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Causes of obesity and its effects
Causes of obesity and its effects
Causes of obesity and its effects
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Childhood obesity is a serious problem among American children. Some doctors are even calling childhood obesity an epidemic because of the large percentage of children being diagnosed each year as either overweight or obese. “According to DASH sixteen to thirty-three percent of American children each year is being told they are obese.” (Childhood Obesity) There is only a small percentage, approximately one percent, of those children who are obese due to physical or health related issues; although, a condition that is this serious, like obesity, could have been prevented. With close monitoring and choosing a healthier lifestyle there would be no reason to have such a high obesity rate in the United States (Caryn). Unfortunately, for these children that are now considered to be obese, they could possibly be facing some serious health conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes, and some types of cancers. All of these diseases have been linked to obesity through research. These children never asked for this to happen to them; however, it has happened, and now they will either live their entire life being obese, or they will be forced to reverse what has already been done (Childhood Obesity). 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.... ... middle of paper ... ...ease Control and Prevention: WWW.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/obesity Services: Childhood Obesity in America. (n.d.). Retrieved Jan 22, 2011, from Seattle Sutton's Healthy Eating: www.seattlesutton.com/media/document/childhood-obesity-in-america Chubb, P. 17,June2010 (n.d.) Microsoft’s Kinect for the Xbox 360: Why it will fail, Retrieved 22,Jan2011http://www.product-reviews.net/2010/06/17/microsofts-kinect-for-xbox-360-why-it-will-fail/ Greenbalt, A. (n.d.). Obesity Epidemics. Retrieved Jan 10, 2011, from CQ Researchers: http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/ Institute of Medicine. (n.d.). Retrieved Jan 10, 2011, from Childhood Obesity Prevention Actions for Local Government: www.iom.edu/Activities/Childhood/LocalObesPrevention.asp L., W. R. (1997, Sept 26). Youth Fitness. Retrieved Jan 10, 2011, from CQ Researcher7 841-864: http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/
Obesity in children across America has become an increasing public health concern. Obesity has been identified as an epidemic that is plaguing our children in the United States. In some countries around the world children are dying of starvation everyday. How can this happen when here in America the opposite is a major problem? This is not to say that in America there are no hungry or starving children. It has been proven that our children suffer from obesity, and “children who are overweight or obese as preschoolers are five times as likely as normal-weight children to be overweight or obese as adults” (“Hope”). Obesity not only can cause a child to become more prone to having health problems down the road, but it can also make them feel insecure about themselves. There needs to be action taken in schools as well as in homes to help prevent this growing epidemic.
... physical education (J. Sproule, Ed.). Retrieved February 25, 2014, from Sage Journal website: http://epe.sagepub.com/content/11/3/257.short#cited-by
J.F. Sallis (1993) “Epidemiology of Physical Activity and Fitness in Adolescents”, in Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, Vol.33. no.4-5, 403-408.
Many would argue that children should not focus on their weight because children should lead a youth with little worries, yet obesity affects a child much more than people with that argument think. Being overweight can cause increased risks for several serious diseases and even can result in decreased mental health on account of low self-esteem and social discrimination. Children who are overweight also are at least twice as likely to have heart disease, diabetes, and orthopedic problems (Internicola, 2009). Sadly, children are being pressured into unhealthy lifestyles even more so than adults are.
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.
It is imperative that society coalesces to help prevent childhood obesity. No child or parent wants to suffer through any type of heart condition or disease, whether it be now or later on in their lives. Experts have seen the rising obesity rate as a wake-up call to take the “epidemic” of childhood obesity very seriously. Because of the fact that childhood obesity is interconnected with so many health issues it significantly affects lifespans. Childhood obesity can be prevented and needs to be in order to ultimately save the lives and future lives of children.
...clude, obesity epidemic in America has become a real threat for the American children and first who can stop it are the parents” (Childhood Obesity Epidemic)
“This might be the first generation where kids are dying at a younger age than their parents and it's related primarily to the obesity problem.” Judy Davis. Childhood obesity is not a new term by an means but in the last few years it has grown in popularity. Some call childhood obesity the next “national epidemic”, sounds pretty scary especially when it’s effecting the youngest of Americans. Obesity is among one of the easiest medical condition to recognize but is the most difficult to treat. Children who are overweight are 10x more likely to become overweight adults unless they change their eating habits and exercise. (“Childhood Obesity. Pg 1). 30% of adult obesity begins in childhood, it is also said obesity is the cause of 300,000 deaths a year and cost society an estimated $100 billion a year. Today, about one third of American’s children and teens are considered to be overweight or obese, it has nearly tripled in size since 1963 (“Childhood Obesity”. Pg 1). Obesity is causing numerous health problems that typically aren’t seen until adulthood. Childhood obesity can effect the physical, emotional, and social well-being of a child.
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).
Michli, L.J. Strength Training in the Young Athlete. Competitive Sports for Children and Youth. 96-97. 1988.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2010). Healthy Youth!. Retrieved March 20, 2010 from http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/obesity/.
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.
Obesity is a modern epidemic in America and is starting to become our society’s “norm.” According to an article in Progress in Health Sciences, childhood obesity is the most frequent eating disorder (Koukourikos). There are several factors that contribute to the childhood obesity epidemic. Should we solely shun the parents of obese children for this? No, we should not. There is not one single person to blame, but several people, along with our society. Family, friends, and schools all play a very important role in teaching children about healthy food choices and exercise. Children may have a greater risk for obesity due to genetic factors. We need to constantly remind our children how important it is to maintain a healthy lifestyle so that
A lot of children are overweight and obese too, unfortunately. Childhood obesity is especially sad because, for the most part, the parents are at fault. The child, especially when they’re young, have no control over what they eat and couldn’t try to be healthy, even if they wanted to. “In 2013, 42 million children under the age of 5 were overweight of obese.” (Obesity and
Parents are not teaching children how to eat healthy. They feed them cheeseburgers, chicken fingers, and fries. Kids are not being exposed to a regular diet of health fruits and vegetables. Now some people are just naturally overweight, but being “overweight” is not the same as being “obese.” Someone who is overweight has reached a maximum weight limit for their height. When someone goes beyond this maximum limit, then they are considered “obese” (Kiess 1). Research shows that “obesity is generally defined as the abnormal or excessive accumulation of fat in adipose tissue” (Kiess 1). The increase in childhood obesity today is mainly the fault of the parent because they are unable to tell their children “no” when it comes to junk food (Kiess 104). Parents are the one buying all the food that comes into the house. They are the ones buying the sugary drinks and chips. They are the ones allowing the children to “have what they want.” Because parents are not teaching their children how to eat healthy, we will continue to see childhood obesity increase. Unfortunately, overweight children will be the ones who suffer because statistics show children who are overweight are more likely to become obes...