According to Vanderbilt University, the childhood obesity epidemic may not be effectively mitigated through just diet and exercise.
The newly released report, titled “Reframing Childhood Obesity: Cultural Insights on Nutrition, Weight, and Food Systems,” suggests that centering solely on a child’s diet and exercise may heighten weight discrimination and fuel biases about how overweightness stems from a lack of self-discipline.
“The most effective and sustainable efforts to improve child nutrition and health take into account cultural contexts and colonial legacies as well as nutritional science,” the report states.
“Rather than focusing on particular nutrients, acknowledge food as embedded in cultural contexts, allowing for creative adaptation to local circumstances,” the report also states.
“Understand and build on cultural dynamics around children’s food, engaging youth through policy dialogue and school lunch programs.”
You can read the report by clicking here.