Public health nursing focuses on promoting the health of a community. This position requires special attention to measures such as conducting community assessments, identifying vulnerable populations, ethical practices, community education, epidemiology, etc. Childhood obesity is one such problem addressed by public health nursing. Obesity has been and continues to be a major global health problem. As a public health nurse, identifying populations, assessing risk, and educating a community all contribute to finding a system that helps address this concern. With increasing rates, particularly among adolescents and children, this health problem constitutes a serious epidemic affecting the entire world. Obesity is defined as excess body fat and is usually measured by comparing weight and height. This process is not perfect and does not distinguish between fat and muscle. Measuring obesity in children is even less specific than in adults. Additionally, there are no established guidelines for defining severe obesity in children (Ogden, 2011). For children up to age 19, height and weight are plotted on a sex-specific graph called BMI-for-age 2000 CDC growth charts shown in the image to the right. Children between the 85th and 95th percentile are considered overweight, while children above the 95th percentile are obese. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2011), obesity among children and adolescents has tripled in the United States over the past generation, reaching 12.5 million, or 16.9% of the population. population aged 2 to 19. For adults, the rates are double those for children and adolescents, at 73 million, or 33.8%. According to Trugilo-Londrigan & Leweson (2011), a fundamental element of public health nursing is the ability to understand the epidemic...... middle of paper...... Public Health, 94 (9), 1555-1559. doi:10.2015/AJPH.94.9.1555.Economic Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Access to affordable and nutritious food. Measuring and understanding food deserts and their consequences: report to Congress. Washington, DC: US ​​Department of Agriculture; 2009. Retrieved from: http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/ap/ap036 .Ogden, CL, Carroll, MD, Curtin, LR, Lamb, MM, Flegal, KM Prevalence of body mass index raised in United States children and adolescents, 2007--2008. JAMA 2010;303:242--9. Singh, G., Siahpush, M. and Kogan, M. (2010). Growing social inequalities in childhood obesity in the United States, 2003-2007. Annals of Epidemiology, 20(1), 40-52. doi:10.1016/j.annepidem.2009.09.008 Truglio-Londrigan, M. and Leweson, S., (2011). Public health nursing: practicing population-based care. Second ed. Sudbury, Massachusetts: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.