Causes of Childhood Obesity

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In the past few years obesity among children has increased and has now become a major issue in this nation. Over twelve million children in the United States are obese and seven percent of those children are at risk of having type 2 diabetes. Obesity has become a burden to the United States economy and it is costing America $147 billion dollars a year. Are parents to blame for obese and overweight children or is society at fault?

Obesity has been around for many years but has always been known to be an adult issue. Sadly obesity has now been discovered in children and has become one of the deadliest issues America faces. Childhood obesity has tripled within the past three decades and one in three children in the United States is considered to be obese. Overweight and obese children are at risk of developing high cholesterol, hypertension, respiratory ailments, orthopedic problems, depression and type 2 diabetes. According to Ashford library studies reveals that “40% of obese children and 70% of obese adolescents will become obese adults”. Obese children are most likely to become obese adult and can suffer much more health issue than the ones previously named. Obesity found in adulthood increases the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, asthma, arthritis, and a general poor health status. According to an online article located on ASPE.hhs.gov paragraphs [12] and [13] “In 2000, the total cost of obesity for children and adults in the United States was estimated to be $117 billion ($61 billion in direct medical costs)”.

American’s has label obesity as the terror within, it is perceived to be the cause of over “300,000 deaths in America alone each year”. A child’s excess weight at a young age has been linked to h...

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Judy A Rollins. (2004). Kaiser Family Foundation Releases Report on Role of Media in Childhood Obesity. Pediatric Nursing, 30(2), 165. Retrieved March 22, 2011, from Career and Technical Education. (Document ID: 639959761

Richard Kilgarriff. (2005, February 28). Who's really to blame for the problem of childhood obesity? You are ; Richard Kilgarriff, head of Cartoon Network, hits back at critics who always point the finger at television :[First Edition]. The Independent,p. 16,17. Retrieved March 30, 2011, from ProQuest Newsstand. (Document ID: 799851101).

Robinson, T. N. (2001). Television viewing and childhood obesity. Pediatric clinics of North America, 48(4), 1017-1025.

Shawn Bell. (2010, October 5). Parents to blame for fat kids: study. Slave River Journal,1. Retrieved March 29, 2011, from Canadian Newsstand Complete. (Document ID: 2156834801).

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