About Child Health And Wellness

Childhood obesity rates have doubled (in some cases, tripled) in developed countries over the past 30 years.¹ Body mass index (BMI) is a measure used to determine childhood overweight and obesity. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have defined childhood obesity has adolescents with a BMI at or above the 95th percentile for children and teens of the same age and sex.² Obesity can cause major health challenges for a child’s body impacting their cardiovascular, digestive, respiratory, muscular, skeletal, and circulatory systems.^3-6 Childhood obesity is also correlated with negative impacts on the social and emotional wellbeing of a child including sleep disruptions, psychological problems, low self-esteem, and social challenges.^7-9

Providing children with environments and interventions to prevent childhood obesity begins early. Child care facilities provide an optimal setting for overweight and obesity prevention due to the vast number of children in out-of-home child care. By providing healthy environments including nutrition and physical activity education, child care facilities can directly affect the health and wellbeing of children in their care to build a foundation for healthy living. One of the goals of the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning is to provide child care providers with information to improve child health and wellness in their facilities.

If you have questions or concerns about the information provided on this site, please contact Diana Myers, MS, RD, LD, Nutrition Health Educator at diana.myers@decal.ga.gov.

1. de Onis M., Blössner M., Borghi E. “Global prevalence and trends of overweight and obesity among preschool children,” The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2010:1–8.
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Defining Childhood Obesity. Accessed December 8, 2020.

1. Cote AT, Harris KC, Panagiotopoulos C, et al. Childhood obesity and cardiovascular dysfunction. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2013;62(15):1309–1319.
2. Bacha F, Gidding SS. Cardiac abnormalities in youth with obesity and type 2 diabetes. Curr Diab Rep. 2016;16(7):62. doi: 10.1007/s11892-016-0750-6.
3. Mohanan S, Tapp H, McWilliams A, Dulin M. Obesity and asthma: pathophysiology and implications for diagnosis and management in primary care. Exp Biol Med (Maywood). 2014;239(11):1531–40.
4. Pollock NK. Childhood obesity, bone development, and cardiometabolic risk factors. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2015;410:52-63. doi: 10.1016/j.mce.2015.03.016.
5. Narang I, Mathew JL. Childhood obesity and obstructive sleep apnea. J Nutr Metab. 2012; doi: 10.1155/2012/134202.
6. Morrison KM, Shin S, Tarnopolsky M, et al. Association of depression and health related quality of life with body composition in children and youth with obesity. Journal of Affective Disorders 2015;172:18–23.
7. Halfon N, Kandyce L, Slusser W. Associations between obesity and comorbid mental health, developmental, and physical health conditions in a nationally representative sample of US children aged 10 to 17. Academic Pediatrics. 2013;13.1:6–13.