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Childhood obesity: Causes and solutions
Childhood obesity: Causes and solutions
obesity is preventable
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Recommended: Childhood obesity: Causes and solutions
Childhood obesity in America is a growing disease that has become
an epidemic that has lasting psychological effects, because of
advertisement of fast food, lack of physical activities, and parental control
has made food become a major health issue in many young teenagers’
lives today. Overall, who is to blame?
Obesity plagues America and threatens to seriously degrade our
society in many ways. There are some that would argue to say that
obesity is okay and that it is not that big of a deal, they are wrong. There
are some variations pertaining to build but everyone’s body is
designed to carry a certain weight, when you increase that weight you
threaten the balance of your body and can expect your body to break
down much sooner than expected. For example, think of a machine, a
machine that was designed to lift 100 pounds could easily do the job and
continue doing the job for a very long time before breaking down. Now,
think of that same machine lifting 300 pounds instead, since it was
designed for only 100 pounds, how much quicker will that machine break
down? It is also in our nature to not desire obesity, we are genetically
designed just like the rest of nature to desire the fit and healthy of
society. This is the root cause of social dislike for obesity as well as
personal dislike for obesity.
Which brings us to the focus of how childhood obesity has become
an enormous issue today. In order to truly understand the impact of
obesity and why we should prevent it, we first need to look at the causes
of obesity and what keeps people obese. The logical first step for us to
look at is childhood obesity, even if children are merely o...
... middle of paper ...
... of the blame.
In conclusion, while childhood obesity is alarming, it is preventable and treatable.
Works Cited
1."Parents, Kids Don’t Perceive Obesity as a Health Problem." Journal of the American Dietetic Association n. pag. Web. 20 Feb 2015. .
2.N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb 2015. .
3.N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb 2015. .
4. Rabin, Robin. "Child Obesity Risks Death at Early Age, Study Finds ." (2012): n. pag. Web. 20 Feb 2015. .
5. Levine, Susan, and Rob Stein. "Obesity Threatens a Generation." 'Catastrophe' of Shorter Spans, Higher Health Costs (2013): n. pag. Web. 20 Feb 2015.
6. Maine, M. (2012). Body Wars. Carlsbad: Gurze Books
It is natural for a society to be concerned for the future generations. With the rate of obesity growing in adults and children, many begin to see it as an issue that needs to be addressed. New reports show “ childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years” (cdc.gov). Overweight and obese are not actually the same. Overweight is defined as “having excess body weight for a particular height from fat,” and obesity is defined as “having excess body fat” (cdc.gov). With obesity comes the chance for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Both can be
Moon, Amy. "A Culture Obsessed with Thinness Propagates Misconceptions About Obesity." SF Gate (8 Apr. 2008). Rpt. in How Should Obesity be Treated? Ed. Stefan Kiesbye. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2009. At Issue. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 14 Apr. 2011.
About 2.8 billion adults every year die of obesity (Diet). Rachel Epstein wrote the book “Eating Habits and Disorders” which talks about obesity being a disease. Obesity is a condition with extra body fat which often starts to form in childhood (Epstein 25). While obesity for some adults can be life-threatening (Epstein 25). It can also form psychosocial problems (Epstein 25). Being obese causes a risk in diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, kidney trouble and more (Epstein 25). Being obese during pregnancy can cause many problems for the mom, and for the baby (Epstein 25). Any of these things could cause many problems either in the future, or in the present (Epstein 25). The worse the eating habits, the harder it is to cure (Epstein 25). The government needs to do more about obesity because obesity rates are rising, many kids are being victims of obesity and they don’t even know it, also Medical Care is taking a big part with the growing obesity rates.
The human body requires the intake of food in order to function properly. The foods that we decide to eat has an effect on the ability to use are mind, are strength, and even how prone we are to getting sick or hurt. Eating to much of the wrong foods, with little or no exercise can cause the silent but deadly epidemic of obesity in children and in teens. In the past, obesity was just known as a condition that only affected adults. In this generation the youths are becoming more prone to obesity. In 1995 an average of 18 million children all around the world was categorized as being overweight (Rabbitt, Aifric, and Imelda Coyne 731). In a Childhood Obesity Interventions article it says that 17% (12.5 million) of children in the United States is considered to be obese (Rabbitt, Aifric, and Imelda Coyne 731). This outrageous number of overweight children in the world is almost tripled in 2010, where 43 million children under 5 are considered to be overweight (Rabbitt, Aifric, and Imelda Coyne 731). Another staggering statistic is more than 60% percent of the children that are classified as overweight before they reach puberty, will be overweight as they become adults (Rabbitt, Aifric, and Imelda Coyne 731). This leads us to the most stifling fact of there being 2.8 million people in the world that die from being overweight or obese each year (Rabbitt, Aifric, and Imelda Coyne 731). These shocking statistics show how dangerous obesity really is, and should urge everyone to fight against this epidemic.
Childhood obesity has become such a big problem because of the lack of parent awareness and influence on children to eat healthily. Childhood obesity i...
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.
6. Puska P., Nishida C., (2003) Obesity and Over weight. Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health. World Health Organization.
...clude, obesity epidemic in America has become a real threat for the American children and first who can stop it are the parents” (Childhood Obesity Epidemic)
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.
Parents have always known about obesity and what the affects obesity has on people. Although parents have known about this preventable disease, they are just now becoming more aware about what is happening to their own children. Now they want to start pointing fingers as to why these young children are becoming obese; nobody wants to take the blame for putting these young lives at risk. “Greenbalt states in his article that obesity is becoming an epidemic that there is about 300,000 children each year that die because they are overweight....
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).
(Jonas Minet, Stephen morris 2010). The prevalence of obesity has increased more than twofold in the last 25 years. In 2014, world health organisation (WHO) estimates that 1.9 billions of world’s adult populations are overweight, of which at least 600 million were obese, representing 13% of adult’s population (obesity WHO, 2014). Obesity is no longer a rich country’s problem, but also affects the poor and emerging countries which make it a major public health challenge. ( )
Obesity is not a new notion or phenomenon in history. Centuries ago some cultures and societies saw obesity as the most noteworthy platform for wealth, social status, and sexual appeal. The influential Greek physician Hippocrates was among the first to record the negative effects of excessive weight and poor diet on the human body. While advancements in medicine and public health have helped improve life expectancy, obesity is becoming a silent yet visible threat to these milestones especially with the influence of technological innovation on the day-to-day of humans.
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.
Childhood obesity is a serious medical problem that affects children. Obesity is a medical term, commonly defined as being extremely overweight, which is only half the case. (www.wikipedia.com) Many parent’s ask if their child is obese, or at risk of becoming overweight, and they ask what to do about it. MD, Dennis Clements tells parents: “Obesity is a family event, not an individual event”.