Child Obesity As An Issue Of Public Health, The Socio Ecological Model

Childhood obesity is a major public health epidemic which has significantly risen over the past three decades and there is no chance in sight of slowing it down unless real action is taken. This major health crisis continues to reduce individuals’ quality of life and has caused severe health problem like heart disease which is the leading cause of death in the United States and around the world. In most cases, obese children grow up to be an obese adult. The prevalence of childhood obesity can be addressed through education initiatives such as school prevention programs because children spent a majority of their time outside of the home at school, therefore school provides a great opportunity to educate and improve a child’s health at an ideal point before the problem gets worst. My paper will focus on childhood obesity prevention in Hill Top Middle school Lodi, New Jersey.

Childhood obesity is a growing epidemic in the United States. More than one third of children are overweight. This figure is increasing rapidly. This epidemic puts children at risk for various health problems such as type two diabetes and heart problems. Although they are several risk factors for obesity, parents play a significant role in this issue. This paper will look into how parents are influential to their children, how they contribute to this problem and how they may help fight the fight against obesity. Obesity is a very serious problem and there are solutions that parents can apply to help their children lead a healthy lifestyle. Obesity does not only affect a person physically, but mentally and psychologically as well.

Childhood obesity is not just an issue in United States- it is an growing epidemic. Obesity epidemic in kids has increased by alarming rate just in last few decades. Nearly one in every five child is obese in the United States. If the pattern of obesity continued on most of America’s children will be living with diabetes, heart disease, and dying young due to obesity. The American Heart Association reported this year that childhood obesity is the top health concern among parents in the United States, beating out smoking and drug abuse. My own younger siblings suffer with child obesity. Their craving for fast food and very limited physical activity has made them overweight and currently they suffer from health problems. Is this the future of our young generation? How much contribution should a parent have in their child’s diet? Fast food has taken over American diet and it has lead to poor nutritional diet among American youth. Fast food companies spend billion of dollars every year on commercials, convincing youth to love and eat their product. It’s just not our eating habits that has lead our young generation into obesity, lack of physical workout has also played a major role in obesity epidemic. TV, computer, video games and other technology entertainment has contributed to children getting no exercise. Obesity in children can put them in high risks of developing chronic and serious illness. Unhealthy weight leads to having weaker lungs, poor blood quality, heart

Childhood onset overweight and obesity and its’ associated health consequences are quickly becoming major significant public health issues facing America today. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) define overweight as a body mass index (BMI) between the 85th and 95th percentile while obese is defined as BMI above the 95th percentile for children of the same age and sex . The prevalence of overweight children, defined based on 2009 CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics data, has more than tripled in the past 30 years. Between 1980 and 2006, the incidence of overweight among children aged 6 to 11 years increased from 6.5% to 17.0% while overweight levels for adolescents aged 12 to 19 years increased from 5.0% to 17.6% .

concludes that there are a multitude of factors that have contributed to the recent childhood obesity growth rates, including changes in the environment where children are raised. "In the built environment and urban lifestyle have resulted in reduced physical activities and, consequently, have played a role in the growth of childhood obesity." Consumers generally lack credible nutritional information.

Public health issue refers to a health issue that affects the populations as a whole and its financial burden to the society. Childhood obesity is a major public health issue that has impacted the public population health and the cost to prevent and control it. The primary concern deals with obese children growing into obese adults in the future posing an increase in health care cost to obese related health conditions. Strongly linked to mortality and morbidity in adulthood, childhood obesity can cause low self-esteem, eating disorders, negative body image, asthma, diabetes, cardiovascular health factors and decreasing the quality of life (Thorpe, et al., 2004). Social determinants of health impact the risk behaviors of childhood obesity from diet and built environment. At the family level, examples of both determinants can be seen in changes to family structures, socioeconomic status, and perceptions and attitudes toward health and nutrition. Children spend most of their time in a school setting, so school setting changes have been made to nutritional and physical activity policy, physical education equipment, and the sales if unhealthy food and drinks.

There is a growing epidemic in our country, its called obesity. In fact, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), childhood obesity has doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years, and in 2012 more than one third of children were overweight and obese. There are countless reasons as to why this epidemic has gained so much weight over the recent decades, often people say; it is an inherited tendency to put on pounds, lack of good nutrition and diets, or simply because we are too busy or too lazy to exercise. The truth is, physical activities and dietary behaviors of young Americans are influenced by many sectors of society. Including; the families and cultures we

Childhood obesity fast becoming a worldwide epidemic, and according to the Bureau of Statistics (cited in Browne 2012, p.20), 23 per cent of children are overweight or obese in Australia. Browne (2012, p.20) suggests that by children being weighed regularly by their doctor, just as they were when they were babies and toddlers, it will help doctors and parents to closely monitor their weight. Although obesity is caused by an imbalance of the calories consumed with the output of energy through metabolism and exercise (O’Gorman et al., 2011; Wang, 2008), the reason/s for this imbalance can arise from several of the 10 social determinants (the social gradient, stress, early life, social exclusion, work, unemployment, social support, addiction,

Childhood obesity is more than a major issue in the United States: it is an epidemic. The number of overweight and obese children in America has increased at an alarming rate over the past years. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years [1]. American Heart Association stated, “Today one in three American kids and teens are overweight or obese; nearly triple the rate in 1963” [5]. Unfortunately, this affects our children physically, mentally, and long-term.

Childhood obesity is an epidemic in U.S. In the year of 2012, about “one third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese.” Also, percentages of childhood obesity have increased by over ten percent in the last thirty years in children and adolescents (Childhood Obesity Facts 2015). These statistics are shocking, and many people are concerned for the health of their children. This medical condition, as defined by Mayo Clinic, leads to serious health conditions in the future in the children’s adult lives, which can only be treated with pricey medication, treatments, and surgeries (Mayo Clinic Staff 2015); some can also lead to a very short life, ending their lives in between the ages 40 and 60. Due to many studies and research, 1childhood obesity can be easy prevented early on from infancy by analyzing the causes, studying the effects and finding the solutions to the problem.

A geographical perspective can facilitate better understanding of how everyday lived environments are complicit in producing higher rates of obesity and its associated diseases among New Zealanders, particularly in children. Childhood obesity is widely regarded as a significant health concern in New Zealand (NZ), owing to its growing national prevalence, its links to long term ill-health, and high economic burden on the health system. A socio-ecological model can be used to demonstrate how environments, ranging from individual to societal, influence personal behaviours, everyday lifestyle choices and eating patterns that contribute to an increased likelihood of a child being or becoming obese. The socio-ecological model recognises that cultural and societal norms which promote personal responsibility for obesity influences legislative action and more importantly, in-action around excessive unhealthy food availability and marketing. Consequently, the everyday lived environments of children are largely ‘obesogenic’. Specifically, the neighbourhood, school, and home environment will be examined, looking at how they interact with individuals to shape food consumption and physical activity behaviours, the major factors linked to childhood obesity.

A key factor of health in later life is childhood obesity. Childhood obesity is a medical condition where excess body fat negatively affects a child's health or well-being. Medical conditions are not the only factor which causes children to be obese it is the parental/family influences as well. Family influences on children are a huge factor because when children are younger they eat what the parent’s eats which can determine what the child ends up eating.

Obesity has been a major health issue in the community for the past three decades, and has recently become a spreading concern for children (Black & Hager, 2013). Childhood obesity leads to many health and financial burdens in the future, and has become a public health priority. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2016), childhood obesity has doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years. Black and Hager (2013) state that pediatric obesity is a major public health problem that effects a child’s mental and physical health. Having childhood obesity also increases the risk of developing adult obesity and many other chronic illnesses. Childhood obesity will be further explored in the following sections and will include: background, current surveillance methods, epidemiology analysis, screening and diagnosis, and the plan of action.

There is a giant threat looming over the United States, a catastrophic event of epidemic proportions which is threatening to capsize the health care system and that epidemic is childhood obesity. The awareness of this epidemic as a national problem developed in 1999 with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) publication of a compilation of yearly state-based maps that indicated the increase in the levels of childhood obesity. There were earlier studies done by the CDC regarding this epidemic, but the maps gave physical proof of the dramatic increase for this pressing issue (Dietz, 2015).

Obesity rates in the United States are alarming, with more than one-third of U.S. adults and 17% of children qualifying as obese with a Body Mass Index greater than 30.0 (Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 2015). Even more frightening is the growth rate of this crippling health epidemic; between 1980 and 2014, obesity has doubled for adults and tripled for children (CDC, 2015). The physical consequences of rising obesity rates in our country include an abundance of physical ailments including type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, sleep apnea, arthritis, elevated cholesterol, and even some cancers. Additionally, obesity-related health care costs to our country are estimated at $147 billion annually, plus the costs of productivity lost at