appropriate quantities, have limited screen time and be physically active.

Resources for Childhood Obesity

UW Resources

Active Bodies, Active Minds: A University of Washington website that provides screen-time reduction information and resources for people who care for preschool-aged children.

Center for Public Health Nutrition: The UW’s CPHN houses three research groups, including the Center for Obesity Research. This group facilitates interdisciplinary research that addresses biomedical, social, economic and environment aspects of obesity, with a long-term goal to translate research results into evidence-based strategies for obesity prevention and treatment.

External Resources

CDC’s Healthy Youth: CDC.gov is the Center for Disease Control’s primary online information channel, offering credible, reliable health information. The Healthy Youth section on obesity provide a rich collection of articles, podcasts and tips to help prevent childhood obesity.

Healthy Children: An American Academy of Pediatrics website offering a list of childhood obesity articles for parents and caregivers.

The Mayo Clinic: Childhood Obesity information from one of the nation’s leading medical clinics.

Medline Plus: This service of the U.S National Library of Medicine and the National Library of Medicine provides a thorough listing of information about childhood obesity.

Partners in Action: A companion website for the Washington State Nutrition & Physical Activity Plan, this site features nutritional information for parents, caregivers, and children.