Childhood Obesity
The selected topic for my Health Communication project is childhood obesity. I have chosen the topic for several reasons. Firstly, current data has shown concerning trends when it comes to childhood obesity in the United States. Health statistics on childhood obesity from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that 14.7 million or 19.7% of children and adolescents in the U.S. were obese as of 2020. Out of these, 12.7% were two to five years old, 20.7% were six to 11, and 22.2% were 12 to 19-year-olds. Secondly, there are notable racial disparities in childhood obesity that need to be addressed immediately. In the majority of the cases, 26.2% are Hispanic children, 24.8% are non-Hispanic Black, and non-Hispanic White and non-Hispanic Asian children present 16.6% and 9.0%, respectively (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
Thirdly, childhood obesity is associated with multiple chronic health conditions such as poor blood pressure outcomes, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and poor liver health (Faienza et al. 440), among other issues such as joint pain and related issues, low self-esteem, and socialization issues. Fourth, the conditions associated with childhood obesity also contribute to increased costs of care and significantly reduce the individual’s quality of life. These conditions and health outcomes make childhood obesity not only an individual health issue but a population issue of concern.
Another reason for selecting the topic is the extent to which the current social determinants of health and lifestyles influence the high prevalence of childhood obesity. The current culture of easily accessible fast foods and unhealthy eating is contributing to the high prevalence of childhood obesity and associated chronic conditions (Jia et al. 21). Therefore, choosing to focus on childhood obesity contributes to the efforts to address the issue by creating awareness of its existence, developing new insights, and helping improve public health outcomes.
Works Cited
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Childhood Obesity Facts | Overweight & Obesity.” CDC, 17 May 2022, https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html.
Faienza, Maria Felicia, et al. “Childhood Obesity, Cardiovascular and Liver Health: A Growing Epidemic with Age.” World Journal of Pediatrics, vol. 16, no. 5, Oct. 2020, pp. 438–45, https://doi.org/10.1007/S12519-020-00341-9
Jia, Peng, et al. “Fast-Food Restaurant, Unhealthy Eating, and Childhood Obesity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” Obesity Reviews, vol. 22, no. S1, Feb. 2021, p. e12944, https://doi.org/10.1111/OBR.12944.
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Question 
Students will choose a public health topic to use as their Health Communication project throughout the course. Carefully select a topic that can be used to create a health communication described in the final milestone.
Childhood Obesity
Include the following:
Topic
Why it was chosen
Provide supporting evidence (data, source, etc)
( I chose Childhood Obesity)