Addressing the Issues of Childhood Obesity - Essay

On the other hand, not all cases of childhood obesity are a result of external forces. In some cases a child’s problem with their weight is mainly a genetic problem. In this case even the healthiest of habits may not be enough to prevent a child from becoming obese. (American Obesity Association) Yet the dramatic increase of overweight adolescents in the past few decades has clearly not been a result of genetics, but rather has in fact been do to poor health habits.

Childhood obesity is a growing problem in America. "the percentage of obese children doubling from 6.5% in 1980, to 17.0% in 2006. Weight, nutrition, and physical activity are the main components to a child’s overall health.”(1) “When parents become too busy to cook meals in their homes, children learn poor eating habits and develop into unhealthy eaters.”(1) They will take what they learned at home and apply it to anywhere else that they eat. For example a child that drinks milk at dinner and sits with their family at dinner when asked what they want to drink when they are at a friend’s home will ask for milk because the child would associate milk with dinner. Children cannot make healthy choices of their own they need to be guided so

Introduction: In 1998 the World Health Organization announced that obesity had become an epidemic in both adults and children. This epidemic is a major concern in public health yet many countries are failing to address the issue. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the causes contributing to this increasing epidemic of childhood obesity. There are many causes that factor into childhood obesity but I will focus specifically on genetics, overeating, and the lack of exercise.

For instance, the BMI of a person who is 5’3" and weighs 125 lbs is calculated as follows:

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines body mass index (BMI) as a simple index of weight-for-height that is commonly used to classify overweight and obesity. To determine BMI, a person’s weight, in kilograms, is divided by the square of the person height in meters

Another con that obese children are doomed to become obese adults is that obesity is a disease. Obesity is a matter of personal responsibility. People become obese because they make bad dietary decisions and do not exercise enough or at all. Obesity does not have characteristic signs or symptoms like diseases typically have. The only characteristic sign of obesity is excess fat, which is the definition of obesity itself. There are also no symptoms for obesity (“Obesity”, 2014). Obesity is a disease and it does mean that a human has excess fat from making bad eating choices. If there is little to no exercise involved or any activity whatsoever, chances are that you will be obese and continue to be obese into the future. Since kids that are young usually have no choice in what they eat, they normally would follow what their parents would eat and continue to eat that way as they get older. Once these habits are developed, it increases the chances of those kids to become obese adults in the future.

We cannot blame childhood obesity on one factor; “Obesity is caused by factors in every system--biological [genetics], familial [family lifestyle and eating habits], social [socioeconomic factors, ads targeting children etc.], and cultural (grandparents’ idea of a “healthy child” means a heavy child)” (Berger, 2014). Food has been and always will be the center of our lives. everything revolves around when, what, and why we eat. If we change one thing about our lifestyle, we’re most likely changing, at least, one thing about the food we eat. However, if I had to point one thing, I believe it is the parent’s responsibility to set good examples for their children. I have friends that agree that they need to make better choices of what they eat,

Childhood obesity is a real world problem, and it’s growing. Childhood obesity is when a child has excess body fat for his age, height, and gender. It has been estimated that one out of every three children are considered obese. Not only do children suffer from obesity but also with the problems that obesity carries. Children with obesity may suffer from high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, asthma, depression, upon many other diseases and health complications. I have seen many children that are above their suggested body weight in my own community. Children at fast food restaurants eating a meal made for an adult. Parents buying each of their children the “king size” candy bars and “party size” chip bags. It is not the child’s fault that they are obese, it is their parents for buying them foods high in fat, sugars, and calories. Both the parent and the child should work together to put an end to childhood obesity.

The causes of obesity in children could be associated to different factors. For example, genetic and family history, when the child has an obese parent his risk of being obese is fifty percent; in case of both parents being obese the child chances of becoming obese increase to eighty percent. Another causes could be emotional or psychological, when the child eats in situations that require tension and emotional stress like class presentations, exams, family problems, sad or

In contrast to other methods, BMI relies solely on height and weight and with access to the proper equipment, individuals can have their BMI routinely measured and calculated with reasonable accuracy. Furthermore, studies have shown that BMI levels correlate with body fat and with future health risks.

A normal or healthy BMI for an adult human from ages 20 and above is in the range of 18.5 to 24.9. You can determine if an adult has a healthy BMI by using the formula BMI= (Weight in Pounds/ (Height in inches^2)). (1) The healthy weight range differs for children and teens because at such at young because age, sex, and height have a much greater impact on determining obesity (2). For babies under the age of two medical professionals use the WHO standards to assess whether or not the baby is obese. BMI is a great and effect method for majority of the general public to have their weight assessed by doctors to help the medical professionals identify if someone is at an unhealthy weight. The only problem with the BMI scale is that sometimes it is ineffective with

A person’s way is not a good indicator of health because it will not take into account muscle mass or water weight. Body composition breaks down a person’s weight into section, such as lean muscle tissue, bone density, water weight, and body fat percentage. By knowing body composition and body fat percentage we are able to assess our overall health, identify health risks, and tailor workouts to fit a person’s individual needs. Body fat percentage, if too high or too low, can cause serious health risks. It is important to know one’s body fat percentage in order to avoid or eliminate those risks.

         According to the American Heart Association, as of January of 2013, one in three children in America is overweight or obese. That is three times that of only fifty years ago. Although we all know some underlying causes for childhood obesity, I am focusing on three major causes. These are parents and the perpetuation of unhealthy eating and lifestyle habits, the over consumption of fast food, and lastly, children and their decreasing physical activity levels. These three main factors, lead to childhood obesity which in turn leads to further long term and immediate health risks as well as psychological problems. Some people argue that genetics plays the major role when discussing factors of childhood obesity however, my focus on the mentioned causes is because they are by far more manageable when compared to genetics.

Obesity means excess body fat, BMI is reasonably accurate method for predicting adiposity and can be easily used as screening tool (Rome, 2011).

The fast-paced lifestyle of Americans today results in unhealthy frozen T.V. dinners and take-out meals. In present day society, the role of woman and men are virtually equal. With this making both the mother and father of families busy, there is little time for home cooked meals. A hardy breakfast is replaced with sugary pop-tarts, hand packed lunches is replaced with money for fast food, and frozen T.V. trays take the place of a healthy dinner. These foods may all taste good, but they are not healthy. By giving children lunch money, the children are having the choice to buy whatever foods they please. It could be easily assumed that a child would choose a candy bar, chips, and a soda over a school lunch. Again, the children are not the only ones to be blamed here. The parents need to take time to guide their children towards what food is healthy and what food is unhealthy. By taking a little more time out of the day and making healthier food choices, the rate of childhood obesity could slow down, if not stop altogether.