The Effects of Socioeconomic Status on Childhood Obesity and the Effectiveness of Intervention Programs

In the United States, the rates of childhood obesity have steadily increased over the past twenty years. There are numerous instances that support this increasing trend which have been documented and they will serve as the basis of evidence proving that there indeed, is a problem that needs to be addressed. Current data supports that areas of a lower socioeconomic status have higher rates of childhood and adolescent obesity, the data shows that this high prevalence is due to a wide range of diet and exercise related factors that are much more common in areas of lower socioeconomic standing.The issue of childhood obesity is currently a severe public health issue due to the fact that poor nutritional choices early on in life set up children and adolescents to make unhealthy choices during their adulthood leading to medical complications and a lower quality of life.. The link between school years and the ages affected by obesity suggests that a combination of school and community-based intervention programs can be effectively used in tandem with one another, in order to reduce childhood and adolescent obesity rates in these lower socioeconomic areas