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what causes obesity in children
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There is a concerning 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, with rates more than doubling in children and quadrupling in adolescents over the past 30 years. According to Childhood Obesity Facts (2015), 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. When discussing obesity, it is important to define the term. Webster’s dictionary defines obesity as an increase in body weight due to excessive accumulation of body fat. It is a condition or disease in which “the natural energy reserve of humans or mammals, which is stored in fat tissue, is expanded far beyond usual levels to the point where it impairs health.” Obesity is most often measured by using the BMI (body mass index), which is calculated by dividing the weight in kilograms by the height squared in meters. A desirable BMI for children to sustain a healthy life is between 18.5 and 25. A child with a BMI over 25.0 kg/m 2 is considered overweight, while a BMI over 30.0kg/m 2 is considered obese, and a BMI over 40 is morbid obesity. According to a survey on childhood obesity (2014), “an estimated 80% of overweight adolescents continue to be obese into adulthood, so the implications of childhood obesity on the nation’s health are huge.” Obesity is a chronic condition that develops as a result of genetic, behavioral, and environmental factors. There are many factors that may influence the occurrence of obesity in children, including genetics, unhealthy home environments, the education system, and the food industry. Research has shown that genetics can play a significant role in the development of obesity in children, with studies indicating that a child’s chances of being overweight or obese are increased by 25 percent if their parents are overweight or obese. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2015) states that “the latest study from Stanford University has found that having overweight parents is the biggest risk factor for childhood obesity” (para 1).
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) discuss about childhood obesity. With CDC, this research is very useful in helping others understand what overweight and obesity is. Having excess body weight for a particular height from fat, bone, muscle, water, or a combination of all is being overweight. Obesity is just having excess body fat. It states about obesity occurring to children and adolescents that has passed since 30 years. The first stage of this phenomenon starts as a person being overweight which will lead to obesity. More than one-third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese. The result for both of these terms is a caloric-imbalance which is an amount of too few calories that is consumed and is affected by many genetics, behavioral, and environmental factors. From this source CDC gives a specific estimate percentage of children aged 6–11 years that is more overly obese. In the United States in 1980 who were obese increased from 7% to nearly 18% in 2012. Furthermore over the same period, the percentage of adolescents aged 12–19 years who were obese increased from 5% to nearly 21%. Additionally, there is a list of health effects of childhood obesity and inform immediate and long-term health effects. Tips are also included here to prevent any other health problems relating to obesity. It does not clearly teach every step of how to prevent it, but giving out ideas on how to solve the problem yourself.
According to Pamela Livingston’s article “Preventing and Treating Obesity” from worldbookonline.com “Obesity occurs when a person takes in more calories in the form of food than he or she burns from energy.” Livingston agues there are three main reasons obesity occurs in children: genetics, environmental, and physiological factors. According to Robert Murray’s article “Obesity” found on Grolier.com, nearly one in six children in America are overweight and one in three are at risk of becoming overweight. This is a huge issue. Both Livingston and Murray’s articles agree that children struggling with obesity have a greater risk of becoming obese as an adult, which can lead to many different health problems. According to Livingston’s article on worldbookonline.com, overweight children can have high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels. When these children gets older the issues become much more serious. Livingston emphasizes that adults suffering with obesity have high chances of developing “type 2 diabetes,...
Although inherited conditions have been linked to childhood obesity, they are rare. However it has been noted that children with obese or overweight parents are more than likely to be obese themselves, the reason for this as described by Heaton-Harris (2007) is because of the length of time it takes to break a bad habit. Unless the parents are correctly informed of healthy diets themselves the problem will continue from an ill-informed childhood into adult hood. Other probable causes are numerous ones. Fast food and processed foods becoming more read...
The human body requires the intake of food in order to function properly. The foods that we decide to eat has an effect on the ability to use are mind, are strength, and even how prone we are to getting sick or hurt. Eating to much of the wrong foods, with little or no exercise can cause the silent but deadly epidemic of obesity in children and in teens. In the past, obesity was just known as a condition that only affected adults. In this generation the youths are becoming more prone to obesity. In 1995 an average of 18 million children all around the world was categorized as being overweight (Rabbitt, Aifric, and Imelda Coyne 731). In a Childhood Obesity Interventions article it says that 17% (12.5 million) of children in the United States is considered to be obese (Rabbitt, Aifric, and Imelda Coyne 731). This outrageous number of overweight children in the world is almost tripled in 2010, where 43 million children under 5 are considered to be overweight (Rabbitt, Aifric, and Imelda Coyne 731). Another staggering statistic is more than 60% percent of the children that are classified as overweight before they reach puberty, will be overweight as they become adults (Rabbitt, Aifric, and Imelda Coyne 731). This leads us to the most stifling fact of there being 2.8 million people in the world that die from being overweight or obese each year (Rabbitt, Aifric, and Imelda Coyne 731). These shocking statistics show how dangerous obesity really is, and should urge everyone to fight against this epidemic.
Obesity has many primary factors that can cause this disease, the main ones being: social, genetic, and economic. Nutrition, physical activity, and family factors also contribute to obesity. Children with obese parents have a fifty percent of being obese. If a child has two obese parents he’s at a higher risk of thirty percent of being obese than a child with one obese parent. Thirty percent of adult obesity begins with childhood obesity. Genetics contributes between five and forty percent of the risk for obesity. Genetic disorders that increase obesity in children are: Down syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, Cushing's syndrome, Alstrὄm syndrome, primary or secondary hypothyroidism, and primary hyperinsulinism. These disorders are responsible for approximately 5% of the obesity in children...
One cause of childhood obesity is genetics. Children who have parents or siblings who are overweight have an increased risk of becoming obese themselves. Genetics accounts for approximately 25 percent to 40 percent to childhood obesity. (Causes of Obesity, 2) Although genetics is a significant factor, diet and lifestyle also play an important role in the increase of childhood obesity.
The healthcare community defines obesity as being 20 percent or more over a person?s ideal body weight, which is based on their height (?U.S. Health Professionals?? np). Usually this is 100 pounds or more over their ideal body weight. Researchers found that the two main causes of obesity are the overabundance of food and people?s sedentary lifestyles (?U.S. Health Professionals?? np). Other causes include genetics, lifestyle choices and environmental factors. These alarming statistics have prompted many to seek a solution for a problem that is clearly not going to go away by itself.
First, there are natural causes of obesity that we cannot control such as genetic and hormonal disorders. Among the rare genetic obesity syndromes is the Prader-Willi Syndrome. It is the most common obesity syndrome due to the loss of imprinted genes. Some illnesses can lead to obesity or weight gain such as Cushing’s disease or Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (“Adult Overweight”). However, these genes do not always predict future health. Multiple genes may increase a person’s susceptibility for obesity and require other factors such as large food portions or little physical activity (“Adult Overweight”). Obesity can also be caused by common Endocrine diseases or hormonal disorders such as Hypothyroidism or the more rare ones such as Cushing’s synd...
While childhood obesity is a serious illness, contributing factors must be understood before a solution can be developed. Childhood obesity may be a result of parental neglect. However, children control certain things that they do. Parents are not always around when their child eats. Therefore, it cannot entirely be their fault. Having a better understanding of childhood obesity and all contributing factors can help lead to a clearer and better understanding of what effects this has on the child’s life overall.
Parents have always known about obesity and what the affects obesity has on people. Although parents have known about this preventable disease, they are just now becoming more aware about what is happening to their own children. Now they want to start pointing fingers as to why these young children are becoming obese; nobody wants to take the blame for putting these young lives at risk. “Greenbalt states in his article that obesity is becoming an epidemic that there is about 300,000 children each year that die because they are overweight....
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.
The effects of obesity in children are immediate health problems as well as long term health problems. According to the WebMD article “Children’s Health” states that “children have fewer weight-related health and medical problems than adults. However, overweight children are at high risk of becoming overweight adolescents and adults, placing them at risk of developing chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes later in life.” Obesity has negative effects on children, which raises concern, because lon...
One might think that the reason so many children are obese is from eating too much food, but in reality there are many more variables. The chance of being obese increases forty-one percent if a child has a TV in his or her bedroom and watches more than two hours a day (Adams, 2010). Some other factors include: belonging to a single- parent family, living in an area without means of physical activity, genetics and lifestyle habits ("Overweight and obesity,"2009; Adams, 2010). Surgeon General, Richard H. Carmona, said, “We have an epidemic of childhood obesity.” In the 1960s just over four percent of children were overweight, but in 2003 that number rose to fifteen percent (Carmona, 2003).
There are multiple case studies that contribute to different effects that leads to children’s obesity and these factors can lead to a higher risk of obesity. The argument among many researchers has been questioned on what effects leads to child obesity? Is obesity genetic or an environmental factor? This issue is extremely important because child obesity can lead to many health problems in adulthood. Obesity is caused by many factors such as little to no physical activity and exceeding calorie intake as well as other factors. In order to have a healthy lifestyle, eating healthy and physical activity can prevent children becoming obese and develop any diseases. Using a Body Mass Index (BMI) measure can predict whether or not the child is obese.
Childhood obesity was recognized in 1909 by insurance companies after evaluating their statistics. “Obesity is defined as an abnormal increase of fat in the subcutaneous connective tissue (Kelly 5). This definition is debated among physicians and the most common way people determine whether another person is obese is simply by looking at the person. However, Kelly states that some professionals aren’t accurate when determining if a person suffers from obesity. According to the Mayo Clinic childhood obesity is when a child exceeds weight for on his height and age.