Obesity is the condition of being grossly overweight. For the past decade, child obesity had been stable 17%, affecting 12.7 million children ages 2-19 years old. An unhealthy lifestyle starts at home Green, Gregory, and Shirley A. Reese. “Childhood Obesity: a growing phenomenon for physical education.” That is where children adopt food choices and portion size taught by their parents. Starting children on fast food at a young age is teaching them that it’s okay to have processed food over fresh food. Parents are not taking responsibility for children’s unhealthy eating habits. The research of Mary Ebierstadt ” Mary Eberstadt Obesity in Children Is a Serious Problem, 2006 argues that while adult obesity can be seen simply as a result of free choice, children’s obesity cannot. Parents need to take responsibility for not only their children’s obesity, but also the health problems that result from it such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes. Children are being taught to live unhealthy lives. Obesity in children comes with many consequences. Obesity can now be considered a form of child abuse. Parents look for someone else to blame for their actions, school meal programs and activities are taking the hit. A child’s diet is a big part of teaching children how to maintain …show more content…
Schools are taking action to fight against obesity and the other issues the cause it, by taking some steps to help the cause. Such as taking out unhealthy snacks in vending machines, schools are creating programs where kids can learn about healthy nutrition and fitness. When children go home there are also many things parents can do to help out, avoid eating large amounts of fast food and spending more time encouraging outside activities, getting involved with sports. With the help of the school and parents getting involved, parents and schools might be able to solve this
Did you know that more than two thirds of Americans are either overweight or obese (Center for Disease Conrtol)? This is the growing problem in the U.S that we, as Americans, can’t seem to find a solution to. The government spends billions of dollars annually to help those with overweight/obese health issues. But the government does not directly help people by changing their diets and making them healthy enough to live without those medical expenses. This trend is also upwards and the number of obese/overweight Americans has tripled since 1963 (Smith). Americans today should be forced by the government to have a healthy diet and avoid or limit the consumption of fast food.
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.
Childhood obesity has become huge epidemic in the United States. It is becoming one of the biggest health problems in America. Children are facing serious health concerns by not having the proper diet and exercise needed on a day-to-day basis. There are many different perspectives on how obesity should be treated and prevented. Many argue that children nowadays are becoming lazy, not getting enough exercise and have poor eating habits. Children are lacking fast and cheap food options that are actually healthy. Which are making people question who is to blame for this issue. Parents, schools, fast food industries and even the children themselves are just a few of the things that are to blame for this 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.
... and exercising regularly. Parents should limit the amount of fast food that their child is consuming. Parents don’t have to completely get rid of fast food, but they should limit going out to eat to once a month. Parents should pack their child’s lunch containing all the main food groups and pack some snacks so they can eat that throughout the day instead of buying snacks for the vending machines. Parents should limit TV and computer time and instead gather the whole family to play outside for at least an hour. Parents should enforce a healthier lifestyle at home so that obesity could be avoided. What children learn at home about eating healthy, exercising and making the right nutritional choices will have an impact on them and affect other aspects later on in life. Focusing on these causes may decrease childhood obesity and lead to a healthier society as a whole.
Buddha once said, "To keep the body in good health is a duty...otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear." Students need a healthy body which leads to having a healthy mind. Once a child is in good health, they will feel better about themself which will make them succeed in everything else they do. A huge debate that is going on all throughout the United States is this- Should schools provide one healthy meal for students to help end the fight of childhood obesity? Schools are beginning to pick up the slack for the lost direction that children should receive at home. Childhood obesity is a growing epidemic all through our country. If we do not begin to take the initiative and stop this problem, then it may begin to spread worldwide. Americans need to realize the severity of the situation and begin to take in more seriously rather than brush it off as a light topic.
In today’s society, there is a spotlight on the topic of staying healthy and fit. In the recent years weight loss programs have become increasingly popular, for example, Nutrisystem or Jenny Craig. These companies drive their business on improving unhealthy dietary habits. But, this increasing popularity is due to numerous large sized drink and meal options becoming available. Higher intake of calories and sugars eventually causes obesity. Although eating is essential for survival, what you eat is a personal choice. Many government officials have made strides to improve America’s obesity problems; both Mayor Bloomburg and Michelle Obama have approached this topic. Rather than a public health issue, obesity is a personal responsibility.Government
America is one of the most obese countries in the world, and the reasons are quite obvious. Take a look around. Fast food chains on every block, more and more technology to make our lives easier, and high amount of stress are just a few factors to weight gain in our country. There are many different views on obesity and how the people think it should be resolved, whether it's government making the change or the people taking care of themselves. Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years. Are we doing enough to bring these statistics down? No. In the last 40 years, there has been a growth to more than 160,000 fast food restaurants in America (“Adolescent and School Health”). Restaurants (such as Wendy's, McDonald's etc.) serve more than 50 million people per day, generating about 65 million in sales annually. Only since obesity has become a national epidemic have fast food restaurants changed their ways. But we need to do more than just change the kind of oil the french fries are fried in. Better yet, why don't we remove, or intensely decrease the number of the unhealthy fast food chains, and spread more healthy fast food chains, such as Subway? Is it something government could take act in? Should the United States government take measures to fight the rise of obesity in the country, or are choices concerning diet and nutrition better left to the individuals, free of government interference?
Obesity is a product of energy imbalance and it has become a major issue affecting citizens globally, especially in the United States. Over two-thirds of the United States population is excessively overweight and another one-third of the population is inordinately obese. A human requires a precise amount of energy from nutriment in order to maintain life functions. The body will remain consistent to the number of calories the body burns, then again if more calories are consumed than the ones burned, it will no longer remain equal. This imbalance pushes unwanted weight gain and obesity. There is an abundance of factors that lead to not having energy inequality such as eating habits, emotions, environment, income and genetics. In this essay, I intend to discuss how obesity has been growing in the United States and the health concern to this global epidemic (Caballero, 2007).
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
We need to make it easy for parents to have access to healthier foods and healthier lifestyle choices for their kids. A lot of parents don’t know what they are doing to their kids and how the foods and lack of exercise is really killing their children. They need this information they need support from the hospitals. It needs to be a community effort. Knowledge is power and this information is something parents need to have and know. They need to know the alternatives to junk food, they need to know that their kids should not watch television and play games all day without doing any physical activities. Some of the strategies I like that were used by the Tobacco industry and I think can be effective with childhood obesity is marketing. Marketing through videos, print ads, and radio ads. These are great for getting your word and message out to a larger audience. This is great to help educate the masses and provide them information on how to help with childhood obesity. You see a lot of information about smoking and the dangers of smoking which is great and it’s something that make people think twice. I think community interventions like the ones used with helping adolescents reduce tobacco use will be great for obesity as well. This was done by the education programs regarding tobacco and the anti-tobacco campaigns and laws passed to help with
When promoting plus sizes and television shows, are self-esteem or heart disease also being promoted? People throughout the world struggle with being anorexic, bulimic, overweight, or obese. TLC’s now popular reality TV show, My 600 Pound Life, displays the daily struggles of morbidly obese people. While encouraging women to love their body is appealing, there are many dangers in the fondness of obesity. Glorifying obesity can lead to being morbidly unhealthy, as demonstrated by Dominique Lanoise, a woman who died from morbid obesity.
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.
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...