Childhood obesity in America is a growing disease that has become
an epidemic that has lasting psychological effects, because of
advertisement of fast food, lack of physical activities, and parental control
has made food become a major health issue in many young teenagers’
lives today. Overall, who is to blame?
Obesity plagues America and threatens to seriously degrade our
society in many ways. There are some that would argue to say that
obesity is okay and that it is not that big of a deal, they are wrong. There
are some variations pertaining to build but everyone’s body is
designed to carry a certain weight, when you increase that weight you
threaten the balance of your body and can expect your body to break
down much sooner than expected. For example, think of a machine, a
machine that was designed to lift 100 pounds could easily do the job and
continue doing the job for a very long time before breaking down. Now,
think of that same machine lifting 300 pounds instead, since it was
designed for only 100 pounds, how much quicker will that machine break
down? It is also in our nature to not desire obesity, we are genetically
designed just like the rest of nature to desire the fit and healthy of
society. This is the root cause of social dislike for obesity as well as
personal dislike for obesity.
Which brings us to the focus of how childhood obesity has become
an enormous issue today. In order to truly understand the impact of
obesity and why we should prevent it, we first need to look at the causes
of obesity and what keeps people obese. The logical first step for us to
look at is childhood obesity, even if children are merely o...
... middle of paper ...
... of the blame.
In conclusion, while childhood obesity is alarming, it is preventable and treatable.
Works Cited
1."Parents, Kids Don’t Perceive Obesity as a Health Problem." Journal of the American Dietetic Association n. pag. Web. 20 Feb 2015. .
2.N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb 2015. .
3.N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb 2015. .
4. Rabin, Robin. "Child Obesity Risks Death at Early Age, Study Finds ." (2012): n. pag. Web. 20 Feb 2015. .
5. Levine, Susan, and Rob Stein. "Obesity Threatens a Generation." 'Catastrophe' of Shorter Spans, Higher Health Costs (2013): n. pag. Web. 20 Feb 2015.
6. Maine, M. (2012). Body Wars. Carlsbad: Gurze Books
23 July 2018. Print. The. Brody, Jane E. “Attacking the Obesity Epidemic by First Figuring Out Its Cause.” New York Times.
Obesity is a huge problem that needs to be resolved because it affects all people, unlike most issues. People of every gender, every age, and every race are at risk of being obese. Obesity rates in America have nearly doubled within the last twenty years. Something must be done not only to prevent obesity rates continuous rising, but also to dramatically increase the percentage of obese people in America altogether.
Did you know that 35% of the United States population is considered obese? Also, 66% of the population is considered overweight or more? (Saint Onge 2014) Even more frightening, in 2012 the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported that more than one third of children and adolescents in America were overweight or obese (CDC 2014). The media sources used investigates the political, scientific, historical, and cultural reasons behind the childhood obesity epidemic in America. Obesity is a rapid growing epidemic in America and these sources present the facts causing this epidemic. As well as how the children of the American society are being wrongly influenced by the media, especially advertisments. (Greenstreet 2008).
Goldstein, Hesh. Why There is an Obesity Epidemic. 16 Nov. 2009. 12 Nov. 2011 .
Childhood obesity has become such a big problem because of the lack of parent awareness and influence on children to eat healthily. Childhood obesity i...
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.
Today, approximately 25 percent of children and teenagers are obese and the number is on the rise. Since the 1960’s childhood obesity has increased by 54 percent in children ages six to eleven. In children twelve to seventeen it has increased by 39 percent. (Silberstein, 1) Childhood obesity is so prevalent among these age groups that it has reached epidemic proportions.
However, there is more at stake here than what these two groups ultimately believe to be true. The percentage of obese children in the United States has risen from 5% in 1980 to almost 20% in 2012. Factors such as food choices and fitness levels are contributing greatly to this problem. Obese children eventually become obese adults and bring along with them many adverse medical conditions. These medical conditions such as diabetes are known to be severe and place a shorter life expectancy on the people it affects. Ultimately, what is at stake here is childhood obesity is on the rise in the United States due to people’s failure to eat the proper foods and as a result of children followin...
According to the USDA, at the start of century 21st American people have increased their daily caloric intake by consuming five hundred calories more than in 1970. As cited by Whitney & Rolfes (2011), there are many recognized causes of obesity such as genetics, environment, culture, socioeconomic, and metabolism among others; but the cause most evident is that food intake is higher than the calories burned in physical activity. Excess of energy from food is stored in the body as fat causing an increase of weight. During the course of the last 40 years, obesity has grown enormously in the United States and the rates remain on the rise (pgs. 272-273).
...clude, obesity epidemic in America has become a real threat for the American children and first who can stop it are the parents” (Childhood Obesity Epidemic)
Childhood obesity has already reduced the average life expectancy between four and nine months. “[T]oday’s generation will have shorter and less healthy lives than their parents for the first time in modern history,” warned S. Jay Olshansky, the University of Illinois researcher and author of the study (1). In 2004, the US Center for Disease Control found that at least 66% of adults were overweight or obese—double the percentage in 1980—and that more than 1/6 th of kids ages 2-19 were overweight. Type II diabetes, usually caused by an unhealthy lifestyle rather than genetics, has increased as a side effect of obesity and heart disease is also on the rise. In short, obesity is a national epidemic.
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
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).
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...
Obesity occurs in all countries and it is one of the gravest problems in modern society. Obesity problems have become one matter of concern for individuals all around the world. What is more is that Obesity rates continue to rise all around the world. One of the chief causes is unhealthy diets. Obesity is also due to lack of exercise and lack of education and awareness. Therefore obesity has various effects including the risk of suffering from a range of health conditions, increased expenditure on health care and lack of self-esteem.