The American Medical Association has recognized obesity as a disease (Pollack). Overweight is defined as having excess body weight from fat, muscle, bone, water, or a combination of these factors. Obesity is defined as having a surplus of body fat (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Similar to a disease, childhood obesity has cause and effects, treatments and preventions, and risk factors and prevalence. Parents have reported that they believe the children’s parents are responsible for healthy eating habits or lack thereof (Costley and Leggett 3).
“Obesity is most commonly caused by taking in too many calories as compared to what you are putting out” (“Childhood Obesity”). Taking in too many calories comes from either choosing foods with poor qualities like fast foods with high calories or eating an excessive amount of “healthy foods”. Calories can be put out the body by physical activity, heat generated from Food, and our inner clock. Being active will use an estimate of 30% of calories taken in; however, that percentage ranges depending on how active or sedentary a person is. “This stage is important to balance the calorie intake and outtake” (Berg 37). When we eat and after we eat, our bodies create a heat. “This heat helps the muscles move the food through the digestive tract and helps the specialized cells secrete juices for digesting, absorbing, and metabolizing the food. This process is called thermogenesis, which will burn up about 10% of the calories taken in.” (Berg 36). “Our inner clock manages heartbeat, cell repair, elimination, fighting infection, blood circulation, breathing, generating heat, digestion, producing and transporting the chemical compounds used in the body, and sending messages to and from t...
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... Obesity." MedicineNet. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014. .
Costley, Kevin C., and Timothy Leggett. "Childhood Obesity: A Heavy Problem." Www.eric.ed.gov. N.p., 1 Apr. 2010. Web. .
Daniels, Stephen R. "The Consequences of Childhood Overweight and Obesity." Www.eric.ed.gov. N.p., 2006. Web. .
Earles, Kathi, Sandra E. Moore, and Cynthia Thomas. Scale Back!: Why Childhood Obesity Is Not Just about Weight. Chicago, IL: Hilton Pub., 2008. Print.
Pollack, Andrew. "A.M.A. Recognizes Obesity as a Disease." The New York Times. The New York Times, 18 June 2013. Web. 14 Apr. 2014. .
23 July 2018. Print. The. Brody, Jane E. “Attacking the Obesity Epidemic by First Figuring Out Its Cause.” New York Times.
Many would argue that children should not focus on their weight because children should lead a youth with little worries, yet obesity affects a child much more than people with that argument think. Being overweight can cause increased risks for several serious diseases and even can result in decreased mental health on account of low self-esteem and social discrimination. Children who are overweight also are at least twice as likely to have heart disease, diabetes, and orthopedic problems (Internicola, 2009). Sadly, children are being pressured into unhealthy lifestyles even more so than adults are.
Hellmich, Nanci, “Report maps out solutions to child obesity.” USA Today n.d.: MAS ULTRA-School Edition. Web. 6 May 2012.
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.
Marder, William D. and Stella Chang. “Childhood Obesity: Costs, Treatment Pattern, Disparities in Care, and Prevalent Medical Conditions.” Thomson Medstat Research Brief. Web. 5, September 2011.
Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems. Obesity has been a health problem ever since infectious disease began in the first half of the 20th Century. A person with obesity is not the only person who is affected by their disease. In the case of childhood obesity, it can affect the parents because they might be the cause of the child’s issues. It can also lead to many different health problems such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and respiratory problems, and it can also even lead to death.
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 .
This article from CDC talk about the basics about childhood obesity. It provides information on how childhood overweight and obesity is measured by calculating an individual’s body mass index (BMI). It also states some consequences that are related to childhood obesity, both consequences that can happen now and later...
"Childhood Obesity." Childhood Obesity on the Rise. Mayo Clinic, 24 Apr. 2012. Web. 02 Mar.
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.
Childhood obesity has become a huge problem in the United States. Over twenty one percent of African American children are obese, not including the twenty percent who were just overweight. Studies show that the increase in Type II diabetes, which is caused by obesity has increased dramatically in children of African American culture. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) The hospital costs associated with childhood obesity were 127 million dollars from 1997-1999, increasing $92 million from 1979-1981. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) However, long term effects are also a concern for adolescent obesity. Overweight children have a 70 percent chance of being obese or overweight adults, which increases to 80 percen...
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.
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).
Obesity has been associated with energy intake and expenditure imbalance, genetics, cultural, socioeconomic, behavioral, and situational factors all play a role in eating and weight control (Bray, 2005). To get an idea of the scope of the problem, the American Journal of Health Promotion states that the rates of obesity has more than tripled among children and adolescents over the past 30 years (Gollust, 2014).
Institute of Medicine. (n.d.). Retrieved Jan 10, 2011, from Childhood Obesity Prevention Actions for Local Government: www.iom.edu/Activities/Childhood/LocalObesPrevention.asp