The Pros And Cons Of Childhood Obesity

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Childhood obesity has been on the rise in the last couple of years. In the 1970’s childhood obesity was never a concern to the public until the number increased over the years. An alarming rate of 31% of all adults have been obese since they were children and the rates of childhood obesity don’t fall too behind with an 18% of children being obese. That makes almost half of obese adults and children. A child that is obese has a 70-80% higher chance of staying obese even through their adulthood if no action is taken. Childhood obesity is not something children are in control of, these children suffer from different outcomes since they can’t look after themselves and heavily rely on someone to aid them when they need it. These numbers can be drastically altered in a positive way by educating both children and parents about healthy, nutritious foods to consume, supplying schools with better lunch and healthier vending machines with healthy choices and promoting after school activities to keep children active and away from electronics. According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services there have been a notably large number of deaths due to obesity since it leads into other diseases like heart disease, type two diabetes and high blood pressure. Over weight and obese people in general Villegas 2 have a higher rate of dying from other leading causes of death such as heart attacks or cancer. Someone that is obese and overweight can also develop cardiovascular disease, respiratory failure or die from a stroke. Children can also have mental problems like suffering from depression, have low self-esteem and can exclude themselves due to other children putting them down and making them feel insecure. Medical experts say ... ... middle of paper ... ... a major concern. Having a widespread of individuals that are well educated can serve as a foundation for schools, after school programs and parents that are trying to better their Villegas 10 children’s weight to stay under control. Step by step everyone can make a difference for a child’s life. Introducing better healthier choices in vending machines, enrolling them in an after school program and limiting the amount of time they spend inside playing video games or any type of social media entertainment can really help them out. Children are very dependent of their parents being there for them and to lead them into the right direction since they don’t know any better and just mimic what they parents do. In the end childhood obesity is not something that can just vanish; it’s a process everyone needs to be a part of to accomplish a better living children deserve.

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