Exercise is one of the most important factors in a persons’ life. Physical activity, or the lack of it, can result in a person having a healthy life or cause them to have diabetes. The benefits of exercise are countless. The positive health results, the improvement in attitude, even better academic performance are all factors which make not exercising inexcusable.
Merely not using a person’s body is harmful. Not being active results in a person’s muscles becoming weak and out of condition. The effectiveness of a person’s heart and lungs will decrease. A person’s joints will become stiff and can be injured easily. Inactivity can be as much of a health risk as smoking. In addition children have become extremely lazy with all the entertainment available in this day and age. Most Americans watch three and a half hours of television every day. By the age of sixty five over nine years will have been spent in front of a screen. Over one-third children from ages four to nineteen eat fast food every day and fifteen percent in that age set are obese. It is especially important to prevent children and adolescences from becoming obese. According to “Obesity and Overweight for Professionals: Data and Statistics” eighty percent of obese children become obese adults. The number of overweight children in America has doubled since the 1980s. People have begun resorting to unsuccessful diets and each day thousands of teens become bulimic or anorexic to
lose weight. Thirty four to thirty seven percent of adults in America are obese. This has increased dramatically in the past twenty years (“Obesity”).
The simple answer to this problem is to start exercising. The U.S. Department of Health and Human services says that children and teens need a...
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Center for Desase Control. Center for Diease Control "U.S. Obesity Trends". 21 July 2011. 18 November 2011.
Over the last few decades the prevalence of obesity in children and adolescents has been steadily increasing in the United States drawing immediate concern for the coming generations and the overall health and well-being for society. While addressing this concern, a matter of significance has to be reviewed to undoubtedly warrant the attention of the nation and propose factors of government, community, organizational, and individual involvement. According to the Society of Behavioral Medicine, “Since 1960, overweight prevalence rates among children and adolescents have increased more than threefold. In 2003-2006, 16.3% of children and adolescents aged 2 – 19 years were at or above the 95th percentile and 31.9% were at or above the 85th percentile for age and sex based on the 2000 CDC growth charts.” (SBM). Below in Figure 1 taken directly from the CDC, is a chart helping put into perspective the dramatic increase of child and adolescent obesity from 1963 – 2008.
Obesity has been identified as one of the risk factors affecting directly and indirectly the health outcome of the population. Even though many approaches and programs have been conducted in order to reduce the obesity rate, this health issue is still a big headache and keeps being put on the table. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), overweight and obesity rate have been increasing significantly in the past two decades in the United States with more than 35.7% of adults and almost 17% of children and adolescents from 2-19 years olds being obese ("Overweight and obesity," 2013). As Healthy People 2020 indicated, in the period from 1988-1994 to 2009-2010, the age adjusted obesity rate among U.S adults aged 20 and over increased from 22.8% to 35.7%, which means increased by 57% while the obesity rate among children and teenagers from 2 to 19 years old increased from 10% to approximately 17%, witnessing the increase of 69% ("Nutrition, physical activity," 2013). Obesity has impact both on economic and health of the nation. Obesity is the risk factor of serious chronic diseases, including heart disease, stroke, type II diabetes, certain kinds of cancer, and other leading causes of preventable deaths ("Overweight and obesity," 2013). Moreover, obesity continues to be economic burden in terms of medical costs for either public or private payers up to $147 billion per year which increased from 6.5% to 9.1% (Finkelstein et al, 2009). In 2008, medical spending per capita for the obese or obesity related health issues is $1,429 per year, as 42% higher than “those of normal weight” (Finkelstein et al, 2009, p.8).
CDC – Obesity and Overweight. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 21 June 2010. Web. 26 July 2010. < http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/>.
Childhood and adolescent obesity is a problem of significant concern. Whether obese or at risk, excessive fat is based on the ratio of weight to height, age, and gender of the individual (Ul-Haq, Mackay, Fenwick, & Pell, 2013). Today’s youth are considered the most inactive generation in history thus, childhood and adolescent obesity is more prevalent than ever before. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) documents the obesity rate in children ages 6-11 in 2012 at 18% (an increase from seven percent in 1980), and adolescents at 21% (an increase from five percent in 1980). The obesity rate in children has more than doubled and quadrupled in adolescents over a 30-year period (CDC, n.d). The factors responsible for childhood and adolescent obesity are related to childhood lifestyle, family influence, and community factors (CMA Foundation, 2008). The Healthy People 2020 goal, NWS-10.4, is to “reduce the proportion of children and adolescents aged 2 to 19 years who are considered obese from 16.1% to 14.5%” (Healthy People 2020, 2013). Overweight children and adolescents are at increased risk for severe medical issues that can last a lifetime. Interventions to reduce the incidence and improve the health of young people involve solutions at the primary (low risk youth), secondary (at risk youth), and tertiary (obese) levels (Sweeting, 2008). Parents, caregivers, and medical professionals can work together in diagnosing if the child is becoming obese or if the child is having a growth spurt (Ul-Haq et al., 2013).
Since the 1960?s obesity in America has more than tripled regardless of sex or race. Today 30.5 percent, or 69 million, American Adults are considered obese (?AOA Fact Sheets? np). In addition, 13 percent of children aged 6-11 years old are considered overweight, and well on their way to becoming obese. Obesity causes over 300,000 deaths a year and costs the country $117 billion dollars, prompting health care providers and the government to label it an epidemic (?Overweight and Obesity?? np).
...mption of food and physical activity. To make their children more active, parents should stop buying videogames and set a time limit to decrease the amount of time their children spend in front of a computer screen. Another way to increase physical activity is to encourage children to join an extra-curricular activity. Although it is easiest to prevent obesity at a young age, many people in the United States grow up obese or become obese. To help and to encourage adults who are suffering from obesity, they need to learn the life-threatening effects that accompany the “heavy” burden.
Ogden, C.L., M.D. Carroll, B.K. Kit, and K.M. Flegal. "Overweight and Obesity in the U.S."
In our society today one of the most difficult problems we are facing is the large numbers of obesity in our children. One of the major factors in that is this; our children have become less physically active. At an early age children start watching TV, learn how to operate a computer, and play video games. Having technological skills is now a necessity in all of our lives because everything has turned “computerized,” but the fact is that our children are relying on these types of entertainment rather than getting up and physically exercising to entertain them selves. This directly affects the large number of obese children in our country today because of the lack of physical exercise. It is not that we want our kids to look a certain way or to be better at sports than everyone else, but it is that we want our kids to be physically fit and to develop a healthy lifestyle. Physical exercise is not only for adults, it is for children as well, so we must understand the importance of our children exercising and the benefits from it. By doing that it will make an impact on that child for the rest of his/her life.
Without physical activity the human body can be subjected to a mental health problems, cardiovascular disease, and obesity.
In the article, Lack of exercise as ‘deadly’ as smoking, published on July 18, 2012 by NHS Choices, says “the burden of physical inactivity on global deaths and major diseases including coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes and breast and colon cancer.” Body ache could disappear, because when we exercise our muscular and cardiorespiratory fitness will improve. Work out is not just to stay thin it is to stay healthy. Regular exercise will help us to stay sharp and avoid some diseases like, obesity, heart problems, diabetes, some cancers, and most important will boost our mood. Not to mention the great benefit associated to the bone health. The lack of exercise will also affect our children. Children learn what they see, if they see their parents watching TV most of their free time they will learn the same. According to the article, Top 10 Reason Children Should Exercise, published by the American Medical Association, on June 7, 2017, “About one-third of American children ages 10 to 17 are overweight or obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and fewer than 25% of children get the recommended 60 minutes of moderate-intensity physical active per day recommended by the American Medical Association“ We, the parents are responsible to teach our children the importance of daily exercise . Instilling good habits to our children will create a new healthy
There are many negative health factors associated with a lack of physical activity. Although perhaps somewhat obvious, inactive individuals tend to gain more weight. Physical activity quite nearly doubles the risk for an individual to become obese (“Physical Activity”). Obesity is connected to diabetes and other major negative health conditions (DePietro). Those who remain inactive and instead control their weight by only dieting are also at risk for negative health conditions. Dieting, at a certain point, causes a deficiency of nutrients in the body which can lead to other medical problems. There is no choice between exercise and eating health for those who want to control their weight: they need to do both. Furthermore, a lack of exercise can lead to an increased risk of osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a condition where bones in the body can be easily fractured. Physical activity strengthens the bones of the body, effectively reducing the risk of osteoporosis (DePietro). A sedentary lifestyle can also lead to a higher blood pressure, and thus, to hypertension. High blood press...
Nanci Hellmich, 2013. Kids need to step up physical activity, report says. USA Today Available from: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/03/08/kids-physical-activity/1971063/ [Accessed 24 April 2014]
One dominant factor that leads to teenage obesity is lack of exercise. According to a letter to the editor of a highschool newspaper, physical activity has declined 13 percent from 1980 to 2000, while the number of obese teenagers has risen. This shows the impact of exercise on a teenager’s body. Teenagers should get at least 30 minutes of moderately intense exercise every day. As stated in “Adolescent Obesity,” physical activity is very important both in the prevention and the treatment of obesity. It is compulsory to burn off the calories gained by eating food. Studies show that children and teenagers that ar...
A Surgeon General's report (Anonymous,1996) addresses the finding that continuous and consistent physical activity is proven to enhance longevity and the quality of life for people of all ages. Furthermore, the report notes that although it has been recognized for years that regular physical activity can lead to substantial health benefits, 60% of American adults are not regularly active, and 25% of the adult population are not active at all. Paffenbarger (1996) states that physical fitness and exercise can reduce the risk of diseases such as heart disease, non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, some cancers, osteoarthritis and osteoporosis, and obesity. Studies also show that exercise can promote psychological well-being and reduce feelings of anxiety and depression (http://www.medgraph.com/aboutexercise.html).