Nutrition and Childhood obesity

In the United States, the number of overweight children has doubled in the past few decades. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the spread of this epidemic has doubled among children ages two to five from five to twelve percent and among ages seven to eleven from seven to seventeen percent. In teenagers ages twelve to nineteen, the rates have increased more than triple the amount from five to eighteen percent.

Research by Dr. Richard J. Deckelbaum and Christine L. Williams (2012) indicates that these increases have been seen throughout all racial and ethnic backgrounds. Although some racial and ethnic backgrounds were affected more than others, it is clear that girls happened to be more affected than boys. Between the National Health and Nutrition I and III surveys, performed over a course of twenty years, the percentage of obese young girls has increased more than two hundred percent, whereas the percentage of obese boys increased less than twenty five percent. However, in children six years old and older, the prevalence has doubled in both girls and boys.

Contributions to Childhood Obesity

Throughout the world, there is a lack of access to healthy foods. In some lower class countries, foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean protein are a delicacy. Families in poor communities often live where supermarkets and grocery stores are scarce and the food sold is expensive. Many communities, particularly in cities, have an outstanding amount of fast food restaurants that can be found within a short walking distance. The increased consumption of sodas and snacks, meals of large portions with higher caloric contents, and the increased advertisements that promote unhealthy foods contribute to thi...

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...healthier dieting and exercise can greatly help control, and hopefully one day end, this ongoing epidemic.

Works Cited

World Health Organization (2013). Obesity and overweight. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/. American Psychological Association (2009). Resolution on promotion of healthy active lifestyles and prevention of obesity and unhealthy weight control behaviors in children and youth. Washington, D.C. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/about/governance/council/policy/chapter-12b.aspx#active-lifestyle.

Deckelbaum, R. J., & Williams, C. L. (2001), Childhood Obesity: The Health Issue. Obesity Research, 9: 239S–243S. doi: 10.1038/oby.2001.125

Whitaker, R. C., Wright, J. A., Pepe, M. S., Seidel, K. D., Dietz, W. H. (1997) Predicting obesity in young adulthood from childhood and parental obesity. N Engl J Med 337: 869–873.