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Epidemiology of Obesity in Children and Adolescents pp 391–418Cite as

Environmental Factors: Opportunities and Barriers for Physical Activity, and Healthy Eating

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Part of the book series: Springer Series on Epidemiology and Public Health ((SSEH,volume 2))

Abstract

While genetic factors play a role in the development of obesity, the dramatic increase of its ­prevalence in the past 20 years strongly suggests that environmental factors are largely responsible. The history of human race during the past 20 years has seen a drastic and extremely rapid evolution of the environment (British Medical Association (BMA) 2005). While more than 100 years ago, “saving steps” documents were published (Fig. 22.1) (Van Rensselaer 1901), nowadays we are recommended to strive for 10,000 steps per day (Lindberg 2000; Mummery et al. 2006; US Department of Health and Human Services 1996).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Based on rankings of conference participants (n  =  41).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    Inge Huybrechts & Stefaan De Henauw

  2. Department of Movement and Sports Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij

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  1. Inge Huybrechts
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  2. Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij
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  3. Stefaan De Henauw
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Fac. Ciencias, Inst. Ciencia de Materiales de Aragon, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, 50009, Spain

    Luis A. Moreno

  2. FB Mathematik und Informatik, Inst. Statistik, Univ. Bremen, Bibliothekstr. 1, Bremen, 28359, Germany

    Iris Pigeot

  3. und Sozialmedizin (BIPS), Bremer Institut für Präventionsforschung, Linzer Str. 8-10, Bremen, 28359, Germany

    Wolfgang Ahrens

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Huybrechts, I., De Bourdeaudhuij, I., De Henauw, S. (2011). Environmental Factors: Opportunities and Barriers for Physical Activity, and Healthy Eating. In: Moreno, L., Pigeot, I., Ahrens, W. (eds) Epidemiology of Obesity in Children and Adolescents. Springer Series on Epidemiology and Public Health, vol 2. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6039-9_22

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