Childhood obesity has more than tripled over the last 40 years, with 20% of children being overweight in the U.S. There are various long-term consequences of this: Delayed development (i.e., FMS, social-emotional, cognition), Physical, Physiological, and Psychological. There have been identified determinants of weight status: Physical Activity (PA) and Sedentary Behavior (screen time and non-screen based). When it comes to being physically active, children younger than 5 years old should engage in 180 minutes of PA per day however, less than 50% of young children meet this guideline. Children younger than 5 years old should not be sedentary for more than 1 hour at a time and not have greater than 1 hour of screentime per day, yet only 35% of young children meet this guideline.
About 15% of children are diagnosed with at least 1 developmental delay and there is a greater risk for low socioeconomic (SES) communities.
In a social-ecological lens: Neighborhood income is a determinant of community PA programs, Home environment is associated with early childhood PA, and SES disparities exist among young children’s development and PA level
