Childhood Obesity And High Poverty Neighborhoods Essay

Do you get enough exercise? Are you sure about that? Or how about this, are you overweight, do you even know? Today’s adolescents don’t. In fact today’s adolescents face serious risk from their lack of activity. Today’s children are obese because they have developed some very bad habits related to healthy living and as result can suffer serious physical and psychological damage.

Obesity is a condition characterized by the excessive accumulation and storage of fat in our bodies. This disease is increasing at an alarming rate in American children and adolescents, especially those within the ages 2 to 19. This essay examines the difference between school-based interventions (i.e., educate our children about obesity at an early age, serving right nutrition in schools) and community based interventions (i.e., parents help provide better nutrition for their children) to prevent obesity. Both interventions can help decrease obesity rates in children, but the point of this essay review is to point out which interventions will provide the better results to solve the childhood obesity epidemic in the United States.

Having a child that is obese brings different feelings to people. Some see it as it’s their fault because they want to eat so much. In no way is it the children’s fault as they eat what the parents give them. When you see a child that can’t speak a word but knows how to open a cupboard or the refrigerator to get food it should classify as obese. Most cases of obesity don’t start later, in life there are some cases, but it is usually from young age. The parents of these kids should be punished for making their kids become like this. Thousands of young children know who the spokes person for the fast-food chains are but can’t answer simple questions about famous people. Child obesity in America is getting worse before it will become

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

Why is it that America, deemed to be the most developed and advanced country in the world, has the largest epidemic of childhood obesity? Obesity is a frequent topic of discussion, and extensive research and studies to find the root of this disease. So why are some American children, despite the knowledge of the importance of health, variety of food that is available, and health awareness at schools, are still gaining excess weight? Lack of proper nutrition and sedentary lifestyle of some American children may be contributing to the rise of childhood obesity in the United States.

Children and adolescents, their health is of the most upmost importance. The child is impacting through everything they do in their lives and everything that they come face to. One of these factors that come into play into a child’s life is Obesity. Most importantly the racial and ethnic disparities that involve Obesity. Unless this issue of this inclining obesity is addressed, there will be assumptions that the amount of years a person will live will surely decline (Johnson, 2012). Obesity is a killer as it is the secondary killer and could well be our first if the people don’t take action (Johnson, 2012). Obesity increases the risk of cardiovascular disease as well as asthma and diabetes (Johnson, 2012). Seventeen percent of young adults in the USA today are obese (Rossen, 2014). The commonness of obesity has escalated throughout the years in Children and Young adults that were being seen in Adults (Caprio et al., 2008). There are many disparities in which affect children in every way but the one that affects the obesity in childhood is racial and ethnic disparities. The amount of obesity in childhood is increasing in all ethnic and racial groups but it is found that nonwhite population have the most amount of Obesity (Caprio et al., 2008). The Mexican- American and non-Hispanic black children have a heavier load to carry as of racial and ethnic subgroups (Rossen, 2014). As children are expose to different physical and social environments, they are wide-open to different

Childhood obesity has increased dramatically over the last three decades, and conditions in many communities continue to act as barriers to healthy eating and adequate physical activity. Childhood obesity is a serious health problem that has adverse and potentially long-lasting consequences for individuals, families, and communities. Perhaps most shocking, life expectancy for today’s children may be shortened in the United States because of the impact of childhood obesity (Olshansky and Ludwig, 2005).

Childhood obesity is a huge problem facing America today. It’s like an epidemic, spreading across America at alarming rates. Just in the past 30 years, childhood obesity rates have more than doubled among children and quadrupled among adolescents. Today, it has been estimated that one in every six children or adolescents is obese ("Childhood Obesity Facts”). And if things don’t change soon, those numbers will just keep rising. This isn’t a problem that we can leave up to children to deal with themselves. Parents and adults need to take responsibilities for children’s health and futures. Children or adolescents who have a body mass index of over 30 are considered to be obese. Too much body fat can lead to many negative

In addition to poor food selection in low-income neighborhoods, prevalence of childhood obesity is also significantly affected by family education. Several works of literature support the idea of the critical role of parents or caregivers in determining children's physical health and body mass index. The role of parenting and caregivers is crucial for young children because parents directly determine the child’s physical and social environment, and indirectly influence behaviors, habits, and attitudes through socialization processes; this means that overweight is a function of environment.10

There has been in increase an childhood obesity in America. The reasons are fast food is cheaper than healthy food, most kids do not go outside because of technology, and if parents do not eat healthy, usually their kids do not eat healthy.

Poor parents are less likely to monitor their children's diet, diet patterns and physical activity due to stress and time constraints if they work. Parents who work full-time are less able to monitor their children due to a decrease in maternal presence and availability during the day. Studies shows that poor people who move out of low-income housing into better neighborhoods are much less likely to have diabetes or be obese than people who stay behind in poor neighborhoods. Studies suggests that not only the financial burned of poverty contributes to obesity but the surroundings or type of area that an individual lives in adds to the complication. (Committee on Progress in Preventing Childhood Obesity. National academic Press. ) (2005) Progress in Preventing Childhood Obesity: Focus on Schools. Retrieved from the National academic Press, http://site.ebrary.com/lib/devry/Doc?id=10115249&ppg=11

Modern society is dealing with a health crisis that has been on the rise for years. Ongoing

Does low socioeconomic status bear a significant role in the obesity epidemic? A national survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2010) estimated that more than two-thirds of Americans are now overweight or obese (body mass index of over 30), and the percentage is escalating. The Census Bureau (2011) reported 46.2 million people in America are currently living beneath the official poverty line. The official poverty rate in 2010 was 15.1 percent; up from 14.3 percent in 2009; this was the third consecutive annual increase in the poverty rate (Census Bureau, 2011). One might assume that obesity and poverty are not associated, but this is not accurate. The correlation between poverty and obesity can be

There was a time when chubby children were considered cute. It was assumed that their baby fat would melt away and a healthy adult would emerge. We now know that childhood obesity can be very harmful for our nations children. Not only can obesity cause health problems but also psychological problems. In observing the causes of childhood obesity, hopefully we can slow down the epidemic.

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 rate that is only climbing higher. Every member in society should take steps to becoming healthier. This would help the present generations as well as future generations to come. The lifestyle of Americans keeps us too busy to be a healthy society.