Childhood obesity has been on the rise for some time. Obesity can cause numerous diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and heart disease, and it could actually decrease the life span of overweight individuals. To find a solution, we must look at why this is happening. Could the cause be the increased number of working parents, fast food availability, portion sizes, or sedentary lifestyle? I believe obesity in young people is multifactorial and all of these things contribute.
A sedentary life style has become the norm for many children today. They often play inside rather than choosing an outdoor activity. My son owns a laptop, a play station, an x-box, a tablet, and an I-phone. When I say it out loud it sounds ridiculous. He does like to ride bikes and play ball, but more often, he plays video games or watches television. We can no longer count on schools to provide physical activity either. The Atlanta school system banned P.E. in the hope of raising academic performance, and fewer than half of the nation's schools offer P.E. Not surprisingly, the proportion of high-school kid...
This allows nurses and other healthcare staff uncomplicated utilization of the best evidence available, to address the worldwide obesity dilemma in children. Eating behaviors, physical activity and inactivity, ethnicity, family support and parental knowledge are factors associated with childhood obesity. These factors share a close relationship to the objectives listed by Health People 2020. These objectives are to reduce the proportion of children who are considered obese and to prevent inappropriate weight gain in children. Nurses are in a unique position as they interact with families across healthcare and community-based settings to advocate, educate, and support children and their families. One suggestion for future research would be to develop nursing interventions designed to promote a healthy weight among children and to conduct an experimental research study examining the effectiveness of the
Exercise, food, technology, and money all play a role in causing childhood obesity. Lack of exercise among adolescents has been proven to be the leading cause of childhood obesity. According to a May 2012 Institute of Medicine report, only half of America’s children and one in four teens get enough activity to meet current guidelines (Doheny and Noonman 1). The recommendations call for children to participate in at least 60 minutes of vigorous to moderate physical activity every day (Hendrick 1). “Only four percent of elementary schools, eight percent of middle schools, and two percent of high schools provide daily physical ...
With the expansion in technology, children are hastily becoming more and more inactive. In the past century, kids would play outside from sunrise to sunset. Little did they realize, that playtime served as great daily exercise. Physical activity is a key necessity in keeping a healthy lifestyle. With the advancement of technology and the growing popularity of video games and television, fewer children are getting exercise. Stationary activities, such as video games and watching T.V., are keeping children inside and away from exercise. To blame just the kids for this lack of exercise would be wrong. The parents are the ones responsible for giving the children these games, but that is not all bad. Where it does turn bad however, is when the kids are given these games or televisions without a time restraint. Through research, they have found that 26% of children watch television for more than four hours a day. In efforts to encourage outside playtime for kids, Nickelodeon shut down programming daily from noon to 3pm. This seemed to be a great idea, but does it really help? Children are in school session Monday through Friday from 8am 3pm. The time Nickelodeon chose to go dark is the same time child...
Forty years ago in America childhood obesity was rarely a topic of conversation. A survey done in the early 1970s showed that 6.1% of children between the ages 12 and 19 were overweight. Eight years later the same survey was done and 17.4% were considered overweight (Iannelli). “Childhood obesity epidemic in America is now a confirmed fact since the number of overweight or obese children has more than tripled during the last 30 years” (Childhood Obesity Epidemic). “Over the last 20 years, the prevalence of obesity in children aged 6 to 11 years has tripled from 6.5% to 19.6%” (Childhood Obesity Epidemic). As a nation statistics should be alarming. Why are American children today so obese?
To help out with my research on childhood obesity I am creating this annotated bibliography. I am researching the health issues related to childhood obesity as well as the long term effects.
Childhood obesity is a serious problem among American children. Some doctors are even calling childhood obesity an epidemic because of the large percentage of children being diagnosed each year as either overweight or obese. “According to DASH sixteen to thirty-three percent of American children each year is being told they are obese.” (Childhood Obesity) There is only a small percentage, approximately one percent, of those children who are obese due to physical or health related issues; although, a condition that is this serious, like obesity, could have been prevented. With close monitoring and choosing a healthier lifestyle there would be no reason to have such a high obesity rate in the United States (Caryn). Unfortunately, for these children that are now considered to be obese, they could possibly be facing some serious health conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes, and some types of cancers. All of these diseases have been linked to obesity through research. These children never asked for this to happen to them; however, it has happened, and now they will either live their entire life being obese, or they will be forced to reverse what has already been done (Childhood Obesity).
Many children become obese due to lack of exercise. Today’s generation of children enjoy television, video games, iPads, and laptops much more than what the earlier generations of children did. Electronics have taken the joy out of things, like going outside to run around and play. In her book Preventing Childhood Obesity: Health in the Balance, Jeffrey P. Koplan includes how to get children involved in others things besides electronics, “Encouraging children and youth to be physically active involves pr...
Obesity has been around for many years, but it has always been addressed has an adult problem. Unfortunately obesity has now been discovered in children. It is rated the most deadly issue America has encountered. The numbers of overweight and obese children have increased. One out of every three United State's children is considered to be obese. Most overweight and obese child is at risk of developing high cholesterol, hypertension, respiratory ailments, orthopedic problems, depression and type 2 diabetes. According to Sandra G. Boodman (Jun 13, 1995) “studies have found that 40 percent of fat 7-years-old will grow up to be overweight adults, while 70 percent of overweight children between the ages of 10 and 13 will become fat adults." Children who become obese adults can suffer from many more health issues 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.
Obesity is a growing epidemic. There are many things around us that contribute to both childhood obesity and adult obesity. First, I will discuss how obesity has had an effect on me personally. Secondly, I will talk about what one contributing factor of childhood obesity is and two recommended preventative measures related to the contributing factor that people can take in order to reduce the chance of obesity. Lastly, I will discuss one sociological theory that relates to the contributing factor to obesity mentioned previously.
Childhood obesity is a serious epidemic on the rise in our American youth. Over the past
Childhood obesity is a widespread epidemic in the United States. The amount of overweight children is constantly growing and is going to continue to increase until changes are made. Fast food restaurants provide entertaining toys with every poor nutrition filled meal. Parents need to stop feeding children fattening foods and instead give them a healthier start in life. Playing on computers, cell phones, and video games are more entertaining to children than playing outside. A combination of these influences leads to childhood obesity, which comes with numerous negative effects. Children who are obese have a greater chance of developing serious illnesses such as type two diabetes, poor blood quality, heart disease, cancer, and many other health
Child obesity can be positively impacted by the state legislature in which during nine-year period, researchers studied and addressed nutritional policies within the Arkansas school system. In 2003 the effort to fight the growing epidemic of childhood obesity was acknowledged when widespread legislation passed Arkansas Act 1220. Prior to passing Arkansas Act 1220, Multiple Streams Framework was accessed to analyze the various aspects that presented childhood obesity as a major issue to the Arkansas legislative agenda. Six sections aimed at fighting childhood obesity are contained in Arkansas Act 1220. First, in addressing the issues of physical education and nutrition standards, the Childhood Advisory committee was assigned the
In the 20th century children played sports more often, walked to school and more. The children of the 21st century make choices that are completely opposite. The sports children play these days include watching television, playing games and eating junk food. Watching television and playing millions of videos games are excuses to help children avoid exercising.
There are a massive number of overweight children in the world today, and the waistlines of children are continuing to grow at disturbing rates, which is threatening and putting their lives in danger's way. The growing rate of childhood obesity has consumers and health advocates urging the United States government to investigate the relationship between childhood obesity and marketing. Transiri states, in Don’t Blame the Youth, “As youngsters get fatter, parents, public health organizations and government officials continue to question the impact of food-marketing practices” (Casison-Tansiri). Childhood obesity rates are increasing in the United States because the advertising industry is targeting our children with unhealthy eating habits. These are harsh statements, and may be offending to some, but the obesity rate in children should be just as offensive, and society as a whole needs to be involved to make a difference to prevent childhood obesity.
Health has always been very important issue for everyone. Having a healthy lifestyle can allow people to live better lives. With today’s society children are exposed to more unhealthy diets by parents and schools. Having a balanced and good diet in children can decrease the risk of diseases caused by unhealthy nutrition in children. Obesity is a big issue because it can lead to many bad diseases like diabetes, cancer, and heart diseases that these children can develop by being obese. In addition the lack of physical activity by children is increasing the number of obese children in the united states. Obesity in children is caused by physical inactivity, overeating, and high diet of sugar and fats.