Factors of Childhood Obesity in the Latino Community

Child hood obesity is on the rise in the Latino population of the United States. What do Americans associate with this increase in diabetes? Fatty foods, lack of exercise and deficient motivation. Yes, all three of these may be true but what people don’t necessarily take into consideration are the factors that can cause those popular beliefs such as the individual, community and environmental challenges that these Latino children are faced to deal with. San Diego is home to a study looking to prevent obesity in a Latino populated school system. After meeting the required criteria, a total of thirteen public elementary schools participated among three school districts in San Diego County. The subjects were Hispanic children in these schools entering kindergarten, the first or second grade. The total amount of people came out to 812 pairs of student-parents for the study.

Specifically, this study was done to help a population that is prone to morbid obesity find a way to prevent it by reviewing the individual, community and environmental conditions of the Hispanic race. Researchers performed a controlled study in which the procedure began by assessing the parent and child’s height and weight. To evaluate the individual aspect of it parents were required to answer a survey based on their children’s diet and how often they ate certain foods. In regards to the individual’s physical fitness, parents were then asked to rate how active their kids were in relation to other children as well as their ethnicity, gender and background.

If you were a five year old and offered the choice of chocolate cake or banana what would you choose? Obviously a five year old would yearn for the piece of chocolate cake. This takes in account how important it is to encourage young children to pick healthy foods and this was exactly what the parents were evaluated on. People don’t realize the extent of which the familial influence has on obesity. Especially in the case of young children, they will eat what their parents feed them, when they feed them. The diet truly revolves around the family and what is provided. Parent’s play a huge role in their children’s growth and maturity. The study accounted for the demographics of the parent, their job, household size and ethnicity. It has been proven that genetics play a huge role in body composition so a short health report was also assessed. The study did a consistent job by evaluating each aspect of the parent’s role in raising their children.

The last portion of the environmental aspect is schooling. Children spend around 365days out of their year in school and just like any other place of social interaction it affects their well-being. Researchers took into account the amount of recreational time offered and the nutritional value of the cafeteria’s food.
With many individual assessments, the researchers judged their results using
normality and correlation.

Just by looking at the individuals that they studied, nearly half of the children were at risk for being overweight. Comparing the parents BMI’s, one third of them were already over weight and 40% were considered obese. When distinguishing the parent’s contribution to their children’s possible obesity, the parents of overweight children didn’t offer their children support and activity as those of normal weight children. These parents choose to not set limits for their children’s diet. As expected, the parents BMI’s were positively correlated with their children’s BMI, meaning that their parents body composition does in fact effect their own. Culture differences are also a huge factor in obesity. The study found that the more positively the traditional Hispanic families rated their health the more likely they were to have overweight children. Traditional Hispanic families might still have the belief that heavier children are healthier children. Compared to Americans, Hispanic parents also view that when their children are the correct weight according to American standards they are really under weight to their standards. Culture does even affect the ideas of obesity.

This study represents the social, familial and structural roles that reveal the chances of Hispanic children’s developing obesity. It is now becoming more recognizable that it more than just the genetic and dietary aspect of the rising obesity numbers. The genetic component cannot be adjusted but researchers should continue to evaluate the other factors affecting obesity. Because the Latino group has the highest number of obesity among children it is important for this study to progress, many of the issues looked upon are preventable and can be changed. Parents can strengthen the limits, make healthier meals, and encourage exercise with the support of a study that shows results like this.

Elder, John P. "EBSCOhost: Individual, Family, and Community Environmental Correlates of Obesity in La..." EBSCO Publishing Service Selection Page. 24 Aug. 2009. Web. 28 Sept. 2010. .
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