It is no surprise that obesity is a serious problem in America. Childhood obesity is continuing to rise, and this causes a serious threat to the health of our nation. Today more than 9 million children over the age of 6 are considered obese (Koplan, Kraak, Liverman). Since 1970 obesity rates have nearly tripled and will likely continue to rise (Koplan, Kraak, Liverman). Steps need to be taken to try to limit it and improve the health of the nation. Obesity needs to be treated as a serious health concern and the United States needs to do more to educate the nation’s youth.
Obesity is defined as having a BMI at or above the 95th percentile for a particular age and sex (Harding). There are several factors that contribute to an individuals BMI such as genes, psychological influences, lifestyle, certain diseases, and eating habits. However, the most prominent factor is one’s environment (Green, Hargrove, Riley). Americans have adapted a very unhealthy lifestyle within the last century. Children spend on average five or six hours on activities such as watching television, using the computer, or playing video games (Green, Reese). There has also been a significant increase in the consumption of fast food which has little nutritional value (Green, Hargrove, Riley). With this increase in technology and processed food availability, it isn’t surprising that obesity rates are increasing.
There are several reasons as to why the United States need to educate the youth about obesity. First, children who are obese are at risk for psychosocial problems. This includes problems such as shame and low self-esteem. These problems could lead to eating disorders such as bulimia or anorexia, which are also serious problems with America’s youth. Girls a...
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...uced by 5 percent the United States of America could save an estimated $29.8 billion in five years, $158 billion in 10 years, and $611.7 billion in 20 years (Loy and Zatz). Medicare could also save more than $5 billion, and Medicaid could save more than $2 billion (Loy and Zatz). Reducing obesity can help can fewer trips to the doctors, few prescriptions, and fewer sick days.
Preventing obesity is a complicated process that cannot be accomplished overnight.
However, the effort is necessary to save our country from unhealthy, short lived lives. Major gains have been made in areas such as reducing tobacco use, limiting teen pregnancies, and preventing youth from smoking. These gains give hope that our country can be restored to a healthier country with less preventable diseases. It is worth spending some money on education to help improve quality of life in America.
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.
In order to impede the epidemic of childhood obesity, the actual causes of the problem need to be evaluated and dissected. Obesity in children is becoming a huge problem in American society. In the past three decades, the rate of overweight children has increased by 300%. This is an alarming rate that is only climbing higher. Every member in society should take steps to becoming healthier. This would help the present generations as well as future generations to come. The lifestyle of Americans keeps us too busy to be a healthy society.
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.
The nation is suffering from a new epidemic from a program that had good intentions. The obesity rate for children has distantly increased over the past years and is continuing to grow. In the past thirty years, obesity has more than doubled in children and has tripled in young adults. This problem has both immediate and long-term effects in health and well-being in children and adolescents. The ...
The human body requires the intake of food in order to function properly. The foods that we decide to eat has an effect on the ability to use are mind, are strength, and even how prone we are to getting sick or hurt. Eating to much of the wrong foods, with little or no exercise can cause the silent but deadly epidemic of obesity in children and in teens. In the past, obesity was just known as a condition that only affected adults. In this generation the youths are becoming more prone to obesity. In 1995 an average of 18 million children all around the world was categorized as being overweight (Rabbitt, Aifric, and Imelda Coyne 731). In a Childhood Obesity Interventions article it says that 17% (12.5 million) of children in the United States is considered to be obese (Rabbitt, Aifric, and Imelda Coyne 731). This outrageous number of overweight children in the world is almost tripled in 2010, where 43 million children under 5 are considered to be overweight (Rabbitt, Aifric, and Imelda Coyne 731). Another staggering statistic is more than 60% percent of the children that are classified as overweight before they reach puberty, will be overweight as they become adults (Rabbitt, Aifric, and Imelda Coyne 731). This leads us to the most stifling fact of there being 2.8 million people in the world that die from being overweight or obese each year (Rabbitt, Aifric, and Imelda Coyne 731). These shocking statistics show how dangerous obesity really is, and should urge everyone to fight against this epidemic.
There is an alarming rise in childhood obesity throughout the United States, making it an epidemic in our country. Obesity has become a threat to the health of many children. Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years. The percentage of children aged 6–11 years in the United States who were obese increased from 7% in 1980 to nearly 18% in 2012. Similarly, the percentage of adolescents aged 12–19 years who were obese increased from 5% to nearly 21% over the same period.(Childhood Obesity Facts, 2015)
Tom Harkin, US congressman from Iowa, says that obesity now contributes to the death of more than 360,000 Americans a year. The incidence of childhood obesity is now at epidemic levels. Alarm bells are going off all over the place, but our government has basically done nothing. The obesity rate has risen to epidemic proportions in the United States. Communities across the country, recognizing obesity as an issue of serious public health concern, are looking for innovative ways to halt the increasing rate of obesity (Davis 260). The rising prevalence of childhood and adult obesity can be explained in part by changes in our environment over the last 30 years; in particular, the unlimited supply of convenient, highly palatable and energy-dense foods, coupled with a lifestyle typified by low physical activity (Farooqui 5-7). Childhood obesity in America is a growing epidemic--because of advertisement of fast food, lack of physical activities, and parental control--that has lasting psychological effects.
Obesity has increasingly become a significant public health concern in the United States. In the past four decades, the numbers of overweight children, adolescents, and adults has shot to high margins, and the rise cut cross all ages, races, and ethnicities for both males and females. A recent analysis by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey found that 30% of the American adult aged over the ages of twenty, which is a representation of over 60 million adults, was obese. Still the same survey indicated 16% of those between the ages of 16years and 19 years, which is over 9 million children and teenagers, were obese. This has come with its share of repe...
Our future begins with the children of today growing up to be the adults of tomorrow. “Childhood obesity is the condition of being overweight or severely overweight which causes risks to health between the age of 2 and 19” (“Childhood Obesity”). Childhood obesity is taking a huge toll on not only the physical standpoint of the child, but also their mental stability. Childhood obesity is no longer a concern with Americans; it’s now a problem that has spiraled out of control in the world. Obesity will never be resolved one hundred percent, but it’s the little impacts that concerned citizens bring to people’s attention that make the difference. One step in the right directions is better than not taking a step at all. Along with the many health issues associated with childhood obesity, there are three major effects that seem to stand out more around the world; the food we subject our bodies to, setting a pattern for the next generation(s), and it contributes to a child not reaching his or her full potential in life.
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).
Childhood obesity is an increasing problem here in the United States. According to Schuab and Marian (2011) “Childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions” (P.553). The prevalence of child obesity and overweight has increased over the last 30 years all over the United States, becoming one of the biggest public health challenges (Moreno, Johnson-Shelton, & Boles, 2013). The purpose of this paper is to give a background of the obesity epidemic, a review of current policy, and make a policy recommendation.
This public health issue does not only effect individuals but the national as a whole in regards to the health care system costs. Obesity in children "costs the health care system $14 billion per year, much which comes from public funds" (Glanz, 2008). Also, obesity is expected to cause 112,000 deaths per year in the United States(Gollust, 2014). In addition, many changes seen in the health care sy...
The United States needs to do something to change the amount of childhood obesity in the nation. If the government requires children to take classes that require physical activity, abolishes school vending machines, and teaches children about healthy eating, then the amount of children that are obese in the United States will decrease significantly. Obesity is defined as the increase of body fat over time to the point where it can impact health in a negative manner and decrease life expectancy. Since the 1980’s, obesity has increased dramatically in the United States. Children have been greatly impacted in the increase of obesity. This is a major problem as someday these obese children could possibly turn into obese adults. If the population of obese adults and children keeps increasing, than not only will our country have a lot of severely unhealthy people but the cost of health care will increase dramatically.
Obesity is one of the most dangerous health issues not only in the United States, but across the world. In my opinion our government should pay serious attention to how they plan to find solutions to this dilemma. The futures of those children rely on the help that we provide for them. If they aren’t being taken care of how can we expect to save other people with other types of issues? It is easy for others to think obesity can be solved from one to another. However they fail to realize that in order to fix this problem they will have to work on it little by little. In conclusion obesity can be deadly so be aware of the consequences obesity has so that our children can live a healthy and normal life.
Over the course of the last few decades, the U.S. has seen a drastic rise in the spread of obesity. Through the rise of large-scale fast food corporations, the blame has shifted toward the mass consumerism of these global industries. It is, however, due to poor lifestyle choices that the U.S. population has seen a significant increase in the percentage of people afflicted with obesity. In 1990 the percentage of obese people in the United States was approximated at around 15%. In 2010, however, it is said that “36 states had obesity rates of 25 percent or higher”(Millar). These rates have stayed consistent since 2003. The obesity problem in America is