How To Reduce Childhood Obesity

The obesity rates are high in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the childhood obesity prevalence has not changed between 2003-2004 and 2011-2012. Around seventeen percent of American youth are obese, the childhood obesity has tripled in the past three decades. More than twelve millions of children in the United States are obese, obese children after age six have a greater risk to be obese as adults.
The obesity health care costs around $150 billion per year, approximately fifty percent of these costs are taxpayer fund, through Medicaid and Medicare.
Childhood obesity increases the risk for many diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, cancer, asthma, obstructive sleep apnea and psychosocial effects (National conference of state legislatures, 2014)
Improving nutrition and food environment changes have a role in decreasing obesity through many strategies such as making the healthy food more attractive and unhealthy food less attractive, changing food prices by making the healthy food cheaper and unhealthy food more expensive, and shifting food exposure. Encouraging children to drink water instead of sugar-sweetened beverages has a role in decreasing obesity among children, because if a child drinks sugared soda daily increases his/her risk to obesity by sixty percent (Frieden, 2010)
Performing regular physical activity in childhood has a role in controlling the body weight, and building the bones and the muscles of the child.
What types of policies could reduce childhood