What kind of successful interventions for obesity prevention in school Research Paper

What kind of successful interventions for obesity prevention in school from 10 to 12 grades have been conducted in the United State - Research Paper Example Intervention programs aimed at obesity prevention for children and adolescents should be a national priority in order to have a healthy nation in future. There is considerable increase in health risk for children and adolescent who are obese or overweight as they are in danger of suffering from diseases such as, hyperlipidemia, type 2 diabetes, asthma and hypertension (Reilly et al., 2003). When children and adolescents with both type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes are compared, youth suffering from the later face increased health complications such as nephropathy and cardiovascular disease associated with diabetes (Eppens et al., 2006). Obesity also results in behavioral and mental issues for the affected children with studies indicating adolescents also experience psychological consequences such including low self-esteem and depression (Reilly et al., 2003). Obesity for children in 1st to 12 grades is a problem that is widespread as it cuts across all social, economic and racial classes. Based on the available data, obesity affects even children from the minority groups that include Native Americans, African-Americans as well as Hispanics in addition to low-income groups. According to Ogden, Carroll, Kit and Flegal (2012), the prevalence of obesity for children from African American (24 percent) and Hispanic backgrounds (21 percent) is higher compared to those from white ethnic background (14 percent). The problem of childhood obesity has led to concerted efforts by stakeholders in education and other welfare organizations to identify the childhood obesity causal factors, the consequence on overall wellbeing of the children as well as the necessary mechanisms to arrest the situation. The consequence of increased interest into the problem of obesity in children and adolescents attending 1st to 12 grades has led to the identification of several contributing factors that have been blamed for