Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Associations Between Family And Parental Factors And Childhood Obesity, Kido Uyamasi, Shimin Zheng, Sheryl M. Strasser

Appalachian Student Research Forum

Background: Obesity is a complex health issue, which results from the interaction between many determinants: genetics, physical environments, society, economy, and culture. Data indicate that about 19% of American children (2 to 19 years) have obesity, a condition that considerably affects physical and mental health and that usually continues into adulthood. Aside from its direct physical and mental effects, there is strong evidence that childhood obesity is strongly associated with early onset and adult cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. Family and parental factors, which have both genetics and environmental components, have long been implicated in previous research as major forces in …