History of nutritional education and childhood obesity during the age of increasing scale of the problem

Abstract

Introduction and objective Overweight and/or obesity concern almost every third 8-year-old in Poland. Obesity is a chronic disease of complex etiology and a risk factor for many other non-communicable diseases. This study characterises the image of an obese person over the centuries, presents the history of obesity and nutritional education, and evaluates its impact on the state of health of the youngest. Review methods The PubMed database and the following phrases were used for the search: history of obesity and childhood obesity, history of nutritional education. Brief description of the state of knowledge The image of an obese person has changed over the centuries. Once identified with great wealth and privilege, today it is associated mainly with numerous health and socioeconomic issues, low income and education, and thus, the reduced quality of life. The prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents has been growing alarmingly over the last 40 years. The current situation results from several changes in upbringing and lifestyle of children. In the 21st century obesity is a disease from which the entire family suffers. Fast and effective intervention is needed to reduce the body weight of the young population. One of the most effective methods is nutritional education. The first concepts of nutritional education reach the beginnings of problems with excessive body weight. Education is a dynamic and complex process that must be tailored to the needs and cognitive capacity of the individual recipient and his/her immediate environment. Summary Nutritional education and the prevalence of excessive body weight among children and adolescents are two inseparable elements. Nutritional education can bring long-term and measurable effects of weight loss and a decrease in the number of young people struggling with overweight and obesity.

Keywords

• obesity
• nutritional education
• overweight
• child
• childhood obesity