Childhood Obesity And Its Effects On Children

Prevention of health related disease attributed by obesity should begin with educating children to choose healthy lifestyles and not to spend all their money on sugary snacks and drinks. Schools are aware of the increasing rate of childhood obesity and know that education is one of the best tools that can be use at an early age to help reverse the rate of

Despite recent declines in the prevalence among preschool-aged children, obesity among children is still too high. For children and adolescents aged 2-19 years, the prevalence of obesity has remained fairly stable at about 17% and affects about 12.7 million children and adolescents for the past decade (CDC). Childhood obesity does not only affect children, but also has many long term health effects on our children as they get older, including, an increased risk of type 2 diabetes in both childhood and adulthood. (2). Researchers estimate that if obesity trends continue, obesity related medical costs, alone, could rise by $43 to $66 billion each year in the United States by 2030. (1) A major factor in childhood obesity is the inadequate amount of physical activity children are getting, as well as the school lunches that are being provided to the kids. The accessibility of competitive foods which includes things like vending machines, student stores and items a la carte in schools has been linked with negative dietary behaviors, including higher saturated fat intake, higher sweetened beverage intake, and less fruit and vegetable intake,(3) thus resulting in obesity among our children and adolescents. Research suggests that by making sure children are getting healthy school meals and getting enough physical activity in their day it will decrease their chances of having childhood obesity (3). The purpose of this review was to determine the role, school lunches and physical

Childhood obesity has expanded tremendously within the past thirty years (CDC, 2015). It is not only a state, but also a nationwide issue. For many children, they depend on their school lunches to provide them the nutritious meals they cannot afford to have at home. As a community, we need to get our children into better shape. Not only will they become more astute, but they will also live healthier lifestyles, and have less health complications as they age. When you are overweight or obese, you are much more likely to develop health problems like heart disease, diabetes, or even a stroke. It is our responsibility as a community, state, and nation to offer nutritious meals and activities for our youth and future.

Childhood obesity is a major cause for concern within the United States. This is mainly due to children not getting the require nutrition that they need. Although study show that there is a decrease in obesity in children, it still remains at an all-time high. Children are failing to eat as healthy as they should, and it has become an even bigger problem now that they aren’t getting the require amount of food in their diets. The USDA made a decision a couple of years ago to reduce the amount of food given to children while they are at school. This hurts them tremendously, because the majority of the food they eat comes from being at school all day. The other half lies on the parents when they go home and eat dinner. It is very important for children to eat healthy and eat the required amount of food according to various dietary guidelines. First Lady Michelle Obama has started a new campaign to help kids and parents combat obesity in children. One thing that the campaign has placed emphases on is getting healthier food within school. Although they are getting healthier foods in school they are beginning to change the proportion they are giving students. Through the First Lady’s Let’s Move campaign students should be giving healthier foods and also be allowed to have the correct proportion to help them maintain a healthy diet.

Childhood obesity is considered to be a serious issue among our youth. Obesity can cause many types of physical problems, which most are aware of, but it can also cause some undesirable internal feelings within children and adolescents who suffer from it. Self-esteem, or self-worth, is important as it helps develop personality and is a major ingredient to our mental health status (Wang, F. and Veugelers, P. J., 2008). Some have said obesity may even have a negative effect on cognitive development, as well. There have been studies performed to research the effects of obesity on children and adolescents, which I am going to review.

The obesity epidemic is a widespread problem in children and turning it around will be a huge challenge. However, the right place to start attacking the epidemic is at our schools. American children and teenagers are consuming more unnecessary calories than ever, resulting in health problems and rising obesity rates. Schools should provide healthier foods to promote good nutrition and to prevent obesity and health problems. According to an article titled “Attacking the Obesity Epidemic by First Figuring Out Its Cause” published in the New York Times in 2011, systematic approaches to lower the obesity rate include schools increasing the price of unhealthy foods and drinks, schools providing a larger selection of healthy food, and introducing

Childhood obesity is a condition that affects children in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the rates of obesity in children have more than doubled in children in the past 30 years. There was increase of 18% from 1980 to 2012 in children 6 to 11 years of age, estimating that more than one third of children are overweight or obese. ("Childhood Obesity Facts," 2014) Obesity usually begins in children during the ages of 5 and 6. The most troublesome fact is that studies have shown that obese children between 10 and 13 have a predisposition of becoming an obese adult. ("Obesity in Children and Teens," 2011) Consequently, overweight teenagers have a 70 percent chance of becoming obese or overweight adults, and if at least one parent is obese the child’s predisposition rate increases to 80 percent. (Bishop et al., 2005)

In April 2014, an article was published in The Toronto Star Magazine discussing the recent increase of obesity rates in children and the dangers associated with this rise. The research focused specifically on children who had survived cancer and later developed obesity, causing more complications in their health. This rise of obesity in child cancer survivors has been linked to numerous potential factors causing an increase in the possibility of developing this disease. The potential factors that increase the risk of childhood obesity in cancer survivors include, treatment therapy, lack of physical activity, and restricted diets. Childhood obesity will be viewed based on how prominent the condition has become, and its relations to the potential risk’s that develop in cancer survivors and its significance to nursing. Child cancer survivors have a higher risk of develop obesity due to a number of factors, such as treatment therapy, lack of physical activity, and restricted diets.

Obesity is a condition where someone is significantly overweight for their age and height. On a child, it can lead to life-threatening diseases and health problems in the future. This excessive amount of weight that a child bears can lead to future diseases and mental abuse from peers and even on rare occasion 's parents. Childhood obesity has become a national problem in the United States and continues to grow at a substantial rate. This growing health problem presented with children is affecting them negatively for the future. Is fast food really to blame, or is it the new lazy lifestyle that revolves around technology? With technology growing quickly, children seem to be less likely to play outside and live an active lifestyle than

Childhood Obesity in America is a growing disease that has become an epidemic that has lasting psychological effects because of advertisement of fast food, lack of physical activities, and parental control has made food become a major health issue in many young teenagers lives’ today. Obesity in children is an ongoing concern which many people have to deal with. Obesity is the condition of being overweight. It affects about 12.7 million children and adolescents (“Ebbeling”). Your weight is the result of many things working together-the choices you make, your environment, your metabolism, and your genes.

Childhood obesity has been more than doubled in the past 30 years and it increased from 7% in 1980 to nearly 18% in 2012 according to the USA Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Childhood obesity is a very genuine therapeutic condition that influences children. It happens when the child is above the typical weight for his or her age and height. Childhood obesity is a serious medical condition that affects both the children and adults. Childhood obesity is not only an issue in developed countries but it is a worldwide issue, in developing countries due to increasing in food supplies, many of people are getting obese especially among young generation; on the other hand, due to lack of proper medical treatments, it is going to have a serious consequences on their health conditions. No matter in what part of the world you live, with some simple steps, you can prevent your child from getting obese or you help your child to lose weight. Providing the children a healthy meal plan, basic physical activity and educate healthier lifestyle, could be solutions to the problem of the childhood obesity,

Up until the late 1990s, seeing an obese child was extremely abnormal because children’s main form of entertainment was playing outside. The rate of childhood obesity drastically increased due to the fact that children’s main form of entertainment has shifted from outdoor activities, to vast outlets of easily accessible technology. Children are also being served a variety of unhealthy meals from fast food restaurants, such as McDonald’s or Taco Bell. Unfortunately, most parents do not know the underlying truth about what they are feeding their children and often choose the cheapest route for feeding their families. Research indicates that the corpulence of today’s youth is becoming severely problematic, and drastic steps are being taken to solve the obesity concern in adolescents.

During past several years, obesity has become a major problem, which is directly or indirectly associated with diabetes, coronary heart disease, some types of cancer and with high risk of hypertension (Ellis 2000). Obesity term is used when we have excess body weight in the form of fat. It is considered as a medical condition, which leads to sever health problem. Obesity is a worldwide problem, which affects both adult as well as children of all age groups. There are different way have been presented to describe obesity in children. Recently international obesity task force has revised the definition of obesity in children (Table 1)

Childhood Obesity has quadrupled in the last thirty years, and the number of children with obesity related diseases and health conditions reflect that. More and more Kids are developing what would be considered adult health conditions like osteoporosis, sleep apnea, fatty liver disease, and cardio vascular diseases, which usually only affect people later in life. Kids are not only developing adult diseases, they are physically becoming adults. If you were to compare a obese 10 year old DNA to their adult parents or grandparents you could not tell which sample came from whom, their cells show inflammatory and oxidative damage that is usually the result of a much longer, often indulgent life. Their very DNA is aging Dr. James Kirkland; director of the Kogod Center on Aging at the Mayo Clinic says “It’s looking more and more like obesity does some things that might just be tied to the fundamental aging processes,” says. Worse, Kirkland says, that like cancer, the damage fat cells do to surrounding cells seems to be contagious, with other, otherwise unaffected cells aging along with the damaged ones (Park). It is estimated that the difference between being obese and being of "healthy" weight is 8.8 years of extra aging per year, though this can vary based on genes and medical history.

The world has gone through a radical change in the last few decades. Unlike a generation before, the children of today have the luxury of living in a world that is full of technology and convenience that was not experienced by their parents. However, the overabundance of convenience food and the never-ending technology based entertainment options for today’s children have had an alarming result. No longer do children play until dusk on their bikes and run home to eat a home cooked meal. More and more, children are entertained by a television or computer. They spend long hours watching television or playing video games. The ubiquity of convenience food has done more than just save busy parent’s time in the kitchen; it has become one of the driving factors that have dramatically affected children’s health. When a child has a calorie-rich diet and a sedentary lifestyle, they are at risk for obesity. The childhood obesity level has reached over one-third of children in the United States. A child who suffers from obesity is susceptible to many health issues and can suffer from low self-esteem. Although it can be a complex mix of a multitude of factors that lead to obesity, there is an immediate need to address this serious health issue. A reasonable solution to the epidemic of childhood obesity is to focus on the behavioral factors that drive the childhood obesity problem by limiting children’s consumption of convenience foods and maintaining a healthy physical activity level.