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Effects of obesity in children essay
Childhood Obesity: Its Impact on the Family and Society
The effects of childhood obesity essay
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Obese, a term used for someone that has over 30% of fat to muscle ratio. About a quarter of 2-5 year olds and one-third of school-age children (including adolescents) are corpulent in the U.S. Over the past twenty years, obesity rates in the United States have grown to epidemic proportions. In 2005, the Surgeon General estimated that two-thirds of Americans were overweight or obese. The latest data from the NCHS show that 30 percent of U.S. adults 20 years of age and older—more than 60 million people—are obese. Research further claims overweight children are more likely to become overweight adults and, therefore, are at greater risk for associated health problems. In fact, 60 percent of overweight five- to 10-year-old children already are immutable for at least one risk factor for heart disease (WebMd). Schools should give children the healthiest options for lunch choices. Even many authorities agree with the general idea of healthier eating. Healthy eating sets limitations to the consumption of energy-dense foods and high-caloric beverages; therefore, fast food restaurants should not furnish school lunches.
School lunches should provide the healthiest options for students. Ann Louise Gittleman, one of America’s top nutritionists, stresses that “Healthy eating gives energy and concentration skills opposed to unhealthy processed foods which slow one’s brain down and cause sugar crashes in children.” thus making children bovine. If students crash, their focus can be shifted and lessened. According to the School Health Policies and Programs Study in 2006, 11.7 percent of elementary schools, 19 percent of middle schools, and 23.5 percent of high schools included meals from fast food restaurants, such as Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, amon...
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Sifferlin, Alexandra, and Alexandra Sifferlin. "Why Some Schools Are Saying ‘No Thanks’ to the School-Lunch Program | TIME.com." Time. Time, 29 Aug. 2013. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.
Janet Poppendieck is a professor of sociology at Hunter College in New York, and is the author of several books, including her most recent Free for All: Fixing School Food in America. This book centers on America’s recent interest in whether or not our school lunches are healthy. This issue has been put into the spotlight recently through shows such as Jamie Oliver’s School Food Revolution and in the news because of recent changes in the Nation School Lunch Program’s dietary guidelines. Poppendieck’s book looks at the in depth reasons why school lunches have turned into what they are today, what challenges need to be faced in order to fix school lunches, and ultimately how the system should be fixed. She accomplishes this by interviewing her current college students about their previous school lunch experiences, working in a school cafeteria, interviewing current school employees, and looking at the history and policies of the National School Lunch Program.
Schools with enormous food courts where students can buy meals and drinks from commonly known franchises, such as McDonalds and Coca-Cola, are the schools with the most health problems. Fast-food franchises are showing up everywhere, but do these businesses belong in high schools? No! Schools are here to enlighten students for life after school. If high schools promote bad eating habits by placing fast-food franchises in their cafeterias, then how can students eat right and healthy beyond high school.
From 2011-2017, 20.5% of children from 12 to 19 years old were obese. Supporters believe this is so because of unhealthy eating choices and not getting enough physical activity. The percentage of children with obesity in the United States has more than tripled since the 1970s. Today about one in five school children ages six through 19 have obesity. Not having recess in middle school is causing a lot less physical activity and that is causing a higher rate of obesity in America.
Schools are meant to give our children a healthy and nurturing environment, and yet so much of the lunches in schools are fattening; does this stop schools from achieving the aforementioned goal? Childhood obesity in the United Sates continues to be a growing problem despite so any new programs to help combat it, and new research is showing how schools may be playing a large role in childhood obesity. School lunches are showing to be the problem, they encourage poor nutrition in our nation’s students, and simple reform is proving to not be enough to stop the rise in obesity rates.
Allowing healthier school lunches will decrease obesity in children because it will give them the proper nutrition to reduce the risk of health issues. Since obesity causes many health issues, maintaining a proper nutrition will reduce the risk of health issues. According to Star- Telegram, a daily newspaper that serves Fort Worth and areas of North Texas states, “[School lunches that have] a meal of pizza sticks, a banana, raisins and whole milk has given way to whole wheat spaghetti with meat sauce, a whole wheat roll green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, kiwi and low-fat milk … This change will help more than 2.4 million Texas students who receive a free or reduced- price school lunch to lead healthier, more active lives—in and out of the classroom”(Par. 2 and 4). School lunches are supposed to guarantee students a well balance meal, so they can have the energy to proceed with their classes throughout the day. Meanwhile, students who receive a f...
The intake of proper nutrients helps balance the maintenance of bodily functions; supporting the longevity of a healthy lifestyle. (Denton, Carolyn. “How does food Impact Health?” www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu). With constant technological advance in the world, it is important to become aware of how frequent the world changes daily in preparation for self-maturity. What is a more effective way to approach the real world than to have a direct experience? The researcher will address the topic on why community high schools in America should allow its students off campus during lunch. Allowing children to have a better lunch option could help educational strength as well as attend to other essential needs. (Anderson, Melinda. “Do healthy lunches
Center for Desase Control. Center for Diease Control "U.S. Obesity Trends". 21 July 2011. 18 November 2011.
According to the USDA, at the start of century 21st American people have increased their daily caloric intake by consuming five hundred calories more than in 1970. As cited by Whitney & Rolfes (2011), there are many recognized causes of obesity such as genetics, environment, culture, socioeconomic, and metabolism among others; but the cause most evident is that food intake is higher than the calories burned in physical activity. Excess of energy from food is stored in the body as fat causing an increase of weight. During the course of the last 40 years, obesity has grown enormously in the United States and the rates remain on the rise (pgs. 272-273).
“More than a third of the county's children are overweight or obese.”(Gustin, 1). As shocking as this is, it's true. One of the big reasons that children and teens are overweight is because of the foods that they eat. They are fed these fattening and unhealthy foods by the school system. Their futures can be changed if we change our choices. Having more nutritious lunches can have a positive impact on the health of American teens.
Obesity is an epidemic in America, greatly impacting youth, the health care system, and economically vulnerable populations. Among all of the high-income countries in the world, obesity rates remain the highest in the US. According to Harvard, US obesity rates have more than doubled since 1980, although they have remained the same since 2003. (Harvard School of Public Health) Approximately 31.9% of children and adolescents from the ages of 2 to 19 are obese or overweight (NPLAN), while roughly 69% of adults fall into the category of overweight or obese. (Harvard School of Public Health) With obesity rates this high, America is facing a huge crisis that could become greater in the future. In order to understand the issue of Obesity in America it is important to evaluate the extent to which the problem effects large populations of children and adults and how the fast food industry has served as one of the major causes of this epidemic.
Flegal, K. M., Carroll, M. D., Ogden, C. L., & Curtin, L. R. (2010). Prevalence and trends in obesity among U.S. adults, 1999-2008. Journal of Medical Association. 303, 235-241.
Lunch is one of the most important meals of the day and is consumed mostly in school cafeterias for children and adolescence. Wholesome lunches are vital in maintaining a healthy metabolism and give children energy for the rest of the school day. Children are advised to eat healthily but do not always do so because the choices of tastier, fatty foods offered in school cafeterias. The National School Lunch Program, NSLP, which is a federally assisted meal program operating in public and nonprofit private schools set nutritious guidelines for lunches served in school cafeterias (USDA). However, school campuses still offer foods high in fat as well as selling candy, chips, and soda in their vending machines, as well as their school shops. In order
Wellman, N. S., & Friedberg, B. (2002). Causes and consequences of adult obesity: health, social and economic impacts in the United States. Asia Pacific journal of clinical nutrition, 11(s8), S705-S709.
Furthermore, if we over consume foods without properly assessing their nutritional value, our bodies will be unable to completely process them, ultimately leading to obesity. Since the 1980’s, obesity rates around the world have risen significantly. In the United States, current statistics indicate that one in every three people is medically obese. This statistic has placed the United States as the second most obese country in the world, next to Mexico. These increasing causes of obesity are linked to the declining national diet and nutritional profile, as well as lifestyle trends in these countries.
"Obesity Action Coalition » Fast Food – Is It the Enemy?" Obesity Action Coalition Fast Food Is It the Enemy Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.