Dr. Casey Gray (Project Manager) was recently interviewed about childhood obesity by Alive Magazine in an article titled, “Overweight and Underactive: Reducing the risk of childhood obesity.”
From the article:
During the 1980s and 1990s, childhood obesity in Canada tripled from 5 to 15 percent. Today, almost one-third of children are overweight or obese. How did this happen so fast? Genetics play a very small part. Instead, this growing problem is linked to rapid changes in lifestyle and environmental factors—at home, at school, and in the community.
Diet and exercise are key issues when it comes to childhood weight management. But is there more to it than this?
According to Dr. Casey Gray, project manager for the Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group in the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, “We often talk about energy in versus energy out, but we now know that the problem is a lot more complicated.”
Emerging issues in the battle against childhood obesity include access to technology, which could lead to more sedentary time; evidence that poor sleep patterns alter metabolism and appetite; and overprotective parenting and regulations, which hinder opportunities to play.
Click here to read the entire article.
