Childhood obesity has become a serious problem in the United States. Obesity is a far greater threat to children than in the past. Obesity can be a factor in many physical and psychological disorders in children. Overweight children will become overweight as adults if they do not develop better eating and exercise habits. Over the past years, childhood obesity has been increasing at an alarming rate because of improved technology, poor eating habits and lack of exercise.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, childhood obesity has more than doubled over the past 30 years. The percentage of children aged 6-11 years who were obese in 1980 was 7% and by 2012 it had grown to 18%. More than one third of children and teens were overweight or obese in 2012 (“Childhood Obesity”). These are alarming statistics and everything possible should be done to get this problem under control before it gets any worse. According to Stacey Singer, a Palm Beach Post staff writer, Americans ate 17.5 pounds of cheese per person in 1980. By 2007, we were eating 33 pounds of cheese per person. Americans ate 56 pounds of fat per year per person in 1980 and in 2007, that figure had grown to 85 pounds of fat per person per year. Americans consumed 19 pounds of high fructose corn syrup per person in 1980, and in 2007 were consuming 56 pounds per person (Singer). Each and every year the cost of putting young children under the age of 18 into hospitals are reaching all-time highs. The cost from the late 70’s into the early 80’s was around 35 million, and the late 90’s increased to around 130 million per year for the United States (Halting). Researchers have now determined that the medical costs are now at $19,000 per child...
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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.
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)
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Forty years ago in America childhood obesity was rarely a topic of conversation. A survey done in the early 1970s showed that 6.1% of children between the ages 12 and 19 were overweight. Eight years later the same survey was done and 17.4% were considered overweight (Iannelli). “Childhood obesity epidemic in America is now a confirmed fact since the number of overweight or obese children has more than tripled during the last 30 years” (Childhood Obesity Epidemic). “Over the last 20 years, the prevalence of obesity in children aged 6 to 11 years has tripled from 6.5% to 19.6%” (Childhood Obesity Epidemic). As a nation statistics should be alarming. Why are American children today so obese?
Some of the causes of childhood obesity are greater availability of unhealthy foods, little to no daily exercise, No safe place in many communities to play or be active. Plus companies are coming together to make their food be able to be more visualized and make people want to buy their food. Also it becomes harder to jump, hop, or even stand on one leg and they will become more clumsy. More affects of being obese are Blount’s Disease, Flat Feet, Diabetes, and Asthma. Blount’s Disease is where a growth disorder in the lower leg cause it to go inward, Flat Feet is where one’s feet has no arch which makes it painful to walk long distance, Diabetes is a inability to produce any or enough insulin. Childhood Obesity has become an huge issue around the world, in the last 30 years it has doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents. The percent of children obese in 1980 was 7% now it is about 18 %. Scientist have predicted that if this continue nearly 9% of all preschoolers will be obese now that is nearly 60 million children. Obesity is more prevalent in lower income families this statistic is just for kids aged 2 - 5. Obesity rates are higher in adults than kids but in the U.S., Brazil, China, and others places they see the problem more in kids than
For the past 10 years, obesity has become an epidemic. Not only adults are obese but children as well. The number of children with obesity keeps increasing each year. There are children being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and other serious health problems due to their obesity. Some experts are predicting that obesity will became the number one leading cause of premature death, instead of tobacco. There are many ways to prevent obesity in children and is up to the parent, to provide their children with healthier food options.
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Childhood obesity is on the rise in many countries today. There are numerous causes of obesity in America, and the majority of them can be eliminated simply by household teachings. In her book Fed Up! Winning the War Against Childhood Obesity, Susan Okie explains how childhood obesity is taking over, “The growing numbers of obese children in the United States and in many other countries are victims of an epidemic just as surely as if they were infected with a virus.” The leading causes of childhood obesity include lack of exercise, poor diet, and genetic factors.
Childhood obesity is a serious medical problem that affects children. Obesity is a medical term, commonly defined as being extremely overweight, which is only half the case. (www.wikipedia.com) Many parent’s ask if their child is obese, or at risk of becoming overweight, and they ask what to do about it. MD, Dennis Clements tells parents: “Obesity is a family event, not an individual event”.
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...