Obesogenic factors influencing overweight among Asian children and youth

Obesity is a public health dilemma worldwide. The prevalence of childhood obesity is increasing tremendously in the world. Overweight children and youth are probable to develop diseases in the later years. This study described the obesogenic factors influencing overweight among Asian children and youth. The study also determined the association of these factors to children and youth weight status. This narrative review obtained thirty-four pertinent articles published between 2010 and 2018. The data were extracted from Google Scholar, EBSCO, and PubMed. Numerous reviewed articles identified obesogenic factors influencing overweight among Asian children and youth as follows: familial factors, food retail environment, Westernization, food advertisement, and unhealthy food choices in school. Familial factors comprise parenting style and socioeconomic status. Food retail environment results were gathered from Thailand, China, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, and Korea. The effect of Westernization was seen in four cities of India and China. Influences of food advertisement were studied in Korea, Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia. Unhealthy food choices in school were evident in South Asia, China, India, and Malaysia. These five factors are considered and an appropriate health program must be established to address this health problem.