Causes Of Obesity Affecting American Children

According to the CDC, childhood obesity in the United States is at a steady incline and has seen an exponential growth in the past 30 years. (“Childhood Obesity Facts”, 2015).

Obesity is more than a cosmetic concern for Americans; it is a very serious health concern. It doesn’t just impact the way Americans look, this serious condition can change the course of our lives, and not for the better (American Heart Association, 2005). Childhood obesity is a national epidemic that is affecting our children and adolescents of America at high and alarming rates. It occurs when children are exceeding the normal weight for his or her age and height. Up to one out of every five children in the U.S. is overweight or obese, and one and three are obese, and this number has continually to rise (Benaroch, 2012) for over 30 years. Since 1963, kids and teens overweight issues and medical conditions are increasing at an alarming rate and unfortunately some of the same overweight and obese kids / teens become overweight / obese adults with serious health issues. Overweight kids have a 70–80 percent chance of staying overweight (American Heart Association, 2005). The most common causes for children being overweight and obese is genetic factors, lack of physical activity, unhealthy eating patterns, or a combination of all these factors.

Childhood obesity is an escalating issue in all over the world and particularly in the United States' children and adults. This issue has received more attention in last thirty years as the number of flabby and obese children and adults has increased to double in the entire world. According to a report of Centers of Disease Control (2001), the number of obese children and adults has increased to triple with a 14% increase.

One of the greatest health risks that children face today is not an atrocious disease like cancer nor is it learning or behavioral problems—it is obesity! The Mayo Clinic, a nonprofit organization committed to clinical practice, health education and research, defines child hood obesity as “a serious medical condition that affects children and adolescents, that occurs when a child is well above the normal weight for his or her age and height” (Mayo). The Mayo Clinic goes on to say that childhood obesity is particularly troubling because it starts kids off on an early path to health complications that they could encounter later in life (Mayo). The Centers for Decease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recently started referring to obesity as an “epidemic” and new national statistics show that about 16.06% of American children, ages six years old to eleven years old, are considered to be overweigh (Childhood Obesity Facts). The California Department of Public Health Nutrition concluded that in California, 15.8% of children, ages six to eleven years old, are considered overweight (Obesity in California: The Weight of the State, 2000-2012). With these percentages in mind, Childhood Obesity must be viewed as an immediate serious concern that is impacting our children at the national, state, county, and local level.

The number of children affected by childhood obesity has substantially risen over the last 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 (Ogden, Carroll, Kit, & Flegal, 2014; National Center for Health Statistics, 2011). After reading this statistic we begin to understand how rapidly childhood obesity has taken a hold on children. In the last 30 years childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents. In 2012, more than one third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese (Ogden et al., 2014). It is vital that parents and schools properly educate children on the value of proper nutrition and

Obesity in children is an epidemic that continues to be a serious problem in our nation. Over the past thirty years, childhood obesity rates in the United States have tripled, and currently, approximately one in three children in the U.S. are overweight or obese. High body mass index (BMI) among children and adolescents is a public health concern in the United States (Ogden, Carroll, Curtin, Lamb & Flegal, 2010). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2012), overweight is defined as a BMI at or above the 85th percentile and lower than the 95th percentile for children of the same age and sex. Obesity is defined as a BMI at or above the 95th percentile for

“Childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States. As a result, children are at increased risk in myriad preventable acute and chronic medical problems- many of which are associated with increased morbidity and mortality.” (Cause and Effect in Childhood Obesity: Solutions for a National Epidemic). The issue of childhood obesity is a huge controversial problem that revolves around America. Over the last decade, children have been overweight for their height and age. It is abnormal to have a child to be gaining weight after a month and month. Many years ago, this issue was not as big as it is today. Since the year of the 1970’s, childhood obesity has multiplied by two between the ages two and five years old. Not only

The issue identified for this project is childhood obesity. Obesity in children is one of the most pressing medical problems in the United States. Childhood obesity is a serious health condition that can affect children and adolescents and lead into adulthood. Obesity occurs when there is an excess of body fat and for children it occurs when they are well above the normal weight for his or her age and height. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, known as CDC (2017), the percentage of children with obesity in the United States has more than tripled since the 1970’s.

Childhood and adolescent obesity is a growing endemic in the United States. It affects more than thirty percent of children, making it the most common chronic disease of childhood. According to the research article Prevalence of Childhood and Adolescent Overweight and Obesity from 2003 to 2010 in an Integrated Health Care Delivery System by Lynn Acknerson “this number has more than tripled since 1980.” It has now become a major health issue. Today, more and more children are being diagnosed with morbid health conditions associated with obesity.

Childhood obesity has become one of the more severe health that our nation is currently facing. On average children weighed more than 5kg higher compared to 3 decades ago in the United States (Lobstein, Jackson-Leach, Moodie, Hall, Gortmaker, Swinburn, ... & McPherson, 2015). According to Block and Oken (2017), a study they did revealed that more than a third of the total population of children in the United States is obese. This is an alarming issue that must be tackled now to save our children.

The increase in obesity among children and adolescents is rising at an alarming rate. Between the survey periods conducted by National

​Obesity is a medical condition in which the body has accumulated excessive fats to the point at which the excessive fat has a negative impact on the functioning of the body. The accumulation of the fats usually results to various effects that the hinder the function of the body parts as expected. Obesity is a disease that affects different people in the society. Obesity does not select the type of people to attack. I order to know if someone is obese, different countries use different methods to determine. Despite the fact that the condition is a health condition, and health condition are supposed to be treated the same across all nation, different nations have different ways of determining if someone is obese.

Americans are at risk of raising supersize kids who will live sicker lives and die at a younger age compared to their parents. Childhood obesity is a condition in which a child is overweight and who’s body mass index (BMI) measurements don’t match with one’s weight and height. When one’s weight is 20% or higher above the normal weight for ones age the child is considered obese. There are many contributing factors that can lead to obesity, such as lack of physical activity, intake of non-nutrient high-calorie foods and the media. Statistics on childhood obesity in the United States shown that one out of three children are considered overweight or obese and rates have tripped in

Although many people may think that chubby children are cute, obesity is not a funny topic. An estimated 17 percent of children, ranging from ages 2 to 19, are obese in America (Whitney & Rolfes, 2016, p. 528). Of course, there is a difference between overweight children and those who are obese. Based off BMI data, “children and adolescents are categorized as overweight above the 85th percentile and as obese at the 95th percentile and above” (Whitney & Rolfes, 2016, p. 529). Nevertheless, obesity, in general, may cause health issues in an individual, especially children, so parents must take the necessary steps to prevent obesity.

In the United States, an increasing problem that Americans faces is obesity. According to (Centers for Disease Control [CDC], 2015, the prevalence of Childhood Obesity during the years 2011 and 2012 are about to 17% of children ranging from ages 2-19 years old and the most common among ethnic groups. The statistics listed in the CDC shows there is a major problem that children face. Recent research have found that in the last four decades, amount of children that are overweight were increase three folds.