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Essays on childhood obesity in the united states
Fast food companies responsible for obesity
Cause of childhood obesity
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Daniel Weintraub, in his article, "The battle against fast food begins in the home", proclaimed that parents are to blame for childhood obesity. Childhood obesity is important because it affects 26 percent of school children. We should care about obesity in children because if parents take responsibility for their children’s unhealthy lifestyle then obesity wouldn 't be very common throughout children. Basically, what is at stake here is he many risk factors of childhood obesity, such as diabetes and stroke. My discussion will address the fact that initially parents are the ones who are supposed to instill good eating habits, encourage physical activities, and to serve as role models for their children. It is the role of the parents to instill …show more content…
While you may think of obesity as just an appearance issue, I define it as an epidemic of being overly unhealthy, with many risk factors such as stroke or diabetes, it can be deadly. When it comes to the topic of obesity, most people would concur that it is an ever growing problem. Where this agreement ends, however, is on the question of, who is to blame for the epidemic of childhood obesity? On one hand a portion of people believe it is the parents fault of the growing epidemic of childhood obesity, whereas, others are persuaded that it is the fast food companies job to inculcate children with good eating habits My view however is that the prevalence of obesity throughout children in America is all at the fault of parent not teaching their kids healthy eating …show more content…
Nevertheless, the “blame game” needs to end and responsibility needs to be distributed across the board. Our nation, as a whole, should be proactive in ridding ourselves of the name “The Junk Food Nation” and help prevent the many risk factors of childhood obesity, such as diabetes and stroke. To put it simply, the children are the future of America. Providing and encouraging children with a healthy, active, productive lifestyle ensures that we have healthy, active, productive members of society and leaders of
Obesity is a complex topic with many different branches. With things like weight loss pills, workout programs, and thousands of diet plans each claiming they 're the best, it can become overwhelming to decipher what the best option is without a tremendous amount of tedious research. This being said, it is often easier to put taking action towards obesity on the back burner with our increasingly busy lives. It is much easier to think "I 'll worry about it tomorrow" while chomping down on a greasy burger than it is to take the time to manage our schedules in an attempt to make time for the research hoping to produce change. With that being said, whose fault is obesity? Is it the companies producing the foods with little to
In the recent decades, obesity has grown into a major health issue in the United States within young people. With 31 percent of the United States of children being obese, the United States has become the country with the highest rate of obesity in the world. Obesity is not only found among adults, but it is also now found mainly among children and teenagers. The childhood is a very important period for the initiation of obesity especially in this time. Eating practices that children are taught or learn during childhood affects a person later in their life whether they know or not. Multiple studies have confirmed that childhood obesity in the U.S has been on a rise for years. One out of three children in the U.S are obese, most of them face a higher risk of having medical, social and academic problems. Childhood obesity also leads to many health problems among young people. Those problems include diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and many more others. These problems cause a rise in health care costs that their families might have to pay sooner or later. The influence of parents and the media play a big role in causing these problems to happen. Some people believe that a family with an obese child should not raise child protection concerns if obesity is the only cause for concern (Callaghan, 2010). However, doctors should always be mindful of the possible role of abuse or neglect in contributing to obesity. The result of some research that was done on the symptoms of neglect shows a clear correlation between childhood abuse and obesity in childhood. A study of American school children has found that after controlling for socioeconomic status, those who were physically abused were more likely to be obese (Callaghan, 201...
Did you know that 35% of the United States population is considered obese? Also, 66% of the population is considered overweight or more? (Saint Onge 2014) Even more frightening, in 2012 the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported that more than one third of children and adolescents in America were overweight or obese (CDC 2014). The media sources used investigates the political, scientific, historical, and cultural reasons behind the childhood obesity epidemic in America. Obesity is a rapid growing epidemic in America and these sources present the facts causing this epidemic. As well as how the children of the American society are being wrongly influenced by the media, especially advertisments. (Greenstreet 2008).
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.
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.
It is apparent that living an unhealthy lifestyle, as well as eating poorly, negatively affects one’s health. From a young age it is quickly learned which foods are considered healthful as opposed to junk food. It is a parents responsibility to supervise the intake of their child's food, however there is a higher risk than ever before of childhood obesity.
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.
The situation of our children today is not what it should be by any means. There are more children than ever that are faced with childhood obesity. Children should not be concerned about running around having fun and exploring the world, not about what they should and should not be eating and the impact it will have on them down the road. This is the sad truth of how the world is today. Childhood obesity is caused by a number of factors, such as poor eating habits, the absence of exercise, and poor family habits. These are all things that are not controlled by the child themselves. These are the responsibilities of the parents or guardian. Not only are the parents at fault, but schools and government, as well.
I support and am a strong believer in Weintraub's argument. He uses many statistics, and persuades you as to who's to blame for the problem with overweight children in a strong and strict, but mannerable way. “It is parents, who are responsible for teaching kids healthy eating and exercise habits.” Weintraub quotes. Responsibility is a strong thing and is taught at a early on age, sometimes parents may lack that habit that will later benefit their child. Parents have a lot of influence on their children from the day that child is born. “The danger in will-meaning studies and, even more, in lawsuits against the fast food industry, is that they send a message to parents and kids alike that obesity is somebody else's fault.” Weintraub says. I agree because you shouldn't blame your mistake onto someone else, that is
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....
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
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in the United States more than one-third of adults and one-sixth of children are obese. Over the next twenty years, these numbers will more than double. By the year 2020, obesity will be considered a normal thing, and a healthy weight will be the exception. Who is to blame for the increasing obese population? Some say fast food restaurants that are on every block in the city. Others say it is the obese people themselves because they do not know how to control themselves. Many major health conditions come with obesity and it is costing the government millions in healthcare to pay for others lack of self control.
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...
Is fast food to blame for the growing obesity in America? Obesity affects more than half of the population. With so many Americans gaining weight and so many health problems the matter has to be addressed. There is no one would argue that obesity, especially the children is considered a problem. In any case the cause of childhood obesity is fought about daily. Many people will say that fast food restaurants are to blame. In my research, I will explain the argument that who is to blame for the obesity in America: fast food restaurants or common laziness from the obese society.