Childhood Obesity: A Case Study

950 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Causes of childhood obesity essay

The foods that are available in schools play a huge role in the overall consumption of food/calories eaten in a day by our children. This in turn gives our children the energy to learn in class. An improper diet can lead to childhood obesity and other health problems (diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer) which can stem from being overweight, both physically and emotionally. One article states how childhood obesity, ages 2-19, tripled from 1980 to 2008 and as of June 2014, 17% of children were obese (Cluss, Fee, Culyba, Bhat, Owen, 2014) and another article states that as of September 2014 one-third of our children, ages 6-19, are overweight or obese (Hennessy et al., 2014). My priority issue focuses on bringing healthier food menus to schools …show more content…

Medical costs related to obesity can reach astronomical amounts and in 2008 an estimated cost of $147 billion dollars was spent on obesity related problems which was an increase of $68 billion in 10 years (Riis, Grason, Strobina, Ahmed & Minkovitz, 2012). Obesity is a profound problem that can impact the individual health, community health and the healthcare systems - it can cause financial burdens at many levels. Therefore, it makes sense to offer healthier food options in order to try and reduce childhood …show more content…

If healthier options are available would children purchase them?
2. Any negative consequences associated with alternating the menus?
3. Do food supply costs increase when healthier options exist?
This initiative introduced a system of Go, Whoa and Slow for children to have an understanding of what makes better choices than others. This initiative resulted in a positive lunch sale pattern towards healthier food options. Further research was suggested to see if there was increased food waste and an increase of children bringing lunches from home. I would like to do a similar study in my school system to try and reduce the number of fried and unhealthier food options. Our menus are very limited and do not offer a variety that is necessary to try and get our children to expand their horizons and explore food. I am not sure how far I can get by myself and I know I would need to try and get the school district administration on board. As a parent, I would be willing to pay more for healthier options for my children. They just need to be an option. The HEALTHY Armstrong initiative is a great start and maybe contacting the researches for advice could be a beginning as well.

Show More
Related

  • Essay On Fast Food And Obesity

    2105 Words  | 5 Pages

    The American diet has changed dramatically in the past couple centuries and so has the restaurant industry. The result of this change in Americans actions and diets is a rising obesity rate among children. In the 1970s, the childhood obesity rate was five percent of children (2-19 years old). The obesity rates doubled in the 1980s and by 2008 16.9% of children were obese (Grossklavs and Marvlesin). The percentage of obese children has more than tripled in the last 40 years. The growing epidemic is dangerous and alarming. There are many factors that contribute to the dramatic rise of obesity children. As obesity has grown, so has the fast food industry. “Between 1977 and 1995, the percentage of meals and snacks eaten at fast food restaurants doubled,” (...

    Read More

  • Are Schools Making Children Obese?

    1307 Words  | 3 Pages

    From Kindergarten to 12th grade, children spend most of their time at school. School, what we adults think, is supposed to be the teachers of our children while we are at work. They feed them lunch, and possibly breakfast, five days out the week, keep them active, and teach them all about their body and health in health class. But, are they really taking care of them enough? Some schools fail to serve healthy foods, teach health class, or even provide enough time to be physically active. One in three kids are obese, that is reason enough to care about these children’s lives at school. Schools are one of the reasons that the younger generation has a fast growing obese rate.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Childhood Obesity

    1327 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • School Lunches Are Unhealthy

    997 Words  | 2 Pages

    Schools are meant to give our children a healthy and nurturing environment, and yet so much of the lunches in schools are fattening; does this stop schools from achieving the aforementioned goal? Childhood obesity in the United Sates continues to be a growing problem despite so any new programs to help combat it, and new research is showing how schools may be playing a large role in childhood obesity. School lunches are showing to be the problem, they encourage poor nutrition in our nation’s students, and simple reform is proving to not be enough to stop the rise in obesity rates.

    Read More

  • Understanding the Childhood Obesity Epidemic in America

    2200 Words  | 5 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Obesity Epidemic In The United States

    1527 Words  | 4 Pages

    It’s no secret that the U.S. is encouraging people to pursue healthier lifestyles in order to combat the obesity epidemic. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration have recently joined the fight against obesity by advocating for the elimination of Trans fats from the American food supply (Tavernise, 2013). Not to mention the policy initiates that have been created in order to help combat childhood obesity (the Let’s Move policy initiative). Simply put, the nation’s p...

    Read More

  • Childhood Obesity in African American Children

    1313 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is apparent that living an unhealthy lifestyle, as well as eating poorly, negatively affects one’s health. From a young age it is quickly learned which foods are considered healthful as opposed to junk food. It is a parents responsibility to supervise the intake of their child's food, however there is a higher risk than ever before of childhood obesity.

    Read More

  • Childhood Obesity in America

    2217 Words  | 5 Pages

    Childhood obesity epidemic, one of the most detrimental disorders, has maximized social and economical challenges faced by Americans in the 21st century. The United States of America has been always placed in the top-10 most obese countries, a list not be so proud about. Poor dietary habits at school due to consumption of competitive, unhealthy foods have resulted in escalating obesity thereby influencing a student’s performance in and outside school. As a major problem’s solution lies within finding its root, schools with the aid of governmental organizations, non-profit organizations, and institutions, have started to provide valid solutions in an attempt to reverse this epidemic. For instance one major attempt, by the Center of Disease Control (CDC) and the State Board of Education, to alleviate this problem in schools was the introduction of ‘sin-tax’. Schools’ taxed students on purchasing sugar-sweetened beverages but that was not quite successful, as it did not stop the affluent students to purchase high calorific beverages and only targeted students with a low socio-economic background. Thus, the most influential solution implemented by these governmental organizations’ that is responsible for decreasing childhood obesity by quite a large factor is improving school meals by increasing the nutrition standard. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has taken mandatory mediation steps that involve eliminating the sales of competitive fast food and increasing the supply of high organic nutritious food that meets the USDA requirement thereby improving the nutrition standard. I believe schools, with the intervention of governmental agencies like the School Nutrition Dietary Assessment (SND...

    Read More

  • Obesity Causes Diseases

    670 Words  | 2 Pages

    Some researchers claim that more than 300,000 Americans are dying due to obesity every year and the number is rising annually. That is a huge number and it can be fixed a number of ways but some individuals are lazy some can’t lose the weight because of medical reason. Obesity causes disease from diabetes to heart disease and in some cases death. Obesity in children is growing problems to children who are obese have a higher chance to get diabetes or heart failure. The school environment is one of several settings that can influence children’s food choices and eating habits. Schools can ensure that the available food and beverage options are healthy and help young people eat food that meets dietary recommendations for fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and nonfat or low-fat dairy products.

    Read More

  • Childhood Obesity in the United States

    2855 Words  | 6 Pages

    Childhood obesity is an increasing problem here in the United States. According to Schuab and Marian (2011) “Childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions” (P.553). The prevalence of child obesity and overweight has increased over the last 30 years all over the United States, becoming one of the biggest public health challenges (Moreno, Johnson-Shelton, & Boles, 2013). The purpose of this paper is to give a background of the obesity epidemic, a review of current policy, and make a policy recommendation.

    Read More

  • Child Obesity and School Lunch Programs

    1069 Words  | 3 Pages

    First of all, an increasing amount of kids are becoming overweight because their schools pressure them to eat sugary, fatty, and high-calorie foods. Not only do many schools promote consumption of harmful foods, many schools also actively serve them in school lunches. In 1963, 4% of kids were obese; currently, approximately 17% of kids are obese. Some might argue that kids themselves are the reason for the increase, because school lunches also provide healthier foods. Unfortunately, most kids do not have much of a choice - healthier foods are priced much higher than their unhealthy counterpart, consequently many parents do not want their kids to buy the more expensive, yet healthier product. In my 3½ years ...

    Read More

  • Childhood Obesity: A Qualitative Study

    1098 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the study “Evaluation of a Pilot School Programme Aimed at the Prevention of Obesity in

    Read More

  • Parents Are Mainly to Blame for Childhood Obesity

    1038 Words  | 3 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Schools Can Reduce Childhood Obesity

    2217 Words  | 5 Pages

    Childhood obesity is a health problem that is becoming increasingly prevalent in society’s youth. For a number of years, children across the nation have become accustomed to occasionally participating in physical activities and regularly snacking on sugary treats. In result of these tendencies, approximately one third of American children are currently overweight or obese (Goodwin). These grim statistics effectively represent all the lack of adult interference, in regards to health, has done to the youth of America. The habits of over consuming foods and under participating in physical activities are all too common in the children of today. Children cannot solve this issue alone, though. These young people need to essentially be given the opportunities to make positive health decisions and learn about good, nutritional values.

    Read More

  • Literature Review On Healthy Eating Habits

    2116 Words  | 5 Pages

    The ‘Hungry for Success’ (2002) initiative was implemented in all schools in Scotland in 2003, with an aim to improve school meals. As children “become more independent they are increasingly responsible for making their own food choices as parental influence decreases” (Wardley et al., 1997:75). The objective of the initiative was to ensure that all pupils were encouraged to make informed decisions when eating within school. Healthier food choices were readily available to all children, therefore allowing children to choose healthier options. School menus were reviewed in order to provide better nutrition and children were offered salads and free fruit was available to all infants (Scottish Executive, 2005). In addition to this initiative, ‘Towards a Healthy Weight Action Plan for Scotland’ (2006) proposed to develop programmes to support healthy eating in the primary school and in addition, introduced a ban on junk food in schools and in lunch boxes. This ensured that all pupils did not have the opportunity to make poor choices and instead, pupils opted for healthier foods (NHS,

    Read More

More about Childhood Obesity: A Case Study

Open Document