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Obesity Risk

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Handbook of Genomics and the Family

Part of the book series: Issues in Clinical Child Psychology ((ICCP))

Abstract

Obesity rates in adults and children have risen at alarming rates over the past three decades, with one in three adults in the United States being obese and almost one in five children being overweight (Hedley et al., 2004). It has been projected that, for the first time, this generation of children will die at a younger age than their parents (Olshansky et al., 2005). The obesity epidemic has most certainly been fueled by changes in the environments in which people live, primarily in the increase of sedentary jobs, lifestyles and leisure activities, and the easy access to and availability of inexpensive energy-dense foods and drinks. These environmental changes over the past two decades have led many to dismiss the role of genetics as contributing to childhood obesity onset and the current obesity epidemic. However, as noted below, there is compelling evidence that family history and genetics are critical to the onset of childhood obesity; moreover, certain children may be more susceptible or responsive to the “obesogenic” environments in ways that put them at increased risk to gain excess body fat during growth.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA

    Saskia C. Sanderson

  2. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Myles S. Faith

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  1. Division of Health Outcomes & Health Beh, Department of Oncology, Georgetown University, Whitehaven St, NW 3300, Washington, 20007, District of Columbia, USA

    Kenneth P. Tercyak

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Sanderson, S.C., Faith, M.S. (2010). Obesity Risk. In: Tercyak, K. (eds) Handbook of Genomics and the Family. Issues in Clinical Child Psychology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5800-6_14

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