Over the past forty years various changes in the U.S. "built environment" have promoted sedentary lifestyles and less healthful diets. James Sallis and Karen Glanz investigate whether these changes have had a direct effect on childhood obesity and whether improvements to encourage more physical activity and more healthful diets are likely to lower…

As researchers continue to analyze the role of parenting both in the development of childhood overweight and in obesity prevention, studies of child nutrition and growth are detailing the ways in which parents affect their children's development of food- and activity-related behaviors. Ana Lindsay, Katarina Sussner, Juhee Kim, and Steven Gortmaker…

Studies show that childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States. Today, more than 23 million American children--or nearly one in every three--are overweight or obese. If childhood obesity is left unaddressed, a generation of individuals could face health, social, and economic challenges that promise to stress government…