Annotated bibliography on Childhood Obesity
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2015). Defining childhood obesity: BMI for
children and teens. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/defining.html
This article is mainly about how the U.S. department of Health and Human services
defines childhood overweight and obesity. It explains how the body mass index is
calculated and the percentile of body mass that is considered overweight and obesity in
children, it also provides an example to help the audience understand these terms and
how the BMI is applied. It is essential for my research to know what these concepts mean
in order to understand what the food policies are based on and what they are trying to
diminish. This article will help me define the concept of overweight and obesity by
answering the definition question that I formulated: How does the United States
government defines overweight and obesity?
Healthy Paso del Norte. (2012). Low income preschool obesity. Retrieved from
http://www.healthypasodelnorte.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=NSIndicator&file=indicator&iid=4494071
Healthy Paso del Norte is a reliable website meant to provide information of our region
related to health. The data found in this source shows the percentage of children
participating in nutrition programs who are considered obese, it also talks a little bit about
the importance of knowing these facts and of raising awareness of this health issue. It is
important to know the magnitude of the problem we are dealing with, and even if the
information only deals with children within the 2-4 age range this data gives us an idea of
the magnitude of the problem. This information will be useful to my research by helping
me answer the research question: What is the child obesity rate in El Paso?
López-Barrón, R. G., Jiménez-Cruz, A., & Bacardi-Gascón, M. (2015). Modifiable
environmental obesity risk factors among elementary school children in a Mexico-US
Border City. Nutricion Hospitalaria, Vol. 31, Issue 5, p. 2047-2053. Retrieved from:
http://0-web.a.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/ehost/detail/detail?sid=3509ca9b-a574-47c1a739fd046b7e8531%40sessionmgr4002&vid=0&hid=4209&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl
2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=a9h&AN=103260870
The population between Mexico-US border cities is comparable, whether it is an
American or a Mexican city, we may say that their populations are similar in many ways,
there is a big percentage of Mexicans and Hispanics living in El Paso and a lot of
Mexican citizens that study in the United States, which is why I decided to use this article
for my research. This article talks about the risk factors for childhood obesity in a
Mexico-US city border, it is a study that analyzes the relation between food availability,
food consumption, and physical activity with BMI and waist circumference among
children; in other words, it analyzes the relation between food environment, physical
activity and obesity. The causes of obesity must be identified in order to address the issue
in the correct way and to look for effective solutions for it, the policies that can be
applied at schools related to food and physical activity must consider all aspects of this
condition, including the causes and consequences of overweight and obesity; this article
will help me identify these causes. This article will help answer the question: What are
the main causes of child obesity in El Paso?
Story, M., Nanney M. S., Schwartz M. B., (2009). Schools and obesity prevention: creating
school environments and policies to promote healthy eating and physical activity. The
Milbank Quarterly, Vol. 88, p. 71-100. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com
This article describes comprehensively the policies and standards applied in schools
regarding healthy environments by implementing regulations to food and physical
activities. It analyzes the effectiveness of the efforts made by schools in obesity
prevention, and it includes valuable information related to obesity rates in the United
States. I will use this article for my community problem report because it is a reliable
source that has wide information about the federal policies that are being applied at
schools and the progress that it represents in the prevention of child overweight and
obesity. This article will help me answer the research question: What policies have been
applied to schools in order to prevent obesity in El Paso? Even if the article is not specific
to El Paso community, it describes the federal regulations regarding food and healthy
environments, which are meant to be applied in all American schools, which is why this
article is useful to me and it will be used for my community problem report.
Texas Department of Agriculture, (2009). Texas public school nutrition policy (SY 2009-10)
Washington, DC: U.S. Department of agriculture. Retrieved from
http://www.kleinisd.net/users/0056/docs/TxSchoolNutritionPolicy.pdf
This document contains the description of the policy issued by the Texas Department of
Agriculture meant to promote healthier environments in public schools. This policy
complements the federal policies and the child nutrition programs by the United States
Department of Agriculture, it includes nutrition standards, portion sizes, and other
regulations destined to improve children’s health. Food-related policies are one of the
main strategies for the prevention of child obesity, which is why this information is
important for my research. It is useful to my community problem report to include an
official document that allows the audience to verify some of the actual regulations
regarding healthy food environments. This document will answer the question: What
policies have been applied to schools in order to prevent obesity in El Paso?
United States Department of Agriculture, (2007). Childhood obesity. D. Smallwood & J.
Guthrie, Informing food and nutrition assistance policy, (p. 41-45). Retrieved from
http://www.ers.usda.gov/media/218464/mp1598i_1_.pdf
The main goal of this chapter is to increase the understanding of the risk factor for child
obesity. It makes connections with child obesity and other factors such as their income,
parents’ obesity rate, among others. I chose to include this article as a source for my
community problem report because it is a quality governmental source that helps me
identify the main causes of child obesity. It is also helpful because it provides another
perspective of the topic, as it associates obesity to factors outside the school environment.
This source will help me to answer the question: What are the main causes of child
obesity in El Paso?
United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, (2015). National School
Lunch Program. Retrieved from http://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutritionassistance/child-nutrition-programs/national-school-lunch-program.aspx
This article is an overview of the National School Lunch Program implemented by
Federal Government as an attempt to fight food insecurity and to increase healthy eating
among children. It describes this nutritional assistance program that gives participating
schools’ students access to free or reduced-price lunches that are also a healthy
alternative that promotes health. This article will help me identify the attempts to reduce
child obesity, and if this kind of programs have an impact in the rate of child obesity,
whether it decreases it or doesn’t affect it at all. The understanding of these programs as
attempts to improve health also gives me a broad idea of the food environments in
American schools in general. This article will add to the research question: What policies
have been applied to schools in order to prevent obesity in El Paso?