Child obesity has become a distinct issue amongst youth in the U.S. Obesity in children; overweight is defined as a BMI at the 85th percentile and below the 95th percentile for children of the same age and sex. Obesity is defined as a BMI at or above the 95th percentile for children of the same age and sex. According to the CDC (2015), childhood obesity has more than doubled in the past 30 years. The obesity rate in children ages 6-11 in the U.S. increased from 7% in 1980 to 18% in 2012 (CDC, 2015). On average, 25% of children in ethnic groups such as African American, Hispanic, and American Indians are overweight. This means, that in 2012, more than 1/3 of children were overweight. In this paper, we intend to discuss the issue of childhood obesity and how we can prevent this at the individual and community-based level.
