Is Childhood Obesity a Ticking Time Bomb?

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In 2012 a Scottish Government health survey revealed that 13.8 percent of children under sixteen were at risk of being obese with a body mass index above 30. Childhood obesity is predominantly caused by children eating more than the daily recommended number of calories and then not moving around enough to burn them. In particular, the trend in the prevalence of obesity in boys has been rising throughout the years: it rose from 14.5% in 1998 to 19.7% in 2012. More worryingly, the number of girls considered obese reached a peak of 15.9% in 2009, though this has gradually decreased, and in 2012 the figures were the close to the 1998 level of 13%. If the problem is not tackled appropriately this will rob many nations of a generation of potentially intelligent, talented citizens and future leaders.
Obesity is defined as “the accumulation of abnormal or excessive fat that will later on present risks in the child’s adult life.” Childhood obesity is one of the major lifestyle issues in modern society. It has tripled since the 1980s due to the increasingly sedentary lifestyle of children. According to a research study carried out by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2010 a third of the worlds’ children and adolescents are overweight. A staggering 42 million adolescents are obese, 35 million of which are found in developed countries. Childhood obesity is becoming a significant first world problem.
Action is beginning to be taken to counteract this growing problem. The UK Government is encouraging more programmes to reduce adolescent obesity. As reported by the University of Cambridge, much action has been taken with programmes focused on the make-up of school dinners and improving the availability of more healthy food snacks. Programme...

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...-mutation-makes-you-fat http://www.medicaldaily.com/obesity-linked-mrap2-gene-mutation-mice-1-humans-marking-first-genetic-explanation-illness-247792 http://www.med.nagoyau.ac.jp/english01/dbps_data/_material_/nu_medical_en/_res/ResearchTopics/MRAP2_20130719en.pdf http://sciencenordic.com/childhood-obesity-gene-identified http://www.cam.ac.uk/news/genetic-mutation-causes-obesity http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/finding-genes-for-childhood-obesity http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-24610296 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Health/TrendObesity https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/reducing-obesity-and-improving-diet https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/264914/Briefing-OBESITY-FASTFOOD-FINAL.pdf https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/264914/Briefing-OBESITY-FASTFOOD-FINAL.pdf

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