The increasing prevalence of overweight children and adolescents in the United States threatens the well-being of a vast segment of this population. This paper examines how U.S. health plans can promote evidence-based behavioral-change strategies by directly intervening in medical settings and by supporting efforts to modify the environments in which young people live, study, and play. We describe a variety of innovative initiatives launched in recent years by health plans to address overweight among children and adolescents. Despite gaps in the evidence base, enough is now known to support aggressive steps to control this important public health problem.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.26.2.430 | DOI Listing |
BMC Public Health
January 2025
Department of Nutritional Behaviour, Max Rubner-Institut (MRI) - Federal Research Institute of Nutrition and Food, Haid-und-Neu-Straße 9, 76131, Karlsruhe, Germany.
Background: The reformulation of commonly consumed foods towards less sugar, fat, and salt is an important public health strategy to improve food choices of consumers and thus address the high prevalence of overweight and obesity. Front-of-pack nutrition labels like the Nutri-Score may drive reformulation and support nutritionally favourable food choices. Breakfast cereals are of special interest in that they tend to be high in sugar and are relatively often targeted at children.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWorld J Pediatr
January 2025
Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München-German Research Center for Environmental Health, Ingolstädter Landstraße 1, 85764, Neuherberg, Germany.
Background: Some studies have revealed various sleep patterns in adolescents and adults using multidimensional objective sleep parameters. However, it remains unknown whether these patterns are consistent from adolescence to young adulthood and how they relate to long-term obesity.
Methods: Seven-day accelerometry was conducted in German Infant Study on the influence of Nutrition Intervention PLUS environmental and genetic influences on allergy development (GINIplus) and Influence of Lifestyle factors on the development of the Immune System and Allergies in East and West Germany (LISA) birth cohorts during the 15-year and 20-year follow-ups, respectively.
J Perinat Med
January 2025
Tufts Medical Center, Mother Infant Research Institute, Boston, MA, USA.
Objectives: Maternal obesity increases a child's risk of neurodevelopmental impairment. However, little is known about the impact of maternal obesity on fetal brain development.
Methods: We prospectively recruited 20 healthy pregnant women across the range of pre-pregnancy or first-trimester body mass index (BMI) and performed fetal brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of their healthy singleton fetuses.
Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act
January 2025
Global Centre for Preventive Health and Nutrition, Institute for Health Transformation, School of Health and Social Development, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Burwood, VIC, 3125, Australia.
Background: Effective evidence-based physical activity and nutrition interventions to prevent overweight and obesity and support healthy child development need to be sustained within Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services. Despite this, little is known about factors that influence sustainability of these programs in ECEC settings. Therefore, the aim of this study was to describe the factors related to sustainability of physical activity and nutrition interventions in ECEC settings and examine their association with ECEC service characteristics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Rep
January 2025
Global Health and Migration Unit, Department of Women's and Children Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, 751 85, Sweden.
Malnutrition among women of reproductive age is a critical public health issue in LMICs, where undernutrition coexists with rising overweight and obesity rates. In Ethiopia, particularly among urban women, maternal and child undernutrition remains high despite efforts to combat poverty and food insecurity. This study examined the relationship between food affordability and the nutritional status of 4797 women in Addis Ababa.
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