Preventing childhood overweight and obesity

Childhood obesity is widely recognized as a major public health problem of global significance.1 In Latin America, the ever-rising rates of overweight and obesity observed over the past three decades have not spared children and adolescents.The most recent data estimate that between 42.4 and 51.8 million children and adolescents (0-18 years) are overweight or obese, representing 20-25% of the total population of children and adolescents in the region.2 In children younger than 5 years, the estimated prevalence of overweight and obesity based on the WHO Child Growth Standards 3 was reported to be 6.9% (95% CI: 5.8-8.0%) in 2010.4 In school-aged children, national combined prevalences of overweight and obesity reported in the last five years using the WHO growth reference 5 ranged from 18.9% in Colombia (both genders) to 36.9% in Mexican boys. 2 Although not available for the past five years, prevalences in Brazil (2009) and in Chile (1997) were almost as high as those found in 2012 in Mexico, suggesting that the magnitude of excess BMI in these two countries is similar to or even higher than in Mexico. 2 Awareness of the high rates of overweight and obesity during childhood together with the range of health consequences associated with these conditions from