In today’s society, childhood obesity is growing at an alarming rate. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past thirty years (OgdenCL, Carroll MD, Kit BK, Flegal KM, 2014). In 2012, more than one third of our children and adolescents were reported as being overweight or obese. The consequences of this growing epidemic are becoming more and more detrimental to our children’s health. Childhood obesity not only causes short-term health problems, but there are long-term issues as well. It is rapidly becoming the “norm” for our society instead of the “exception”. We as parents, should educate ourselves and become active in saving …show more content…
Busy lives filled with work, school, and extracurricular activities cause parents to rely on these restaurants for their convenience. Fast food chains now offer every item they sell “supersized”. One meal can have as many calories as is recommended for one full day. If a child eats fast food three times a day they could be consuming almost three times the recommended daily allowance. This along with the costs of fresh fruits and vegetables, and the availability of these foods makes it very difficult for them to make good choices. Parents often do not have the resources to provide their children with low calorie fresh foods. The cost is often out of their budget and the old habit of purchasing cheap fast food is hard to …show more content…
Short-term health effects such as, high-cholesterol, high blood pressure, pre-diabetes, bone and joint problems, sleep apnea, and poor self-esteem. According to the CDC, obese youth are more likely to have risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure. In a population-based sample of 5-17 year olds, seventy percent of obese had at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease (Freedom DS, et.al, 2007). Obese adolescents are at risk for developing pre-diabetes. Both children and adolescents are at a greater risk for developing bone and joint problems, sleep apnea, and social and psychological problems such as stigmatization and poor self-esteem(2015). These conditions can lead to long-term health effects as well. Obese children become obese adults with a risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, osteoarthritis, and many types of cancer. For the first time we may be raising a generation of children that we will
CDC talks about the immediate health effects happening to children and adolescents. For those who are obese are at a risk for bone and joint problems, inability to breathe, social, and poor low self-esteem. Approximately, 5-17 year olds, 70% of obese youth is at a high risk of getting cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular disease is high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Obese adolescents are more likely to carry a condition called pre-diabetes, which is a development of high blood glucose that becomes diabetes. The long-term health effects of obese children and adolescents are at more risk to obtain adult health problems. The conditions of adult health problems are much worse conditions that connect to heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, and several types of cancer, arthritis, and stroke. Those who struggle with being overweight or obesity combines the risk of having cancer with the internal organs like the breast, colon, esophagus, kidney, pancreas and many more.
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.
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.
Childhood obesity has been on the rise in the last couple of years. In the 1970’s childhood obesity was never a concern to the public until the number increased over the years. An alarming rate of 31% of all adults have been obese since they were children and the rates of childhood obesity don’t fall too behind with an 18% of children being obese. That makes almost half of obese adults and children. A child that is obese has a 70-80% higher chance of staying obese even through their adulthood if no action is taken. Childhood obesity is not something children are in control of, these children suffer from different outcomes since they can’t look after themselves and heavily rely on someone to aid them when they need it. These numbers can be drastically altered in a positive way by educating both children and parents about healthy, nutritious foods to consume, supplying schools with better lunch and healthier vending machines with healthy choices and promoting after school activities to keep children active and away from electronics.
The nation is suffering from a new epidemic from a program that had good intentions. The obesity rate for children has distantly increased over the past years and is continuing to grow. In the past thirty years, obesity has more than doubled in children and has tripled in young adults. This problem has both immediate and long-term effects in health and well-being in children and adolescents. The ...
There is an alarming rise in childhood obesity throughout the United States, making it an epidemic in our country. Obesity has become a threat to the health of many children. Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years. The percentage of children aged 6–11 years in the United States who were obese increased from 7% in 1980 to nearly 18% in 2012. Similarly, the percentage of adolescents aged 12–19 years who were obese increased from 5% to nearly 21% over the same period.(Childhood Obesity Facts, 2015)
Childhood obesity has become one of America’s biggest problems today. The number of overweight and obese children has increased at an outstanding rate during the mid- 1970s. According to the author of “The Metamorphoses of Fat- a History of Obesity,” one in five American kids is overweight or obese (23). Obesity is causing a broad range of health problems for these children that shouldn’t be happening until they reach their adulthood. Some of these health problems include high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol levels. Not only does childhood obesity cause health problems, but psychological ones too. Obese children are more likely to develop a low self- esteem and depression because of their negative body image.
It is imperative that society coalesces to help prevent childhood obesity. No child or parent wants to suffer through any type of heart condition or disease, whether it be now or later on in their lives. Experts have seen the rising obesity rate as a wake-up call to take the “epidemic” of childhood obesity very seriously. Because of the fact that childhood obesity is interconnected with so many health issues it significantly affects lifespans. Childhood obesity can be prevented and needs to be in order to ultimately save the lives and future lives of children.
Childhood obesity is a chronic health problem in the United States. Today, "nearly a third of youths are overweight or obese" (National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research). Obesity affects children psychologically and physically. Obesity is a chronic imbalance of more calories consumed than expended each day. Childhood obesity is closely linked with housing and food securities, children without stable homes are more likely to suffer from hunger, chronic disease, and malnutrition. Demographic, socio-structural, and environmental variables also play a significant role in the childhood obesity prevalence and incidents. For instance, environments with lower than the average neighborhood, availability of healthy foods and higher than
These effects are felt all the way through adulthood and even longer sometimes. One of the largest effects that are has is that greatly decreases the metabolic rate leading to remaining obese throughout their entire lifetime in some cases. A decrease in metabolic rate can cause a whirlwind of trouble for these children down the road and in the present. These children can develop hyperinsulinemia which is high levels of insulin throughout their body, hypertension which is high blood pressure, and dyslipidemia. All of these things combined can cause the hardening of the artery or clogging. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention obese children are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease. The damages done by childhood obesity are not limited to the physical aspect. It can lead to “poor body image, low self-esteem, social isolation, recurrent anger, early forms of eating disorders, clinical depression, and negativity acting out in school and social settings” (Moglia). All of these things can cause such a negative impact on a child 's life that there may be repercussions later on in
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.
Obesity is a modern epidemic in America and is starting to become our society’s “norm.” According to an article in Progress in Health Sciences, childhood obesity is the most frequent eating disorder (Koukourikos). There are several factors that contribute to the childhood obesity epidemic. Should we solely shun the parents of obese children for this? No, we should not. There is not one single person to blame, but several people, along with our society. Family, friends, and schools all play a very important role in teaching children about healthy food choices and exercise. Children may have a greater risk for obesity due to genetic factors. We need to constantly remind our children how important it is to maintain a healthy lifestyle so that
It causes heart diseases from high cholesterol and high blood pressure, asthma, and type 2 diabetes, and other health conditions. Obese children can have weight related health problems all the way into adulthood. This is something we need to resolve not only does it because physical pains but also psychological issues. Obese children tend to have low self-esteem and other social problems because of their weight. This is caused from the discrimination that overweight children and adults can face in their life.
Child obesity is at its highest in the United States. With fast food restaurants spreading, new food products being produced, and health rates hiking in children between ages of 3-13, children are at a higher risk of reaching obesity. Nutrients are very important for children to contain in their body due to the fact they are growing regularly. Without the specific vitamins and minerals needed in the body, lack of physical activity, and false parental guidance, children are in jeopardy of becoming overweight. Should parents be responsible for this issue? Parents are accountable for their children’s health, because as their child grows, it is a parent’s job to supply correct and healthy resources to their children.
The obesity disease has risen to epidemic proportions and is raising concern in the health sector worldwide. The condition is common among both children and adults. It is true that the majority of the people need to be educated in changing their lifestyle to help combat this disease. The main cause of obesity is poor nutrition. Most people have poor lifestyle habits in relation to eating, which contributes to the obese condition. People have various eating habits according to their culture and financial means. Money dictates the foods that people can consume. In most cases, people opt for cheap low-quality foods, instead of the healthy, but pricey food products. There are sufficient solutions that can help to combat and reduce the obesity epidemic