Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The effect of obesity
Introduction about childhood obesity in the US
Causes of obesity in children critical reading essay
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The effect of obesity
Childhood obesity is one of the most severe health care disputes of this decade. Obese children are at a higher risk of being obese as an adult. With, increasing numbers of obesity in North America, these people can experience a bundle of health concerns. Some of these health risks include; stress, higher blood pressure and cholesterol levels, type two diabetes, heart disease, cancers (uterus, cervix, breast, colon, liver, kidney are examples), it can even cause osteoarthritis. The number of obese kids has increased to ten percent in the past forty years. In the nineteen seventy's, in North America, from the ages of three to nineteen obesity was at five a percent. Looking at these numbers today in two thousand and fifteen the number jumped
to a whopping thirteen percent, also, twenty percent of North America is overweight for their height. Drastic changes need to happen for kids to keep a healthier lifestyle. Healthier foods such as fruits and vegetables are relatively more expensive, junk foods are fairly cheaper and easier to get. Promoting whole, natural foods would help kids consume it more often. Healthier foods need more appealing T.V. commercials, instead of fast food restaurants taking over the screen, and being broadcast almost every second ad. In Australia, they started to put fast food add-on later at night, so kids were not seeing these ads all the time.
Childhood onset overweight and obesity and its’ associated health consequences are quickly becoming major significant public health issues facing America today. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) define overweight as a body mass index (BMI) between the 85th and 95th percentile while obese is defined as BMI above the 95th percentile for children of the same age and sex . The prevalence of overweight children, defined based on 2009 CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics data, has more than tripled in the past 30 years. Between 1980 and 2006, the incidence of overweight among children aged 6 to 11 years increased from 6.5% to 17.0% while overweight levels for adolescents aged 12 to 19 years increased from 5.0% to 17.6% . Not only has prevalence of child and adolescent overweight and obesity increased dramatically over the last several decades, but being an overweight or obese child puts one at a heightened risk for adult overweight and obesity .
There is an alarming 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. Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years. 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.(Childhood Obesity Facts, 2015)
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.
Today, approximately 25 percent of children and teenagers are obese and the number is on the rise. Since the 1960’s childhood obesity has increased by 54 percent in children ages six to eleven. In children twelve to seventeen it has increased by 39 percent. (Silberstein, 1) Childhood obesity is so prevalent among these age groups that it has reached epidemic proportions.
“In 2012, more than one third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese.” (CDC) Childhood obesity is a problem that has inundated society for many decades. Almost anywhere that you go, you’ll see a magazine article or some sort of poster regarding childhood obesity. Childhood obesity can be defined as a condition where excess body fat negatively affects a child’s health or well-being. Majority of adults care about their weight because self-image is a very important factor in their lives, but when it comes down to children, many pay their weight a very minimal amount of attention. Due to the superfluous rise in the number of obese children over the past couple of decades, doctors and physicians have become concerned about this trend. This concern is raised by the various diseases and health issues accompanying childhood obesity. Childhood obesity puts children at a greater risk for developing health issues and diseases of the heart.
Numerous children are victims of a variety of health problems inflicted by the deficiency of good nutrition and physical activity. Childhood obesity is a national epidemic and is continuously growing rapidly. Obesity is an excessive amount of body fat in relation to body mass, being overweight is your body weight in relation to your height (L. Marcus Ph. D and A. Baron M.S.W.). Obesity is the most distinct medical condition but the most difficult condition to treat. Obesity is the result of calorie imbalance. Obesity is commonly caused by overeating and lack of exercise although there are genetic diseases and hormonal disorders that can cause obesity. When children eat more than they need, the extra calories are stored in fat cells to use for energy later. If this pattern continues over time, they develop more fat cells and may develop obesity. Childhood obesity will cause physical, social and emotional adversities for your child
Childhood obesity has already reduced the average life expectancy between four and nine months. “[T]oday’s generation will have shorter and less healthy lives than their parents for the first time in modern history,” warned S. Jay Olshansky, the University of Illinois researcher and author of the study (1). In 2004, the US Center for Disease Control found that at least 66% of adults were overweight or obese—double the percentage in 1980—and that more than 1/6 th of kids ages 2-19 were overweight. Type II diabetes, usually caused by an unhealthy lifestyle rather than genetics, has increased as a side effect of obesity and heart disease is also on the rise. In short, obesity is a national epidemic.
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).
The present public health problem has become a great public concern and the future of these children and future adults has also been brought to attention. For example, "as obese children are more than likely to become obese adults, they are at an increased risk for type 2 diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, and several cancers" (Gollust, 2014). Research has also indicated that the current generation of children are on track to have shorter lives than their parents because of increasing rates of obesity (Gollust, 2014).
According to the 1999-2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination survey says that, 16 percent of children around the ages of 6-19 years old are at risk of being obese. Obesity has increased in the last twenty years now. Obesity is like other disease, it impairs the normal body functioning. Children who are overweight have excess fat tissue that caus...
Obesity simply put, is an excessive amount of body fat. Obesity puts children at increased risk of disease and other health-related problems. Childhood obesity is a very serious and ongoing problem-putting children on the pathway to health conditions earlier in their life such as diabetes, elevated cholesterol, hypertension. Childhood obesity also has a link to depression as well as affects the self-esteem of children and adolescent. I recently performed a community teaching on childhood obesity and will be discussing the teaching experience, observation, summary of the teaching plan, epidemiological rationale for childhood obesity, evaluation of my teaching and the community’s response to the teaching.
Childhood obesity is a difficult problem for our growing children today. Childhood obesity not only affects the child, but it also the people around them. Childhood obesity causes serious health issues, from heart disease to diabetes. According to Farhat (2010), twenty years ago there was just a hand full of children that were overweight, mostly because of a hormonal or genetic disorder. According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services (2013), the number of children aged 6 through 11 that were obese, increased from 7 percent in 1980, to nearly 30 percent in 2011.
In addition to the medical consequences associated with morbid childhood obesity, there are many negative psychological and social consequences as well. Childhood obesity has a detrimental effect on an individual’s quality of life. Morbidly obese children often struggle with depression, low self-esteem, ridicule, and discrimination. They usually have unhealthy relationships with food and no self-control (Moore et al., 2017). Morbidly obese children are often the center of unwanted attention and frequently bullied by their peers.
Research Proposal: Childhood Obesity and Preventable Research Topic Introduction: The research topic I have chosen for ENG 102 is focused on how childhood obesity is a preventable disease. The research question I wish to answer is: Can child obesity, which has many causes, be preventable in American society? According to the Centers for Disease and Control Prevention (CDC), “The percentage of children with obesity in the United States has more than tripled since the 1970s” (Centers for Disease and Control Prevention [CDC], 2017).
Obesity in children has begun to be a major problem. What is obesity? Obesity is the condition of being grossly fat or overweight. What is being overweight? When one person is overweight they are above a weight considered normal or desirable.