Childhood Obesity : An Epidemic

“Between 16 and 33 percent of children and adolescents are obese” states (Children and Teens, 1). Yes, one fourth of all children in the United States are obese, and inevitably this number will continue to rise. Obesity is one of the most obvious conditions to recognize, yet one of the most difficult to treat for quite a few reasons (Children and Teens, 1). Childhood obesity has been an epidemic in the United States for many years, but has recently skyrocketed, due to lack of exercise and unhealthy food choices among children in America.

Childhood Obesity In the last hundred years, childhood obesity has gone from nearly nonexistent, to something we deal with each and every day (Larson, June 2010). In just the last decade however, it has tripled. Seeing children running in their yards used to be something normal, but now, it is something rare. Instead, 25% of our children are watching over 4 hours of television a day. Childhood obesity has become more common over the years, and it is only going to continue. Becoming involved with your children, and encouraging them to exercise will reduce their risk.

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?

In America childhood obesity statistics show that almost 60 percent of children are obese. This statistic continues to grow at an alarming rate. 70 percent of obese adolescence become obese adults. This means when these children grow into adults they will have more health problems than they already do and their quality of life will decrease. The amount of children who are obese between ages 6-11 years old has risen from 6.5 percent in 1980 to 19.6 percent, in 2008. In adolescents ages 12-19 years old the obesity rates risen from 5.0 percent in 1960 to 18.1 percent in 2008. Last year the United States government stated that obesity and type 2 diabetes have become a national epidemic.

What is When combining these two factors, there is a high risk for developing childhood obesity. However, factors such as genetics, psychological factors, and socioeconomic factors can all play a role in the development of childhood obesity. (Walley) When a child’s family is unhealthy and overweight, it increases the chances that the child will be overweight as well, especially in a household with an unhealthy food supply and lack of encouragement for physical activity. Psychological factors, such as stress, depression, anxiety, and poor self-image all can lead to weight gain in children due to stress eating and lack of motivation to exercise. (Strauss) Also, when a child grows up in a struggling household where the parents opt to buy unhealthy food due to the cost, and the lack of a safe place to exercise, the risk for obesity in children is higher. (Mayo Clinic)

Childhood Obesity in America Since 1980 the rates of child obesity have more than tripled which has caused a growing pandemic of childhood obesity in the United States. Out of all the young children and adolescents within the age group of two through nineteen about 12.7 million are obese. That is the equivalent of about 17% of America’s population that is suffering from childhood obesity. Childhood obesity is too prevalent in all American households. Childhood obesity is detrimental on a national scale, since it has been growing at a steady rate in the United States of children not reaching the daily-recommended physical activity, the absence of a balanced diet with overconsumption of eating, and more critically the increase of type 2 diabetes.

Obesity has become a problem that is seen almost everywhere in todays children and teens. Almost nineteen percent of children

II. Childhood obesity rates have increased rapidly in recent times. A. According to Time Magazine, childhood obesity rates have skyrocketed. Since the 1960’s, the percentage of children ages 6 to 11 have tripled to 13% (Time, 2015).

Preventing a “Big” Problem: Childhood Obesity in America When you think of the word “epidemic,” you often associate it with disease such as the flu, or much more serious ones like the plague. What most people often do not think is the much more common, relatable epidemic of childhood obesity. While we may not be the generation that is being affected the most, chances are the children we see today and children of future generations will be affected if we do not take action now. A fast-food frenzy has swept the nation, technological advances both in and out of the classroom seem to be taking over children’s lives- leaving less time for being physical active, and obese kids are posing a higher risk for an already damaged healthcare system. Childhood

Childhood Obesity Research Proposal Introduction Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States and other developed economies. Over the past 30 years, the prevalence of obesity among children and adolescents in the U.S. has increased at an alarming rate, from 5-7% to 18-20% by 2008 (CDC, 2012). In addition, a full one third of all children in the U.S. are now overweight.

A. Supporting Evidence More and more Americans are becoming obese every single day. “More than half of Americans are overweight, including 1 out of 5 children. Nearly one third are obese”. (Wooten) Childhood obesity is a serious and common

According to “Childhood Obesity Facts”, the percentage of children with obesity in the United States has more than tripled since the 1970s. Today about one in five school-aged children (ages 6-19) is obese.” Also, “The State of Obesity” reported that childhood obesity rates have remained at around 17 percent for

School Nurse-led Intervention Effects On Student BMI The spike in childhood obesity has prompted great concern in the healthcare community and resulted in vast public health efforts aimed at reducing the incidence. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that in the past 30 years, childhood

There have been many studies done in trying to find the root cause for childhood obesity and all stem back to bad dietary patterns, physical inactivity, and genetics. Additionally, factors in society that contribute to this detrimental disease is the education and skills that are taught to children at a young age along with food marketing and promotion for unhealthy foods. There isn’t a demographic group in the United States that has been unaffected by the childhood obesity epidemic, but there is evidence that supports that some subgroups of the U.S. population are more prone to the onset of this epidemic and that have been more affected than others. Certain ethnic minority populations, children from low income families, and children from the southern region in the United States display the trend of having a higher percentage of overweight

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