PSA for Psych 391CA Seminar

1. Childhood and Adolescence
Obesity:
Promoting a Fit and Active Future

2. Audience
Parents of children and adolescents ages 2-16
Children may be less receptive to the announcement than their parents would be. The initiative to
take action within their families would be stronger in the parents than it would in their kids

3. Major Factors
Obesity Symptoms:
Breathlessness
Snoring
Feeling tired every day
Back and joint pain
Low confidence/feeling
isolated
Increased sweating
Obesity Consequences:
● Diabetes
● Heart Disease
● Asthma
● High blood pressure & high
cholesterol
● Sleep apnea
● Anxiety/depression
● Social issues (bullying & stigma)

4. How to Effectively Change
For parents: Promote healthy eating habits within the family. Ween your children away from fast food and
other unhealthy dietary choices. Educate your children on the importance of a healthy diet, and what foods
to avoid or reduce their intake of.
Get your children involved in extracurricular athletics or physical activities such as school sports or routine
workouts at the gym. Limit the time children spend behind screens, which takes away from time that could
be spent on physical activity.
Children and adolescents should partake in 60 minutes or more of physical activity per day.

5. Next Steps
Possible interventions
Minimize cross cultural, SES, gender, age, etc. disparities
- Utilize programs like CHIP
Look to CDC’s Early Care and Education (ECE)
- Obesity prevention framework
- Has a direct impact on what children consume, how involved they are in
physical activity
- Supports early education facilities to try and reach standards and teach best
“prevention efforts must
target our youngest
children” * **

6. References
1. Obesity symptoms. (n.d.). Retrieved February 21, 2017, from
https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/obesity-symptoms
2. Childhood Obesity Causes & Consequences. (2016, December 15).
Retrieved February 21, 2017, from
https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/causes.html
3. 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans Summary
https://health.gov/paguidelines/guidelines/summary.aspx
*Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Kit BK, Flegal KM. Prevalence of childhood and adult obesity in the United States, 2011–2012. JAMA.
2014;311(8):806-814.