The Obesity Epidemic in America

Childhood obesity Numerous children are victims of a variety of health problems inflicted by the deficiency of good nutrition and physical activity. Childhood obesity is a national epidemic and is continuously growing rapidly. Obesity is an excessive amount of body fat in relation to body mass, being overweight is your body weight in relation to your height (L. Marcus Ph. D and A. Baron M.S.W.). Obesity is the most distinct medical condition but the most difficult condition to treat.

You have to always eat till your stomach gets full. If you always eat too much it doesn’t mean that you are overweight. You have to eat too much of the wrong foods. The reason more and more people are developing eating disorders is because they are misusing food and stress eating and eating for fun, whenever they are bored. Another term for obesity is Bulimia.

The sources are varied. These causes include: environmental factors, social factors and medication. Environmental factors including of overeating, lack of physical activity, eating out too often and school lunches (Schoenstadt). “The top two causes of obesity in children are the unhealthy diets and physical inactivity. A sedentary life along with a fat rich diet will also result in obesity” (Schoenstadt).

High-glycemic carbohydrates prevent fat breakdown and drive fat into fat deposits, causing fat to accumulate, which occurring in high levels is obesity. The era of home cooking has all but disappeared from our society, with meals being replaced with pizza, or fast food creating yet another innutritious aspect of children?s diets. Carbohydrates also take far less time to empty from the stomach than do those foods high in fat or protein, causing hunger (Buffington, 14). A child having eaten a b... ... middle of paper ... ...ould be limited, while active play should be encouraged. If parents and children alike can create a healthy balance between genetics, diet and lifestyle, the growing issue of obesity may one day be no longer a concern, and generations will live to be healthier.

(2011, April 21). Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/data.html Ebbeling, C. B., Pawlak, D. B., & Ludwig, D. S. (2002). Childhood obesity: public-health crisis, common sense cure. The Lancet, 360, 473-482. Retrieved from http://www.commercialalert.org/childhoodobesity.pdf Perinatal.

“Total costs for childhood obesity are estimated at eleven billion for children with private insurance and three billion for children with Medicaid (Mulheron, Joyal, Vonasek 13).” According to Centers for Disease and Prevention, childhood obesity is a medical condition in which weight significantly exceeds what is normal for age and height (Crothers, Kehle, Bray, Theodore 787). Childhood obesity is calculated according to a child’s body mass index. The formula used to calculate body mass index is formed by dividing children’s weight by their height squared. Therefore, every child’s body mass index is then compared to a standard chart, averaged from other children in the same age category. “Children whose BMI exceeds 25-30 kg/m2 are classified as overweight- obese”(Jenvey 810).

The rising numbers of obese children has reached an alarming rate. With many Americans, “…‘obesity’…carries the connotation of being extremely overweight. [But] health professionals define overweight as an excess amount of body weight that includes muscle, bone, fat and water; whereas obesity is specifically defined as an excess amount of body fat” (Andrews 1). More often than not we tend to switch these definitions and have false pretenses. Although, there are many health threats in the world today, “…childhood obesity (is) one of the leading health threats in the United States” (2).

Diseases Caused By Obesity: Being overweight predisposes a child to heart disease, gallstones, adult onset diabetes, hypertension, cancer, and full-blown obesity later in life. Obese children have more problems and upper respiratory diseases. And that is only one side of the story. They often suffer major social and psychological problems. The rapid increase of serious depression, eating disorders, drug use, and suicide among teenagers is frightening (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 1st Jan 2001, Obesity In Children And Teens, http://www.aacap.org/publications/factsfam/79.htm).

Obesity in children is a contributing factor of hypertension, high cholesterol and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Studies have shown that 70% of obese children have one and 39% have two risk factors of CVD (CDC, 2012). With the prevalence of childhood obesity in American children, long term and short term health effects can be drastically influenced by the popularity of fast food, amount of physical activity and parental influence. Children can be conditioned to lead an unhealthy life. The increased availability of fast food has changed, so should our eating habits.

. . Hochberg, Z. (2005). Consensus Statement: Childhood Obesity.