Understanding childhood obesity in America: linkages between household income, community resources, and children's behaviors.

Background: Understanding childhood obesity's root causes is critical to the creation of strategies to improve our children's health. We sought to define the association between childhood obesity and household income and how household income and childhood behaviors promote childhood obesity.

Methods: We assessed body mass index in 109,634 Massachusetts children, identifying the percentage of children who were overweight/obese versus the percentage of children in each community residing in low-income homes.

Health status and behavior among middle-school children in a midwest community: what are the underpinnings of childhood obesity?

Background: Childhood obesity is one of the nation's foremost health challenges. How much of this is due to lifestyle choices? The objective of the study was to determine health behaviors that contribute to obesity in sixth-grade children.

Methods: To assess which health habits contribute to childhood obesity, we studied body mass index, blood pressure, lipid profile, glucose, and heart rate recovery after a 3-minute step test among sixth-grade children enrolled in a school-based intervention study from 2004 to 2009, comparing health behaviors and physiologic markers in obese versus nonobese children.

Effect of a promotional campaign on heart-healthy menu choices in community restaurants.

The research question examined in this study was: Does a promotional campaign impact the sales of heart-healthy menu items at community restaurants? The 8-week promotional campaign used professionally developed advertisements in daily and monthly print publications and posters and table tents in local restaurants. Nine restaurants tracked the sales of selected heart-healthy menu items and comparable menu items sold before and after a promotional campaign. The percentage of heart-healthy items sold after the campaign showed a trend toward a slight increase in heart-healthy menu item selections, although it was not statistically significant.