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Childhood Obesity
Childhood obesity is on the rise in many countries today. There are numerous causes of obesity in America, and the majority of them can be eliminated simply by household teachings. In her book Fed Up! Winning the War Against Childhood Obesity, Susan Okie explains how childhood obesity is taking over, “The growing numbers of obese children in the United States and in many other countries are victims of an epidemic just as surely as if they were infected with a virus.” The leading causes of childhood obesity include lack of exercise, poor diet, and genetic factors.
Many children become obese due to lack of exercise. Today’s generation of children enjoy television, video games, iPads, and laptops much more than what the earlier generations of children did. Electronics have taken the joy out of things, like going outside to run around and play. In her book Preventing Childhood Obesity: Health in the Balance, Jeffrey P. Koplan includes how to get children involved in others things besides electronics, “Encouraging children and youth to be physically active involves pr...
The overall rate of obesity for children comes in at 17 percent, or about 12.5 million obese children in America today (Doheny 1). The number of children who are obese is growing at a fast rate. Most cases of childhood obesity are caused by eating too much and exercising too little. Extra weight puts children at a risk of serious health problems; such as, diabetes, heart disease, and asthma (Smith 1). Although obesity can be prevented, it has become a growing problem among children due to several factors that lead to health problems.
In order to impede the epidemic of childhood obesity, the actual causes of the problem need to be evaluated and dissected. Obesity in children is becoming a huge problem in American society. In the past three decades, the rate of overweight children has increased by 300%. This is an alarming rate that is only climbing higher. Every member in society should take steps to becoming healthier. This would help the present generations as well as future generations to come. The lifestyle of Americans keeps us too busy to be a healthy society.
To help out with my research on childhood obesity I am creating this annotated bibliography. I am researching the health issues related to childhood obesity as well as the long term effects.
...mption of food and physical activity. To make their children more active, parents should stop buying videogames and set a time limit to decrease the amount of time their children spend in front of a computer screen. Another way to increase physical activity is to encourage children to join an extra-curricular activity. Although it is easiest to prevent obesity at a young age, many people in the United States grow up obese or become obese. To help and to encourage adults who are suffering from obesity, they need to learn the life-threatening effects that accompany the “heavy” burden.
Recently, there have been many active video games that have become popular amongst children that can encourage exercise. Video games such as the Wii and the Xbox connect engage children in a whole new way in which the whole body is actively involved. The scientific journal JAMA Pediatrics conducted a study to evaluate the effects of active video gaming on the physical activity and weight loss in children. The research group conducted a 16-week study on seventy five overweight or obese children that were enrolled into a community-based weight management program. The average age of the participants was 10 years old, the average BMI score was 2.15 and the percent of overweight form the median BMI was 64.3 percent. The participants were broken down into two groups to assess the effects that active video gaming could have on weight loss; however both groups received the family-based pediatric weight management program Join for Me. The participants in the program and active gaming group received a game console and motion capture device and one active game at their second treatment session. They also received a second game in week nine of the program. Participants in the program only group were handed the hardware items and two games at the completion of the 16-week program. The results of the study concluded that the participants in the program and active gaming group exhibited a great increase in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity but the program only group saw a decline or no change in their physical activity levels. In both groups, participants exhibited significant reductions in percentage overweight and BMI scores but the program and active gaming group exhibited a significantly greater amount (JAMA Pediatrics, 2014, p.1). This...
By now almost everyone has heard about child obesity in America, but just how high are the rates? The answer might surprise you. According to Nate Whitman, a writer for The Huffington Post, “rates of obesity have doubled in 2- to 5-year-olds, quadrupled in 6- to 11-year-olds, and tripled in 12- to 19-year-olds” (par. 2). This is due to more children staying inside and only doing activities such as video games. They do not interact with anyone besides whomever they are talking to online. These findings are astonishing to say the least. What can we do to combat this? Involvement in organized sports helps children develop their social skills, improve their academic progress, and stay active.
The lack of quality programs that incorporate fun activities that are geared towards giving children and outlet to burn calories has contributed to the rise in childhood obesity. While some programs are meant to stimulate learning, teaching kids
There are innumerable causes for childhood obesity, like genetics because frequently people are born into a family that is heavier than normal. Also, emotional disorders can be a cause of obesity. Some people eat to deal with their emotions and find relief instead of fding an alternative. However, there are two main causes that have increased childhood obesity, reduced physical activity and overeating. Fast food and technology
Childhood obesity is a major health concern for children in the United States. Childhood obesity refers to kids from the ages of 2-19 years old who have a BMI in the 95th percentile or greater. Childhood obesity is an important topic because it can lead to adult obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and other chronic diseases.1 It can also cause the child to experience bullying, depression, and low self-esteem.1 Some risk factors for childhood obesity are poor diet, lack of physical activity, family history, and the environment. While much of the research focuses on the affect the physical environment has on obesity rates, the social environment is another factor that can affect childhood obesity rates. More specifically, social aspects such as family structure, parental support, parent influence (?), peer issues, and
Childhood obesity is a complicated topic and is complicated to pinpoint what the exact cause is, some of the major factors that contribute to childhood obesity are lack of exercise in their daily lives, poor nutrition, and eating habits; and lack of education among parents to safely help their children live a healthier life.
In a society where obesity has become a major health issue, the physical fitness advantages simply cannot be denied. Between TV viewing, Internet use, video games and cell phones, adolescents spend roughly seven hours per day tethered to an electronic device. Youth sports offer an alternative to fight the ill-effects, such as obesity, of too much screen time. Bucher states that “the potential value of athletics in creating the desire for further activity is important in maintaining physical fitness and preventing a variety of degenerative disease states which are caused by a lack of exercise” (13). Rates of obesity have increased dramatically in recent decades for Americans of all ages including adolescents and although adolescents have fewer weight-related health problems than adults, overweight adolescents are at high risk of becoming overweight adults and are prone to a number of health problems. Obesity can weaken physical health and well-being, resulting in a shortened life expectancy; it can also lead to social disabilities and unhappiness, which may cause stress and heighten risk of mental illness. In Story’s scholarly journal titled “Schools and Obesity Prevention,” she states that “longitudinal data have shown that for each weekday that normal weight adolescents participated in
The cases of obesity among children is high and increasing. Many studies show that parents provide both the genes and the environments in which children develop their diets. Both these variables highly influence the development of children's eating behaviors and weight gain, especially during their first years of life when children are learning about food and eating. Parents and caregivers influence these habits during early learning. The main problem causing todays obesity issue within children is the parents negligence on their children's eating patterns and not providing the necessary education on portion control and creating healthy habits.
Teens used technology consuming excessive amounts of exercise time throughout the day that caused the physical health problem of obesity. Teens were physically active throughout the day before technology was fully exposed to teens. According to the article, Obesity in Children and Technology, Cespedes (2013) stated “The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that approximately 10 percent of preschool age children and 15 percent of 6- to 19-year olds, can be considered overweight. In addition to eating more processed, high calorie foods, active play has been supplanted by technology” (para.4). Teens would take more time outdoors riding bikes, playing at the parks, walking with friends, and swimming at indoor pools that caused them to burn calories while having fun. Most of technology today was at a sedentary state that replaced many of the outdoor activities with teens playing sport video games, using their smartphones, and browsing the internet on the computer or tablets for coun...
Childhood obesity is one of the most serious public health challenges for the 21th century. Child obesity is the effect of children eating too many calories and not getting enough exercise. The problem is a global epidemic this is a great concern because it’s affecting our children and young adults the consequences could be serious. However, it prevalence is increasing in developing and underdeveloped countries. In the United States, childhood obesity is still a major health problem the older the children gets obesity increases. This mean that the child’s weight is above what is normal for his age and height. Obesity is causes by eating too many calories and not getting enough exercise. Poor nutrition is one of the contributing factors
Children are becoming more obese. This is caused in part by a lack of physical activity. Smartphones are ...