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Causes of obesity in the united States
The causes of child obesity
The problem of obesity among american population
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Unfortunately, obesity is a battle that the citizens of the United States are fighting. Over 68.8 percent of our adults have been diagnosed as being over-weight or obese, and this usually initiate in their teenage years (Overweight and Obesity Statistics). America ranks second in the world for the heaviest people (New York Post). Every year obesity is becoming an increasing problem in our nation and particularly in our schools. A huge factor is what we feed our students junk for breakfast and lunch.
Research shows that school lunches are highly concentrated in salt, sugar, and unsaturated fat. Elementary, middle and high schools are over populated with vending machines, school stores and snack bars (Snelling). It is not uncommon for a student
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Also, since over 12 million children are in child care centers every day, there are not any regulations against feeding children unhealthy food during the day (Salisbury). This impacts the growth and development of children at a young age. If the food is not regulated, than it is very possible that they could be prone to involuntary obesity. According to the Journal of School Health, students tend to gravitate toward less healthy foods and bigger portion sizes. Unfortunately, this leads us to another cause of obesity, which the increased portion of the foods and drinks that are in vending machines. This means that they are eating a lot of extra …show more content…
Since 1971, obesity has increased 70.4% (Lewis). Obesity has accelerated at a ridiculous rate. Over 32 million children eat school lunch every day (Lewis). One or two thirds of their daily meals are provided by their schools; therefore most of their daily consumption is trusted in the hands of our government (Lewis). Since obesity has escalated tremendously since the 1970’s, it is only reasonable to make their school lunches responsible for the growth in obesity over the last 45 years (Food Timeline).
Obesity is not developing in children who take lunch from home. Most parents are sure to pack healthy lunches for their children every day. Actually, bagged lunches or lunches that come from home usually consist of home cooked meals that children usually do not refuse these meals (Cluggish). My observation has been that children are inclined to eat home-cooked healthy meals than not
Government date shows that in the past thirty years, rate of being overweight in six to eleven year olds is up 19% and 6% in age 12 to 19. Without support, school lunches remain high in fat. (Finkelstien) According to the CDCP, obesity is double what it was in children and triple in adolescents since 1980. Many reforms were attempted to help this problem, but many inadvertently caused more problems. (Finkelstien) A 730 calorie lunch should have no more than 24 grams of fat and no more than 8 grams of it saturated yet the average USDA lunch has 31 grams of fat and 14 rams of it is saturated. (Yeoman) These very high levels of fat are why obesity is becoming worse in children. It can be concluded that school food is still extremely high in fat and this can be directly linked to the high rates of obesity in young children and
Children that live an unhealthy lifestyle are more prone to becoming obese later in life. Furthermore, the cause of children becoming more obese includes; children that do not participate in physical activity, children that eat lots of snacks, play video games or watch TV, and that do not eat a healthy balanced meal. In addition, the parent or guardian of the child also plays a role in whether the child becomes obese or not by “What” they offer the child to eat, and the type of environment the food is served in such as “When” and “Where” food is offered. Moreover, as a child grows there are different food exposures that create a preference for food intake, these exposures include sweet & salty foods, familiar foods, consumption of foods high
A national epidemic is occurring, the war between food and people. In the United States, about “32% of children (from 2 to 19 years old) are obese” (Bernadac 1). As the years continue to go on the rate of obese children are increasing as well. In the past the problem did not have much consideration due to a low rate of affected children. Now families are suffering the long-term consequences of having an obese child. Some of those health effects are “Heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, several types of cancer and osteoarthritis” (CDC 1). A problem with this type of drastic effects may have a solution; method prevention for the future generations and correct treatment for those who are already obese can lower the rate.
Obesity is a serious problem that increases year after year and affects the lives of many Americans. It is a problem that needs to be eradicated, but who is responsible for this problem? Some argue that individuals are responsible for their own weight; that it is a private concern. Some others, on the other hand, argue that it is a public concern; therefore, the government should play a significant role to stop reduce obesity from the public domain. They also argue that advertisements for junk food are factors that increase obesity. As persuasive as the advertisements can be and even with the help of the government, it is our decision to not eat healthy and end up in a state of obesity.
Obesity in the United States continues growing alarmingly. Approximately 66 % of adults and 33 % of children and teenagers in the US are overweight. Obesity is the result of fat accumulated over time due to the lack of a balanced diet and exercise. An adult with a BMI (body mass index) higher than thirty percent is considered obese (Whitney & Rolfes, 2011, pg. 271).
To conclude, unhealthy foods in the cafeteria and the vending machines are the worst examples for the kids to maintain the healthy eating habits. Us Parents have to step in to make changes for our kids because in doing so would determine what kind of foods our kids are consuming. We do know for facts they are not getting the proper nutrients while in school, although they do spend in average of eight to 12 hours in schools. We, the parents, can start to make a difference, by attending the school meetings and being active in our kids functions in schools.
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
Today I will be outlining my plan to help education parents and children alike on the dangers of childhood obesity. With this plan I hope to better education parents and children on how to prevent and fight this current health issue. As a parent myself I’m very interested in this topic and help solving this situation. This plan will discuss what childhood obesity how we can help solve this problem. With the proper education I feel we all can make better decisions in our children’s lives as well as our very own.
When promoting plus sizes and television shows, are self-esteem or heart disease also being promoted? People throughout the world struggle with being anorexic, bulimic, overweight, or obese. TLC’s now popular reality TV show, My 600 Pound Life, displays the daily struggles of morbidly obese people. While encouraging women to love their body is appealing, there are many dangers in the fondness of obesity. Glorifying obesity can lead to being morbidly unhealthy, as demonstrated by Dominique Lanoise, a woman who died from morbid obesity.
America is one of the most obese countries in the world, and the reasons are quite obvious. Take a look around. Fast food chains on every block, more and more technology to make our lives easier, and high amount of stress are just a few factors to weight gain in our country. There are many different views on obesity and how the people think it should be resolved, whether it's government making the change or the people taking care of themselves. Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years. Are we doing enough to bring these statistics down? No. In the last 40 years, there has been a growth to more than 160,000 fast food restaurants in America (“Adolescent and School Health”). Restaurants (such as Wendy's, McDonald's etc.) serve more than 50 million people per day, generating about 65 million in sales annually. Only since obesity has become a national epidemic have fast food restaurants changed their ways. But we need to do more than just change the kind of oil the french fries are fried in. Better yet, why don't we remove, or intensely decrease the number of the unhealthy fast food chains, and spread more healthy fast food chains, such as Subway? Is it something government could take act in? Should the United States government take measures to fight the rise of obesity in the country, or are choices concerning diet and nutrition better left to the individuals, free of government interference?
There is an epidemic running rampant across the United States and most people do not know the effects it has on society; this epidemic is none other than obesity. In the last thirty-five years, the obesity rate has more than tripled. Obesity has many ill effects and is the cause of many diseases. Washington Post journalist Wil Haygood, elaborates, “A lot of our medications are for ‘disease states,’ such as Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, things that can be adversely affected by increased weight” (411). Speaking with a pharmacist, Haygood explicates how obesity can lead to serious disease and further health implications that are difficult to overcome.
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...
According to the American Heart Association, childhood obesity is now the number one health concern among parents in the United States topping drug abuse and smoking. One way to make this concern among parents vanish is all elementary schools in the United States should change their school lunches to freshly cooked meals in order to prevent childhood obesity. The following paragraphs will cover: the cost and benefits of fresh vs. processed foods, the long and short term effects unhealthy school lunches have on children, and the interest the government takes on providing healthy meals. On the other hand, points will also be raised if parents are at fault for this epidemic, and does it really matter what children are consuming as long as they
Obesity is the condition of being grossly fat or overweight. Many have seen obese people out in large crowds. These people are overweight, and a large portion of these people are children. There are many reasons why children suffer from obesity. The effects due to adolescent obesity are horrifying.
School lunches leave students with limited options, leaving no room for improvement in the fight for childhood obesity that one in three children suffer from. (8) Having the same, repetitive, items that are high in fat, sugar, preservatives, and additives(1) increase chances of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes in students to name a few.(2) Even with the additional ameliorates directly from the White House, they only affect federally funded schools, excluding private schools. (4) With these weaknesses in our school lunch system, reform is definitely needed to conquer these common issues.