Re-broadcast DR. Knowell and Brown : Childhood Obesity Shaping the Future

There has been a growing crisis of childhood obesity in the United States. It is now being regarded as one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21st century. In the United States, one -third of all children, ages 2-19, are considered overweight or obese.  The increase in the number of overweight and obese children in the United States could be caused by several factors including nutrition and certain social determinants. Children from households that do not have access to healthy, nutritious foods are significantly more likely to be obese earlier in life than other children. Therefore, eliminating or reducing preventable risk factors such as unhealthy nutrition and childhood obesity could have important implications for reducing clinical manifestations of adult cancer outcomes. We are conducting a study enrolling South Carolinian children from varying degrees of rurality to determine if obesity and/or high-fat pro-inflammatory diets contribute to increased levels of pro-inflammatory markers raising the possibility that long-term chronic inflammation may contribute to and increase the risk  of adult cancers. These subjects will be randomized into obese and non-obese groups based on BMI guidelines. We plan to assess the levels and transcription profiles of pro-inflammatory genes collected from these subjects using DNA sequencing and proteomics technology.Comparison of transcription patterns, geographical area, demographics, and socioeconomic between subjects enrolled in the study will also allow us to establish whether nutrition, obesity or the combination is the contributing factor to the enhanced chronic inflammatory state implicated in carcinogenesis. Reducing childhood obesity, pro-inflammatory diets, increasing physical activity and access to healthy foods are beneficial in the reduction of cancer risk and will serve as preventive measures for early-stage onset of adult cancers.