Obesidad infantil : definición, epidemiología y factores de riesgo asociados

Abstract

Pediatric obesity is one of the most serious problems of public health in the twenty first century and the one that more spending on health represents. There are numerous criteria and charts to define overweight and obesity, however, it is not stated that there is a unified and validated method for all organisms, and depending on the country, the graphics used are different, causing a large variability in the results depending on the system used. This document aims to identify the different existing cut points, the limitations which imply this great variability of different methods and the diagnostic criteria used. We will also discuss its epidemiology through various studies, the increasing prevalence of the disease in different countries, its co morbidity and its major risk factors. Pediatric nursing is a huge responsibility, as its main mission is to prevent the progression of this epidemic through education based on healthy lifestyles and behavior modification and behavior interventions. The approach to the problem should not be aimed exclusively at children but also their families and the institutions around them.