While exploring possible health issues and a population to focus on for my project, I was overwhelmed by the number of issues we are faced with everyday. I narrowed the search down to obesity and the population I would like to focus on is the adolescents. Health People 2010 identified overweight and obesity as one of the top ten leading health indicators that needs serious attention. Obesity has reached epidemic levels globally; being a significant threat to our own nation’s health. Adolescent obesity rates have more than tripled, as the adult obesity rate has doubled since 1980’s (Trust for America's Health, 2011a).
It was interesting to learn of particular statistics and trends concerning adolescent obesity in our nation. Geographic location, racial and ethnic status, and socioeconomic status (SES) all impact the disparities in obesity among the nation’s adolescents. Despite the disparities, there is an overall growing trend with this problem nationally as well as globally. This epidemic continues to be the most prevalent in the south. As Mississippi, for the seventh year in a row, has had the highest adolescent obesity rate in the nation (Trust for America's Health, 2011b). In 2008, Mexican-American adolescent boys and the non-Hispanic black adolescent girls had the highest prevalence of obesity (Ogden & Carroll, 2010). To no surprise, several research studies have found that from a SES, the higher percentage of adolescent obesity is with the lower SES population. Obesity is a threat to our nation’s health. Adolescents are the fastest growing population as it relates to this epidemic. In addition, the obesity epidemic is a big contributor to the skyrocketing health care costs in the United States and is a major risk factor a...
... middle of paper ...
...s/data/hestat/obesity_child_07_08/obesity_child_07_08.htm
Steinbeck, K., Baur, L., Cowell, C., & Pietrobelli, A. (2009). Clinical research in adolescents: Challenges and opportunities using obesity as a model. International Journal of Obesity, 33, 2-7.
Trust for America's Health. (2011a). TFAH initiatives. In Obesity. Retrieved from healthyamericans.org: http://healthyamericans.org/obesity/
Trust for America's Health. (2011b). Reports. In F as in fat: how obesity threatens America's future 2011. Retrieved from healthyamericans.org: http://healthyamericans.org/report/88/
Trust for America's Health. (2011c). Combating the obesity epidemic: A healthier america: Top priorities for prevention. In F as in fat: how obesity threatens America's future 2011. Retrieved from healthyamericans.org: http://healthyamericans.org/assets/files/TFAH%202010Top10PrioritiesObesity.pdf
Childhood obesity has become a huge problem in the United States. Over twenty one percent of African American children are obese, not including the twenty percent who were just overweight. Studies show that the increase in Type II diabetes, which is caused by obesity has increased dramatically in children of African American culture. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) The hospital costs associated with childhood obesity were 127 million dollars from 1997-1999, increasing $92 million from 1979-1981. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) However, long term effects are also a concern for adolescent obesity. Overweight children have a 70 percent chance of being obese or overweight adults, which increases to 80 percen...
Over the last few decades the prevalence of obesity in children and adolescents has been steadily increasing in the United States drawing immediate concern for the coming generations and the overall health and well-being for society. While addressing this concern, a matter of significance has to be reviewed to undoubtedly warrant the attention of the nation and propose factors of government, community, organizational, and individual involvement. According to the Society of Behavioral Medicine, “Since 1960, overweight prevalence rates among children and adolescents have increased more than threefold. In 2003-2006, 16.3% of children and adolescents aged 2 – 19 years were at or above the 95th percentile and 31.9% were at or above the 85th percentile for age and sex based on the 2000 CDC growth charts.” (SBM). Below in Figure 1 taken directly from the CDC, is a chart helping put into perspective the dramatic increase of child and adolescent obesity from 1963 – 2008.
The nation is suffering from a new epidemic from a program that had good intentions. The obesity rate for children has distantly increased over the past years and is continuing to grow. In the past thirty years, obesity has more than doubled in children and has tripled in young adults. This problem has both immediate and long-term effects in health and well-being in children and adolescents. The ...
There is an alarming rise in childhood obesity throughout the United States, making it an epidemic in our country. Obesity has become a threat to the health of many children. Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years. The percentage of children aged 6–11 years in the United States who were obese increased from 7% in 1980 to nearly 18% in 2012. Similarly, the percentage of adolescents aged 12–19 years who were obese increased from 5% to nearly 21% over the same period.(Childhood Obesity Facts, 2015)
As a little enlightenment on obesity, overweight and obesity result from an imbalance involving excessive calorie consumption and/or inadequate physical activity (Buchholz 5). The increases in overweight and obesity cut across all ages, racial and ethnic groups, and both genders. This increase stems from a variety of factors, primarily more consumption of calories and less vigorous activity. Obesity greatly increases the risk of developing many serious medical conditions, including type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis, hypertension, osteoarthritis, metabolic syndrome, sleep apnea, and certain forms of cancer (Davis 270). In 1999, 13% of children age 6 to 11 and 14% of adolescents age 12 to 19 were overweight. This prevalence has nearly...
Obesity has increasingly become a significant public health concern in the United States. In the past four decades, the numbers of overweight children, adolescents, and adults has shot to high margins, and the rise cut cross all ages, races, and ethnicities for both males and females. A recent analysis by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey found that 30% of the American adult aged over the ages of twenty, which is a representation of over 60 million adults, was obese. Still the same survey indicated 16% of those between the ages of 16years and 19 years, which is over 9 million children and teenagers, were obese. This has come with its share of repe...
The obesity epidemic and our nation’s health as a whole have many factors that include socioeconomic status in particular. Socioeconomic Status and Childhood Obesity will always shape our nations vision and mission with what we do with healthcare. Healthcare in America is in a major reconstruction faze, and is in much need of it, obesity and socioeconomic status are going to be the major contributors to this reconstruction.
Today, approximately 25 percent of children and teenagers are obese and the number is on the rise. Since the 1960’s childhood obesity has increased by 54 percent in children ages six to eleven. In children twelve to seventeen it has increased by 39 percent. (Silberstein, 1) Childhood obesity is so prevalent among these age groups that it has reached epidemic proportions.
Childhood and adolescent obesity is a problem of significant concern. Whether obese or at risk, excessive fat is based on the ratio of weight to height, age, and gender of the individual (Ul-Haq, Mackay, Fenwick, & Pell, 2013). Today’s youth are considered the most inactive generation in history thus, childhood and adolescent obesity is more prevalent than ever before. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) documents the obesity rate in children ages 6-11 in 2012 at 18% (an increase from seven percent in 1980), and adolescents at 21% (an increase from five percent in 1980). The obesity rate in children has more than doubled and quadrupled in adolescents over a 30-year period (CDC, n.d). The factors responsible for childhood and adolescent obesity are related to childhood lifestyle, family influence, and community factors (CMA Foundation, 2008). The Healthy People 2020 goal, NWS-10.4, is to “reduce the proportion of children and adolescents aged 2 to 19 years who are considered obese from 16.1% to 14.5%” (Healthy People 2020, 2013). Overweight children and adolescents are at increased risk for severe medical issues that can last a lifetime. Interventions to reduce the incidence and improve the health of young people involve solutions at the primary (low risk youth), secondary (at risk youth), and tertiary (obese) levels (Sweeting, 2008). Parents, caregivers, and medical professionals can work together in diagnosing if the child is becoming obese or if the child is having a growth spurt (Ul-Haq et al., 2013).
Elissa, Jelallian and Steele, Ric. “Handbook of Childhood and Adolescent Obesity”. New York, NY: SpringeScience+Business Media, c2008.Print.
One hundred and forty-seven billion dollars. This is the estimated cost of obesity in the United States (CDC, 2013). Today, obesity is on trend to being one of the biggest public health challenges since tobacco (Perry & Creamer, 2013). In 2010 33.7% of US adults and 17% of children aged 2-19 were considered obese (CDC, 2013). While obesity is rising at an exponential rate, there is disconnect between how society views and defines obesity and the actual medical costs and future health risks the disease holds (ACSM, 2010). This is where medical professionals need to bridge the gap of medical and social construction.
Childhood obesity is an increasing problem here in the United States. According to Schuab and Marian (2011) “Childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions” (P.553). The prevalence of child obesity and overweight has increased over the last 30 years all over the United States, becoming one of the biggest public health challenges (Moreno, Johnson-Shelton, & Boles, 2013). The purpose of this paper is to give a background of the obesity epidemic, a review of current policy, and make a policy recommendation.
Today, it is no secret that America is overweight. Although we still remain the land of the free, we are looked at by the rest of the world as “the fat country”. This is a label that we are not proud of and each day more and more people are becoming aware of the new epidemic called Obesity. In the article “Childhood Obesity in New York City Elementary School Students”, the author Lorna E. Thorpe discusses the numbers and statistics of how many kids are really overweight. “ Findings from the most recent National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey indicate that in 1999-2000, the prevalence of obesity among children aged six through eleven years was 15 percent” (Thorpe et al. 2004). Previous surveys show that in 1960 the obesity rate was five percent, and in eleven percent in 1988-1994. From looking at the information in the surveys you can easily see that the obesity rates are climbing rapidly. With obesity, come many dangerous side effects, both short term and long term. Short term side effects of obesity are “adverse effects on growth, blood pressure, blood lipids, and glucose metabolism” (Thorpe et al. 2004). Long term effects consist of “greater risk of hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, gall bladder disease, and osteoarthritis” (Thorpe et al. 2004). Along with physical effects of obesity, a child will also experience many physiological effects also. “Negative self-image, decreased self-esteem, eating disorders, and lower health-related quality of life” (Thorpe et al. 2004) are all examples of the physiological side effects. These can have a severe impact on a child’s outlook on life as he or she gets older. Although these side effects are prevalent to childhood obesity, no child should have to go through the...
Childhood onset overweight and obesity and its’ associated health consequences are quickly becoming major significant public health issues facing America today. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) define overweight as a body mass index (BMI) between the 85th and 95th percentile while obese is defined as BMI above the 95th percentile for children of the same age and sex . The prevalence of overweight children, defined based on 2009 CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics data, has more than tripled in the past 30 years. Between 1980 and 2006, the incidence of overweight among children aged 6 to 11 years increased from 6.5% to 17.0% while overweight levels for adolescents aged 12 to 19 years increased from 5.0% to 17.6% . Not only has prevalence of child and adolescent overweight and obesity increased dramatically over the last several decades, but being an overweight or obese child puts one at a heightened risk for adult overweight and obesity .
Obesity is one of the leading causes of death in the world; in fact, it is responsible for 300,000 adolescent deaths each year. From 1980 to 2000 alone, teen obesity rates went up 10 percent. Although obesity does not seem like a big dilemma, it is a problem that’s growing every year, affecting children and their lives. Teenage obesity can result from many factors and prove hazardous to a person’s health, yet it is controllable with proper treatment and care.