ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the influences on children's, but not infant's, diets in home, community and school environments, focussing on developed countries, using a social ecological theory of obesity causation. When considering childhood obesity, the ability for children to positively engage with an obesogenic food environment should be considered. Body fat is difficult to measure directly, so often it is estimated using the Body Mass Index (BMI) calculated by dividing weight by height squared. The trends in childhood overweight and obesity vary within countries by age, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and geographic location. Theories of behaviour change that emphasize reciprocity, such as social cognitive theory, may assist. Availability and advertising of unhealthy food products may also cluster around other environments children and adolescents frequent. Political arguments for interventions around childhood obesity tend to support either a simple individually-focused energy equation, or a more complex ecological argument of causation.
