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Keywords

Obese children, childhood obesity

Abstract

Obesity is experiencing a problematic rise in America. Children develop habits that potentially last a lifetime, which also dictate their medical fate. The focus of this study was to identify and decrease the factors of childhood obesity through education, healthy eating, and changes in food choices through surveys administered by the researchers. Previous research has linked obesity to the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes and chronic diseases in children through decreased physical activity and poor diet due to the lack of essential nutrition knowledge. Other factors contributing to childhood obesity include poor food preparation/creation, deceptive advertising, cultural habits, and an increased demand for fast and convenience foods; leaving children’s recognition and desire for healthy food choices clouded. The purpose of this study was to discover the factors contributing to childhood obesity in the Hispanic culture. Therefore, childhood obesity factors were explored that related to and specifically linked food purchases, childhood activities, and eating patterns. The study took place with a prevalently Hispanic population within Springdale, Arkansas. The findings indicated that price, as well as nutrition and taste, were major factors when purchasing food. In addition, what a child ate, the amount of food the child ate, what the child weighed, and if the child participated in some form of exercise were determined to be factors contributing to childhood obesity.

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