Childhood Obesity Children are the heart and center of our world, their naive attitudes’ give our world a sense of new life. Parents cherish their children and strive to keep them healthy and safe from all evil in our world. Unfortunately, we have seen a rise in childhood obesity in recent years. Childhood obesity is a rising epidemic in which has many contributing factors and it is our responsibility as health care providers to encourage healthy habits and find preventative measures against childhood obesity. Annual doctor’s appointments need to be reinforced in the early years of a child’s life to monitor the child’s nutritional status. Children are considered overweight if they are in the 85th percentile (Centers for Disease Control, 2015) …show more content…
Within screen time there are a number of contributing factors that make it more susceptible to leading to childhood obesity. According to a study done it related childhood obesity to screen time in four ways, including unhealthy eating habits that are learned from advertising, snacking habits while watching TV, the interference with sleeping patterns and that children are sedentary while participating in screen time, which takes away from any physical activity (Strasburger, 2011). These four factors help show the correlation between screen time and obesity. A study done in the United Kingdom found that for each additional hour of TV watched on weekends at age 5, the risk of adult obesity increased by 7% (Strasburger, 2011). TV’s in children’s bedrooms also show a correlation to childhood obesity. First a study was done on 2,343 children ages 9 to 12 years showed that having a TV in their bedroom was a significant risk factor for obesity (Strasburger, 2011). Another study was then done in New York on 2,761 parents with young children, found that 40% of the 1-5 year olds had TV in their bedrooms and those who did were more likely to be overweight or obese. Unfortunately, parents have to deal with how technology is becoming increasingly more popular and being able to limit their children’s screen time to keep them healthy and
In the precedent few years, Type 2 diabetes has risen radically among children and adolescents. Experts consider this increase is due to the high rate of overweight and obesity (Cutting TM, Fisher JO, Grimm-Thomas K, Birch LL1999). One of the core reasons of children obesity is watching television. Technology is a vast accessory that millions of people use commonly in daily life. Television could be the most-used technological product of all. Millions of people now have as a minimum one television in their home. Though television seems like an immense thing to have, it has its disadvantages. Television can pessimistically influence people, mainly kids. A number of observational studies have originated an association between television watching and child and adolescent obesity. Moreover, it is recognized that American children spend more time watching television and playing video games than doing something else apart from sleeping. Researchers conducted a randomized, controlled test to assess the effects of reducing television, videotape, and video game use on changes in adiposity, physical activity, and dietary intake (Fisher JO, Birch LL. 1995). “The previous twenty five years have caused such a spectacular increase in childhood obesity. Technology, overeating and lack of physical activity can all contribute to obesity”. Birch LL, Fisher JO. Development of eating behaviors among children and adolescents. Pediatr
In the United States alone children’s health is rapidly deteriorating. Since the early 1980’s childhood obesity in America has skyrocketed, leaving overweight children in danger. While obesity is defined as the condition of being very fat or overweight. One third of children “qualify as obese” (Davies), and meet the criteria to be labeled as “overweight as a result of poor eating habits, and a minimal amount of physical exercise. However, the lack of knowledge parents possess surrounding childhood obesity is determent to youngster future. When dealing with such an austere problem as obesity, parents should become more knowledgeable, supportive, and increase family activities to diminish childhood obesity.
There have been studies conducted to find out what has caused or what the leading factors to obesity are. Researchers are currently still doing research to find out what causes or what may be the lead to obesity. Childhood obesity is a serious medical condition which considers a child to be obese if their Body Mass Index (BMI) is at or above the 95th percentile for children and teens of the same age and sex. (Rendall., Weden, Lau, Brownell, Nazarov & Fernandes, 2014). Obesity is on a rise in the Unites States and all over the world and can lead or result to other health complications later in life. The crucial breakdown serves as an implication of outlining childhood obesity, collaborating problems of the disease and resolutions, as well as applying critical thinking to give a complete approach to deliver information on childhood obesity. This will be done through citation of scholarly articles, samples and other modes of supporting details.
In the recent decades, obesity has grown into a major health issue in the United States. Obesity in the United States has become the country with the highest rate of obesity in the world. Obesity seems not to be only found in adults anymore, appears to be found among children and it’s a serious life threatening. Childhood obesity turned into a medical situation that children are destined to suffer from psychological, health problems and health care cost that affect children’s.
Childhood obesity in America is a growing disease that has become an epidemic problem that has lasting psychological effects, because of advertisement of fast food, lack of physical activities, and parental control; which has made food become a major health issue in many young teenager's lives today. Childhood obesity is something that most kids inherit from his or her own parent. When it comes to child obesity, there is a great deal of understanding of the causes and consequences of this kind of problem. There are important necessary steps to take in order to take preventative action.
America is facing a serious challenge! Children’s health is becoming a critical concern. Childhood obesity has become an “epidemic disease” that has rapidly grown over the years in the United States. According to the National Center for Health Statistics in 2011 states that, “childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years. In 2012, more than one- third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese” (Childhood, 2015, para.1).I would like to inform you all of childhood obesity in children, and ways to get involved in preventing obesity in our future generation. Childhood obesity has many factors, and is a preventable disorder that can be controlled, and if not, it could greatly affect the health of an individual.
Childhood obesity in the United States has reached an alarming prevalence, this serious epidemic, which directly correlates to several health concerns. The future lies in the hands of today’s children and the first priority ought to be the empowering America's youth. Research is centered on treatment, however the point of convergence ought to be counteractive action. Two-thirds of Americans are obese or overweight, not to mention that the number of obese adults has double within the last thirty years. Furthermore, twenty five million children in the United States are currently obese or overweight. These children are at an increased risk for diseases, which incorporate diabetes, hypertension and heart disease, just to give some examples. It
The prevalence of obesity in childhood is a big concern because of its adverse consequences in the short and long term. According to World Health Organization (WHO, 2010), the rise in childhood obesity for the past ten years has been very alarming. It was noted that obesity now rank as the 5th leading risk factor for death (Larsen, 2015). It is also estimated that obesity is attributed to 44% in diabetes development, 23% in ischemic heart disease and 7 to 41 % of some certain cancers (Larsen, 2015). Childhood obesity is defined as a body mass index equivalent or greater than the 95th percentile of a child's body weight or body mass index more than 30 kg/ms (WHO, 2010). Obesity identifies biologically those children who will later in life
Childhood obesity has become an epidemic and a concern to parents and doctors, there are many factors to obesity and many of these factors can be changed through diet and lifestyle
Twelve percent of all children in America are consider to be overweight or obese (Kushi, ETAL 1). Many factors contribute to obese children, but one major similarity in obese children is the excessive amounts screen time. Watching television and playing video games encourage many unhealthy habit that contribute to weight gain. The act of watching television teaches the unhealthy habit of long periods without physical activity, increased snacking behavior, and interferes with normal sleeping patterns (Strasburger 1)
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.
According to the Center For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “17% (or 12.5 million) of kids and adolescents aged 2 - 19 years in the United States are now obese. The rate among this age group increased from 5% to 10.4% in 1976-1980 and 2007-2008”. There are many problems that come with childhood obesity. Children who are considered overweight are at risk of cardiovascular diseases like high blood pressure or
Childhood obesity may not seem like a serious problem, but it is a serious medical condition that can have major effects on a child. Although genetics play a role in determining a child’s weight, it is usually due to a child’s amount of exercise and the consumption of healthy meals. Doctors are concerned with the issue, as we all should be, and they are creating new programs that are geared toward helping children learn how to follow a healthier lifestyle. There are some promising outlooks with these programs, and most doctors agree that parents should help their children create a more active and healthy lifestyle. They also agree that the government should provide more attention to the issue as well. Since the growing problem of childhood
Childhood obesity has increased drastically over the past years and has become a high health risk to children. In fact, childhood obesity has doubled in numbers in the past thirty years (Childhood Obesity Facts). Obesity occurs when an individual becomes overweight and doctor’s diagnose a patient by using the body mass index or BMI scale. Obesity causes many diseases in children which cannot be cured without a doctor, in result, childhood obesity drives high health care costs. Since little effort has been put forward to prevent childhood obesity the existence of this disease has begun to skyrocket in numbers. The number of children who suffer from obesity have greatly increased over the years so, people have to come up with a solution to prevent obesity. However, it will take more than just one solution to prevent childhood obesity, it will take many. Without the prevention of obesity future generations could be in serious trouble with health issues. Childhood obesity should be prevented by showing the youth that healthy will benefit them in life, therefore, parents start by guiding children in the correct direction with their eating habits, limit their fast food intake, and fight the market for unhealthy foods so that children are not exposed to unhealthy options.
Childhood obesity has become an epidemic over the years nationally and internationally. The increasingly amount of children suffering from childhood obesity has grown over the years. One or more factors contribute to the development of childhood obesity. Such factors are genetics, behavioral (poor eating habits) and environmental (physical activity). Childhood obesity can cause physical, psychological, and social health problems (Karnik & Kaneka, 2012). On the other hand, the most recent strategy used is interventions to prevent and control childhood obesity (Karnik & Kaneka, 2012,). The purpose of the article is to discover the factors influencing childhood obesity as well as the use of various interventions and governmental actions addressing obesity while getting an understanding of the challenges for managing the epidemic.