TY - BOOK AU - Institute of Medicine A2 - Lynn Parker A2 - Matthew Spear A2 - Nicole Ferring Holovach A2 - Stephen Olson TI - Legal Strategies in Childhood Obesity Prevention: Workshop Summary SN - DO - 10.17226/13123 PY - 2011 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/13123/legal-strategies-in-childhood-obesity-prevention-workshop-summary PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Food and Nutrition KW - Health and Medicine AB - Since 1980, childhood obesity rates have more than tripled in the United States. Recent data show that almost one-third of children over 2 years of age are already overweight or obese. While the prevalence of childhood obesity appears to have plateaued in recent years, the magnitude of the problem remains unsustainably high and represents an enormous public health concern. All options for addressing the childhood obesity epidemic must therefore be explored. In the United States, legal approaches have successfully reduced other threats to public health, such as the lack of passive restraints in automobiles and the use of tobacco. The question then arises of whether laws, regulations, and litigation can likewise be used to change practices and policies that contribute to obesity. On October 21, 2010, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) held a workshop to bring together stakeholders to discuss the current and future legal strategies aimed at combating childhood obesity. Legal Strategies in Childhood Obesity Prevention summarizes the proceedings of that workshop. The report examines the challenges involved in implementing public health initiatives by using legal strategies to elicit change. It also discusses circumstances in which legal strategies are needed and effective. This workshop was created only to explore the boundaries of potential legal approaches to address childhood obesity, and therefore, does not contain recommendations for the use of such approaches. ER - TY - BOOK AU - Institute of Medicine A2 - Leann L. Birch A2 - Lynn Parker A2 - Annina Burns TI - Early Childhood Obesity Prevention Policies SN - DO - 10.17226/13124 PY - 2011 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/13124/early-childhood-obesity-prevention-policies PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Health and Medicine KW - Food and Nutrition AB - Childhood obesity is a serious health problem that has adverse and long-lasting consequences for individuals, families, and communities. The magnitude of the problem has increased dramatically during the last three decades and, despite some indications of a plateau in this growth, the numbers remain stubbornly high. Efforts to prevent childhood obesity to date have focused largely on school-aged children, with relatively little attention to children under age 5. However, there is a growing awareness that efforts to prevent childhood obesity must begin before children ever enter the school system. Early Childhood Obesity Prevention Policies reviews factors related to overweight and obese children from birth to age 5, with a focus on nutrition, physical activity, and sedentary behavior, and recommends policies that can alter children's environments to promote the maintenance of healthy weight. Because the first years of life are important to health and well-being throughout the life span, preventing obesity in infants and young children can contribute to reversing the epidemic of obesity in children and adults. The book recommends that health care providers make parents aware of their child's excess weight early. It also suggests that parents and child care providers keep children active throughout the day, provide them with healthy diets, limit screen time, and ensure children get adequate sleep. In addition to providing comprehensive solutions to tackle the problem of obesity in infants and young children, Early Childhood Obesity Prevention Policies identifies potential actions that could be taken to implement those recommendations. The recommendations can inform the decisions of state and local child care regulators, child care providers, health care providers, directors of federal and local child care and nutrition programs, and government officials at all levels. ER -