Preventing Chilhood Obesity Parenting Programme For...

PUBLIC HEALTH - ASSIGNMENT 2 PREVENTING CHILHOOD OBESITY – PARENTING PROGRAMME FOR EARLY YEARS BACKGROUND Obesity, defined as ‘an excessive amount of body fat relative to body weight’ (Heyward, 2010, p.232) has reached global epidemic proportions and it is the fifth leading risk for global deaths with 2.8 million adults dying every year (World Health Organization, 2013). In addition, worldwide, more than 40 million children under the age of 5 were overweight in 2011 (World Health Organization, 2013a). Consequently, childhood obesity is becoming a serious problem and a major public health challenge for the 21st century. It is crucial that prevention starts to be a high priority (World Health†¦show more content†¦Data are also available from the Health Survey for England (HSE), which includes a smaller sample of children than the NCMP but covers a wider age range. Results from 2014 show that 31.2% of children aged 2 to 15 were classed as either overweight or obese (Public Health England, 2013). Prediction of the direct costs to the NHS for treating overwei ght and obesity, and related morbidity in England, have varies from  £479.3 million in 1998 to  £4.2 billion in 2007. Estimates of the indirect costs (those costs arising from the impact of obesity on the wider economy such as loss of productivity) over the same time period ranged between  £2.6 billion and  £15.8 billion (Public Health England,2013). Obesity for children is defined as a Body Mass Index (BMI) 95th percentile for age and gender. Mothers are classified as obese when their BMI is over 30Kg/m2, or non-obese when the BMI is under 30kg/m2, on the basis of Body Mass Index calculated in the first trimester of pregnancy. A BMI over 30kg/m2 in the early stage of pregnancy is identified as one of the risk factors for development of childhood obesity. Knowing those, could help to identify children who are in need of early obesity prevention efforts. Maternal obesity in early pregnancy, more than doubles the risk of childhood obesity, especially among low-income families (R.Whitaker,2004). Nowadays, are twice as many obese children as there were 20 years ago. To slower