Although there have been many studies on the underlying cause of high childhood obesity rates in America, there are many combined factors contributing to this issue instead of a single cause. These factors include: an unhealthy diet, lack of exercise, genetics, socioeconomics, and the contribution of schools and parents. Yet, the major contributions to childhood obesity seem to be a lack of physical exercise and a proper diet. However, many researchers have opposing opinions on which factor is more or less likely to cause childhood obesity.
The first article is about genetics and how they can determine a person’s weight. Many people believe genetics is the complete reason for obesity, but many people use this only as an excuse for why they
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In the article, "The Ballooning Problem of Childhood Obesity" by Dr. Aggarwal, parents are as a major contributor to young obesity. Parents buy the groceries, cook the meals, and decide what their child will eat day to day. Although portion sizes have increased, a parent has the control over how much food their child will receive on each plate (Aggarwal). This argument is valid because children learn behaviors from their parents. If a child learns to eat unhealthy food, he or she is more likely to become overweight. Also, sweetened drinks can be included in an unhealthy diet. It has been shown that a major contributor to a child 's calorie intake stems from sweetened beverages. A child’s weight loss depends primarily on the parent’s commitment to helping the child. Dr. Aggarwal discusses a few ways for parents to become more involved. He suggests that when grocery shopping, choose fruits and vegetables and cut back on crackers, cookies, and other foods high in fat. Also, he suggests that a majority of meals should be cooked and eaten at home. When rarely eating out, he advises to watch the portion sizes, as they are usually larger than needed. Suggesting ways for parents to help guide their children to healthy eating is a wonderful way to combat childhood …show more content…
Those are all basic explanations that are extremely common. Genetics, socioeconomics, and sugary drinks are also factors to consider when thinking about the cause of this issue. Discussing sugary drinks goes well with how an unhealthy diet causes obesity. Genetics also adds to the discussion of parents. Socioeconomics discusses how race, culture, and the environment can all cause obesity in children. The socioeconomic factors are what cause an unhealthy diet and a lack of exercise in children. Being able to discuss how these three factors contribute to childhood obesity helps us to find the root of childhood
Children that live an unhealthy lifestyle are more prone to becoming obese later in life. Furthermore, the cause of children becoming more obese includes; children that do not participate in physical activity, children that eat lots of snacks, play video games or watch TV, and that do not eat a healthy balanced meal. In addition, the parent or guardian of the child also plays a role in whether the child becomes obese or not by “What” they offer the child to eat, and the type of environment the food is served in such as “When” and “Where” food is offered. Moreover, as a child grows there are different food exposures that create a preference for food intake, these exposures include sweet & salty foods, familiar foods, consumption of foods high
According to Pamela Livingston’s article “Preventing and Treating Obesity” from worldbookonline.com “Obesity occurs when a person takes in more calories in the form of food than he or she burns from energy.” Livingston agues there are three main reasons obesity occurs in children: genetics, environmental, and physiological factors. According to Robert Murray’s article “Obesity” found on Grolier.com, nearly one in six children in America are overweight and one in three are at risk of becoming overweight. This is a huge issue. Both Livingston and Murray’s articles agree that children struggling with obesity have a greater risk of becoming obese as an adult, which can lead to many different health problems. According to Livingston’s article on worldbookonline.com, overweight children can have high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels. When these children gets older the issues become much more serious. Livingston emphasizes that adults suffering with obesity have high chances of developing “type 2 diabetes,...
The overall rate of obesity for children comes in at 17 percent, or about 12.5 million obese children in America today (Doheny 1). The number of children who are obese is growing at a fast rate. Most cases of childhood obesity are caused by eating too much and exercising too little. Extra weight puts children at a risk of serious health problems; such as, diabetes, heart disease, and asthma (Smith 1). Although obesity can be prevented, it has become a growing problem among children due to several factors that lead to health problems.
It is apparent that living an unhealthy lifestyle, as well as eating poorly, negatively affects one’s health. From a young age it is quickly learned which foods are considered healthful as opposed to junk food. It is a parents responsibility to supervise the intake of their child's food, however there is a higher risk than ever before of childhood obesity.
Parents always want what is best for their children. They strive to provide for them, teach them, and to watch them grow into healthy, loving individuals. Despite this many parents continue to foster a habit that may prevent the goal of good health, unhealthy eating. Americans today consume too much fat, sugar, and food in general and its shows; rates of obesity and weight/diet related diseases such as diabetes are extremely high. In order to slow and eventually put a stop to this trend parents need to not only be aware and informed, but also need to take action and institute healthy eating habits from the very beginning.
Although inherited conditions have been linked to childhood obesity, they are rare. However it has been noted that children with obese or overweight parents are more than likely to be obese themselves, the reason for this as described by Heaton-Harris (2007) is because of the length of time it takes to break a bad habit. Unless the parents are correctly informed of healthy diets themselves the problem will continue from an ill-informed childhood into adult hood. Other probable causes are numerous ones. Fast food and processed foods becoming more read...
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.
Genetics can play a huge role in the development of obesity in children. Studies have shown that obesity can be inherited. A child’s chances of being overweight or obese are increased by 25 percent if their parents are overweight or obese. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2015) states that “the latest study from Stanford University has found that having overweight parents is the biggest risk factor for childhood obesity”(para 1).
Obesity has been associated with energy intake and expenditure imbalance, genetics, cultural, socioeconomic, behavioral, and situational factors all play a role in eating and weight control (Bray, 2005). To get an idea of the scope of the problem, the American Journal of Health Promotion states that the rates of obesity has more than tripled among children and adolescents over the past 30 years (Gollust, 2014).
Increasing at an alarming rate, nearly one in three American children will be considered to be overweight or obese. Even though facts have shown that genetics is not a cause of childhood obesity, many people still believe that childhood obesity is the parent’s fault. In this paper readers will discover causes and facts of childhood obesity.
Childhood obesity is a complicated topic and is complicated to pinpoint what the exact cause is, some of the major factors that contribute to childhood obesity are lack of exercise in their daily lives, poor nutrition, and eating habits; and lack of education among parents to safely help their children live a healthier life.
Do we ever think about how many children suffer from obesity? Many people haven’t realized that childhood obesity is slowly becoming a serious problem here in the United States. Our government should take childhood obesity very seriously to solve this problem. The government along with other citizens should care about childhood obesity is because everyone here is a human being. Every child may not be affected by this problem, but there will always be a child who is suffering from obesity. The government must also care because many of those children can possibly be the future of our country. If they deprive those children from getting any type of aid then the country is also losing their next engineers, doctors, or police officers. There are several causes of obesity and there are also many solutions that need to be found to solve childhood obesity. Overall childhood obesity needs to be taken seriously as there are many parents who are in desperate need of help for their children.
Some parents or people do not understand why or how their children become obese. There are many explanations for this. One can simply be consuming too much food into one’s body.
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...
Childhood obesity is a health problem that is becoming increasingly prevalent in society’s youth. For a number of years, children across the nation have become accustomed to occasionally participating in physical activities and regularly snacking on sugary treats. In result of these tendencies, approximately one third of American children are currently overweight or obese (Goodwin). These grim statistics effectively represent all the lack of adult interference, in regards to health, has done to the youth of America. The habits of over consuming foods and under participating in physical activities are all too common in the children of today. Children cannot solve this issue alone, though. These young people need to essentially be given the opportunities to make positive health decisions and learn about good, nutritional values.