Many children from every race spend their days on the couch eating and watching TV

Child Obesity is affecting every ethnic group

Culture is defined as behaviors and beliefs that are characteristic of a particular social, ethnic or age group. This epidemic is affecting all cultures and ethnic groups, therefore no one is immune to this rapidly growing problem. Families are socializing their children to be overweight and obese, which is causing different problems for different cultures. Every culture has different food choices, food availability and body shape preferences. Since each culture has their own beliefs about food this makes it challenging to manage obesity among the different ethnic groups. However some groups are being affected more than others, here are a few facts:

• Rates are alarmingly high among ethnic minorities and low-income communities
• These disparities raise issues for policymakers and practitioners in prevention
• Socioeconomic status affects childhood obesity rates
•  Low-income children watch more TV than high-income children
• Minority and low-income children live in neighborhoods that tend to have more fast food restaurants
• Physical activity may be harder in these neighborhoods due to safety issues and lack of facilities
• Parental behaviors contribute to obesity rates more in low-income areas
• Winning the battle in these areas will depend on changing the social and physical environments in these communities
• Among adolescent girls, 24 percent of African Americans, 20 percent of Mexican Americans and 13 percent of whites were obese
• Obesity rates are higher among African American and Hispanic children and adolescents than white children
• Ethnic minority and low-income obese children are also more likely to experience obesity related health problems
• In order to close the gap, we must focus on media and marketing, food access and availability, environment in home and school settings

The Future of Children:Princeton-brookings. (2011, May 17). Targeting interventions for ethnic minority and low-income populations. Retrieved from http://futureofchildren.org/publications/journals/article/index.xml?journalid=36&articleid=101§ionid=647