Childhood Obesity : An Epidemic With The United States Essay

Obesity is defined as an accumulation of excessive fat that impairs a person health or a body mass index (BMI) that greater than or equal 30 (WHO, 2012). Childhood obesity is a major public health epidemic in which the prevalence has doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the United States over the past three decades with the highest prevalence in Blacks, Hispanics and Native American children and the number is

Attention Getter: “Approximately 17 percent of U.S. youth have obesity, and nearly one in three children and adolescents are either overweight or have obesity” (Healthier America).

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the definition of childhood obesity is simply put as “as a BMI at or above the 95th percentile for children and teens of the same age and sex.” (CDC) Body mass index, aka, BMI

Obesity is a worldwide epidemic with 67.1% of adults (aged 16 and over) in the UK being overweight or obese according to the

According to TMA (2016), obesity is also responsible for 27 percent of the health care spending growth because it costs 37 percent more funding to treat obese patients. “This serious risk factor is found in Texas, where more than 30 percent of children in grades 4 through 11 are overweight or obese. A child who is overweight at age 12 has a 75-percent chance of being overweight as an adult,” (Texas Medical Association,

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.

According to the Food Research and Action Center, 69% of adults are overweight or obese; 35% are obese. 32% of children and adolescents are overweight or obese; 17% are obese. 31% of low-income preschoolers are overweight or obese.

In 2008, there were 200 million males and nearly 300 million females who were obese and approximately 42 million children, five years and under, were obese in 2013 (World Health Organization Factsheet 311, 2014).

“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.

By 2030 researchers estimate that the Obesity rate will have gone up by 44%. That is only for kids (4-19). 21.4 percent of Latina females are obese, and 22.4 percent of Latino males are obese. 20.7 percent of black females are obese, and 18.4 of black males are obese. 15.1 percent of white females are obese and 14.3 white males are obese. 5.3 percent of Asian females are obese and 11.8 of Asian males are

Children." Obesity Facts, Vol 10, Iss 6, Pp 559-568 (2017), no. 6, 2017, p. 559.

Child obesity can be defined, “as an abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that may impair health.” (Childhood Obesity Foundation) Childhood obesity has always existed, but the percentage of those

States many facts that have occurred in our time related to childhood obesity. Childhood obesity has more than tripled 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 20% in 2008. Similarly, the percentage of adolescents aged 12–19 years who were obese increased from 5% to 18% over the same period. In 2008, more than one third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese. The CDC defines being overweightas having excess body weight for a particular height from fat, muscle,

Ogden, C. L., Carroll, M. D., Kit, B.K., & Flegal, K. M. (2012). Prevalence of obesity and trends in body mass index among U.S. children and adolescents, 1999-2010. Journal of the American Medical Association, 307(5), 483-490.

country alone, 17% of all children and adolescents are now obese, triple the rate from