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Adolescents are spending time inside playing video games or watching television and not
playing outside. A study done by Heather Grossklaus, a pediatric nurse, and Donna Marvicsin, a
clinical assistant professor at the University at Michigan, found that 37% of children spent less
than half an hour playing outside after being in school all day, and 43% spent more than two
hours a day watching television or playing on the computer (Grossklaus, Marvicsin 69). All this
time inside and not participating in physical activity has led to inactivity. Grossklaus and
Marvicsin found that by 2008, approximately 16.9% of children were obese (Grossklaus,
Marvicsin 69). Since 2008, obesity has continued to grow and is now a problem America suffers
from. There are a few prevention techniques that can help reduce the increasing problem of
obesity. Focusing on physical activity, and nutrition plans, and studying ways to avoid obesity
are the ways for adolescents to prevent obesity.
The most common way to lose weight is physical activity. However, for children physical
activity depends on biological, sociocultural and psychosocial factors and their interplay
(Guinhouya 438). Biologically, boys are more physically active than girls. Girls also have more
of a decline in physical activity because of their earlier maturity status compared to boys who
do not mature until later (Guinhouya 439). The childs maturity level also has a role in whether
or not the child will participate in physical activity. If the child is mature and able to understand
the concept how to efficiently get active, then the child will be more successful in physical
activity. For example, if a child knows what muscles are effected by which type of physical
activity, then the child will know how to properly exercise and how to isolate the parts of the
body that need the most work. Also, some children are born with biological problems such as
asthma. If an adolescent is worrying about their breathing, the child is less likely to get involved
in physical activity.

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Psychosocially, children who have an enjoyable time playing games with physical
activity are more likely to exercise. If a child plays a game they have no interest in or had a
traumatic experience in, this will lead to a decline in exercise in the future. The adolescents selfesteem also plays a part in the rise or decline of physical activity. If a child was picked last on a
team for gym, the child will show less motivation in exercise in the future. The psychosocial
factors demonstrate why children may not get involved with physical activity. To solve both
biological and psychosocial problems, children who suffer from pediatric obesity should work on
self-efficiency and confidence (Guinhouya 440). Children should also seek some peer support.
Peer support can lead to more physical activity because it will allow the child to get more
involved community activities and less time doing trivial activities.
Dr. B. Gutin, a member of the nutrition department at the University of North Carolina,
also agrees with the concept of physical activity being the best way to solve the problem of
pediatric obesity, but he also has other ideas. Gutin claims that youths who engaged in exercise
sessions at least 2 days per week showed beneficial changes in total body fatness, visceral
adiposity, bone mass and aerobic fitness (Gutin 29). However, physical activity is not the main
idea of Gutins research. Gutins thesis is that adolescents should focus on body composition
rather than body weight (Gutin 29). This means that instead of using BMI to measure weight,
researches need to go beyond the use of body weight as a surrogate index of fatness and focus
instead on recent research that has measured body fatness (Gutin 30). Health professionals
determine whether or not a child is obese by their BMI, body mass index. The problem with
using BMI to determine if a child has obesity is that BMI uses both fat mass and fat free mass
(Gutin 30). Fat tissue is the problem, not lean tissue, so there it is not necessary to measure both.
Also, if a child is physically active, bone mass and muscle mass will increase. Increasing on

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body composition will make a child more aware of their body. This will allow them to lose more
weight with exercise because they will know which parts of the body to target.
Another method of trying to limit the increasing problem of obesity, with some risks, is
having health professionals assist teachers with the integration of healthy messages into the
school curriculum (Johnston 171). An alternative to having a child finding physical activity on
their own, this program incorporates the physical activity in the classroom so the child will learn
about and participate in activity while in school. A study was conducted in Houston, Texas, based
on this idea of having physical activity in the classroom. The study worked with children in the
age span of 7-9. The teachers had to collaborate with the health professionals to create a week to
week plan to that would inform the children more about healthy activity. The collaboration
between the teacher and the health professional came up with this plan: 5 movements will be
learned every week, one lesson about why movement and activity are healthy, one activity will
be done with the class every two weeks and then one school wide activity on healthy movement
will be executed per semester. After two years of health professionals aiding teachers in a
classroom, results of reducing an overweight adolescents BMI could be shown. However, the
academic grades of an obese student from second to third grade, end-of-the year grades
decreased (Johnston 178). Focusing so much on healthy movement is a program that can reduce
obesity, but substituting the problem of losing education is a decision a parent will have to make
if their child is morbidly obese.
Even though physical activity is the most common way to lose weight, physical activity
can also be a harmful way to the adolescent. When a child suffers from pediatric obesity, the
pain and discomfort overweight children commonly report during physical activity may stem
from skeletal misalignment and/or changes in muscular function (Shultz 579). This means that

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physical activity can cause more harm than benefits. If a childs bones are misaligned then
physical activity is not the route to take to prevent obesity. The next best method to prevent
obesity is diet.
Obesity is such a rapidly growing problem that diets are being suggested to infants. The
time period adolescents are most venerable is during infancy because rapid weight gain is the
strongest risk factor for childhood overweight and obesity (Hardwick 1). There is a crucial point
during the feeding period for infants where there is an increase in protein intake which is an
excess amount the body needs. This increase in protein intake can be associated with pediatric
obesity later on. There have been guidelines create by healthcare professionals for new mothers
to be more aware of the issue of overfeeding their infant and how to address the problem of an
obese baby if the problem occurs. Solving the problem can start at formula companies: formula
manufacturers can reduce the protein content of formulas for infants and young children in order
to support appropriate growth, whilst supplements, fortified foods and milks can supply 'at risk'
micronutrients (Hardwick 1).
If a child is passed the infant stage and they suffer from childhood obesity, there is diet
they can use to lose weight. A diet with a moderate reduction of dietary fructose will have a
positive effect on the body mass index of overweight and obese children (Maier 303). A study
took15 adolescents who suffered from childhood obesity between the ages of 5-9 and put them
on a reduced fructose diet. The results were that after 12 weeks the BMI was signicantly
reduced by 0.68 kg/m (Maier 303). This experiment demonstrated that is a child is not able to
use physical activity that moderately reducing fructose can be a way to prevent obesity.
Even though childhood obesity is a growing problem there are successful ways to prevent
the problem. Physical activity is one way to reduce BMI. Another way is by teaching adolescents

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in a classroom and incorporating physical activity into the work. A diet is an alternative method
that can be used to reduce the BMI. Another way to fix the obesity problem is to stop using the
Body Mass Index as way to determine if a child is obese because it calculates the healthy
portions of the body as well as the unhealthy portions of the body. Diet, learning about physical
activity and actual physical activity are methods that should be practiced by Americas obese
children. Obesity will start to decrease if these methods are followed through.

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Works Cited
Grossklaus, Heather, and Donna Marvicsin. "Parenting Efficacy And Its Relationship To The
Prevention Of Childhood Obesity." Pediatric Nursing 40.2 (2014): 69-86. Academic
Search Complete. Web. 11 Apr. 2015.
Guinhouya, Benjamin C. "Physical Activity In The Prevention Of Childhood Obesity."
Paediatric & Perinatal Epidemiology 26.5 (2012): 438-447. Academic Search Complete.
Web. 11 Apr. 2015.
Gutin, B. "Diet Vs Exercise For The Prevention Of Pediatric Obesity: The Role Of Exercise."
International Journal Of Obesity 35.1 (2011): 29-32. Academic Search Complete. Web.
11 Apr. 2015.
Hardwick, J., and A. Sidnell. "Infant Nutrition - Diet Between 6 And 24 Months, Implications
For Paediatric Growth, Overweight And Obesity." Nutrition Bulletin 39.4 (2014): 354363. Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 Apr. 2015.
Johnston, Craig A., et al. "Impact Of A School-Based Pediatric Obesity Prevention
Facilitated By Health Professionals." Journal Of School Health 83.3 (2013): 171-181.
Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 Apr. 2015.
Maier, Ina B., et al. "A Low Fructose Diet In The Treatment Of Pediatric Obesity: A Pilot
Study." Pediatrics International 53.3 (2011): 303-308. Academic Search Complete. Web.
11 Apr. 2015.

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Shultz, S. P., J. Anner, and A. P. Hills. "Paediatric Obesity, Physical Activity And The
Musculoskeletal System." Obesity Reviews 10.5 (2009): 576-582. Academic Search
Complete. Web. 11 Apr. 2015.

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Outline
Introduction: History of how obesity severely obesity has grown and why obesity is considered
such a problem.
Point 1: Increased physical activity at a young age can help reduce the risk of being obese.
A way to improve pediatric obesity is to focus on body composition rather than body weight.
Point 2: Integrating healthy messages into the core curriculum of elementary education is an
efficient way to reduce obesity.
After two years of health professionals aiding teachers in a classroom, results of reducing an
overweight adolescents BMI could be shown.
Point 3: According to some stories infants need to be on nutrition plans.
Formula companies should reduce the amount of protein in their formulas.
Thesis: Focusing on physical activity, nutrition plans, and studying ways to avoid obesity are the
ways for adolescents to prevent obesity.