Prevention of obesity: between scientific evidence and pessimism

Abstract

Obesity as well as the life habits that condition its development in the adult age are almost always originated in childhood. There are increasingly more children who are obese at an earlier age and to a greater degree, also presenting cardiovascular and metabolic diseases at a growing rhythm. It is possible that the resources aimed at preventive actions are being consumed in inappropriate and ineffective interventions that are not successfully reaching children with the greatest risk. It seems clear that these tendencies will not be changed without a global intervention, that is decisive and constant, on the families and social cultural setting and in which the pediatrician should play a main role.