Preventing Obesity and Promoting Fitness

Abstract

The prevalence of overweight and obesity among youth has increased markedly in the past 2 decades in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2010, more than one-third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese. A number of obesity prevention and intervention programs focus on the individual by utilizing intrapersonal theories to encourage the individual to eat healthy and participate in physical activity. The purpose of the current article is to go beyond the individual level and approach obesity with an ecological perspective because it may prove to have a larger influence. The ecological systems theory (EST) by Bronfenbrenner postulated that human development is influenced by a reciprocal relationship between the individual and their social system. In the context of physical activity, health behaviors occur within and are influenced by the multiple systems within which youth reside. This manuscript explores Bronfenbrenner’s EST framework comprising 4 systems: microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem. Each level of the system is explored and applied to the obesity epidemic among youth.