The Complexity of Adolescent Obesity Causes, Correlates, and Consequences

The research contained in this valuable compendium offers a much-needed perspective on one of the most dangerous health crises our world faces today: obesity. Obesity has become an epidemic, a fact frequently discussed in the media, with many references to both childhood and adult obesity. These discussions, however, overlook an important demographic: the adolescent who is obese or overweight. The authors offer critical insights into the forces and factors that result in the numerous metabolic and psychological consequences of adolescent obesity. The book delves into the prevalence, causes and correlates, and implications and consequences of adolescent obesity, and goes on to present considerations for future action. The research covers many of the causes of adolescent obesity, including increased consumption of high carbohydrate snacks; eating too much, too fast, and too frequently; eating high-fat, cheap, convenient, and readily assessable foods; increased sedentary activities, such as TV watching and video games, accompanied by decreased physical activity; parents and schools lack of nutrition vigilance; and the commercial incentives to sell calorie-dense foods aggressively and relentlessly. Edited by an eminent doctor and professor, The Complexity of Adolescent Obesity is an easily accessible and well-organized volume that offers vital research context for policymakers, educators, medical providers, and families. "

This title includes a number of Open Access chapters. The research contained in this valuable compendium offers a much-needed perspective on one of the most dangerous health crises our world faces today: obesity. Obesity has become an epidemic, a fact frequently discussed in the media, with many references to both childhood and adult obesity. These discussions, however, overlook an important demographic: the adolescent who is obese or overweight. The authors offer critical insights into the forces and factors that result in the numerous metabolic and psychological consequences of adolescent obesity. The book delves into the prevalence, causes and correlates, and implications and consequences of adolescent obesity, and goes on to present considerations for future action. The research covers many of the causes of adolescent obesity, including increased consumption of high carbohydrate snacks; eating too much, too fast, and too frequently; eating high-fat, cheap, convenient, and readily assessable foods; increased sedentary activities, such as TV watching and video games, accompanied by decreased physical activity; parents’ and schools’ lack of nutrition vigilance; and the commercial incentives to sell calorie-dense foods aggressively and relentlessly. Edited by an eminent doctor and professor, The Complexity of Adolescent Obesity is an easily accessible and well-organized volume that offers vital research context for policymakers, educators, medical providers, and families.

Introduction Part I: The Prevalence of Adolescent Obesity Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity in Adolescents: A Systematic Review; Maria del Mar Bibiloni, Antoni Pons, and Josep A. Tur Part II: Causes and Correlations Television Viewing and Food Choice Patterns in a Sample of Predominantly Ethnic Minority Youth; Daheia J. Barr-Anderson, William J. McCarthy, Michelle Yore, Kajuandra A. Harris, and Antronette (Toni) K. Yancey Later Bedtime is Associated with Greater Daily Energy Intake and Screen Time in Obese Adolescents Independent of Sleep Duration; Kristi B. Adamo, Shanna Wilson, Kevin Belanger, and Jean-Philippe Chaput Infrequent Breakfast Consumption Is Associated with Higher Body Adiposity and Abdominal Obesity in Malaysian School-Aged Adolescents; Abdullah Nurul-Fadhilah, Pey Sze Teo, Inge Huybrechts, and Leng Huat Foo Relationship of Milk Intake and Physical Activity to Abdominal Obesity among Adolescents; S. Abreu, R. Santos, C. Moreira, P. C. Santos, S. Vale, L. Soares-Miranda, R. Autran, J. Mota, and P. Moreira The Effect of "Sleep High and Train Low" on Weight Loss in Overweight Chinese Adolescents: Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial; Ru Wang, Dongmei Liu, Xueqiang Wang, Weihua Xiao, Nana Wu, Binghong Gao, and Peijie Chen Waist-to-Height Ratio and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Adolescence: Findings from a Prospective Birth Cohort; L. Graves, S. P. Garnett, C. T. Cowell, L. A. Baur, A. Ness, N. Sattar, and D. A. Lawlor Neurobehavioural Correlates in Older Children and Adolescents with Obesity and Obstructive Sleep Apnea; Evan Tan, Dione Healey, Elizabeth Schaughency, Patrick Dawes, and Barbara Galland Part III: Implications and Consequences Weight Status and Weight-Management Behaviors Among Philadelphia High School Students, 2007–2011; Clare M. Lenhart Katherine W. Bauer, and Freda Patterson Fitness, Fatness, and Academic Performance in Seventh-Grade Elementary School Students; Luís B. Sardinha, Adilson Marques, Sandra Martins, António Palmeira, and Cláudia Minderico Physical Fitness, Overweight and the Risk of Eating Disorders in Adolescents. The AVENA and AFINOS Studies; A. M. Veses, D. Martínez-Gómez, S. Gómez-Martínez, G. Vicente-Rodriguez, R. Castillo, F. B. Ortega, M. González-Gross, M. E. Calle, O. L. Veiga, A. Marcos, for the AVENA and AFINOS Study Groups Adolescent Obesity, Joint Pain, and Hypermobility; Sharon Bout-Tabaku, Sarah B. Klieger, Brian H. Wrotniak, David D. Sherry, Babette S. Zemel, and Nicolas Stettler FTO, Obesity and the Adolescent Brain; Melkaye G. Melka, Jesse Gillis, Manon Bernard, Michal Abrahamowicz, M. Mallar Chakravarty, Gabriel T. Leonard, Michel Perron, Louis Richer, Suzanne Veillette, Tobias Banaschewski, Gareth J. Barker, Christian Büchel, Patricia Conrod, Herta Flor, Andreas Heinz, Hugh Garavan, Rüdiger Brühl, Karl Mann, Eric Artiges, Anbarasu Lourdusamy, Mark Lathrop, Eva Loth,Yannick Schwartz, Vincent Frouin, Marcella Rietschel, Michael N. Smolka, Andreas Ströhle, Jürgen Gallinat, Maren Struve, Eva Lattka, Melanie Waldenberger, Gunter Schumann, Paul Pavlidis, Daniel Gaudet, Tomáš Paus, and Zdenka Pausova Part IV: Considerations for Future Action Changes in Adolescents’ Intake of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and Sedentary Behavior: Results at 8 Month Mid-Way Assessment of The HEIA Study—A Comprehensive, Multi-Component School-Based Randomized Trial; Mona Bjelland, Ingunn H. Bergh, May Grydeland, Knut-Inge Klepp, Lene F. Andersen, Sigmund A. Anderssen, Yngvar Ommundsen, and Nanna Lien Averting Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes in India through Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Taxation: An Economic-Epidemiologic Modeling Study; Sanjay Basu, Sukumar Vellakkal, Sutapa Agrawal, David Stuckler, Barry Popkin, and Shah Ebrahim Big Food, Food Systems, and Global Health; David Stuckler and Marion Nestle Index

Peter D. Vash, MD, MPH, FACE, assistant clinical professor of medicine at UCLA Medical Center and Fellow of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, is a board-certified internist specializing in endocrinology and metabolism and a Diplomat in Obesity Medicine. He is the past president of the American Society of Bariatric Physicians and served on the Board of the North American Society for the Study of Obesity (NASSO). Dr. Vash works in private practice with patients suffering from obesity and eating disorders and has lectured extensively nationally and internationally on the medical management and treatment of obesity. He has been an invited expert witness to speak before a U.S. Senate subcommittee and the FTC concerning medical weight-loss issues and the safety and impact of commercial weight-loss programs. He has written four books: The Fat to Muscle Diet, The Dieter’s Dictionary, A Matter of Fat: A Physician’s Program, and Lose It and Keep It Off. He has served on the board of Shape Magazine, writing numerous articles regarding health, fitness, and weight problems. Dr. Vash has worked closely in consultation with the media (TV, radio, print), aiding them with information and explanations of issues regarding obesity and eating disorders. He is currently the executive medical director of the Lindora Medical Clinics, the largest and oldest medical weight-loss clinic in Southern California.