Childhood Obesity Causes

Child obesity is alarmingly prevalent in the United States today; approximately 18 percent of adolescents are considered obese. Obesity is defined as “one of the most pervasive chronic diseases...that affects more than one-third of the population” (Source 2). While obesity may be a major challenge facing adults in the United States, adolescents are facing a similar struggle. More than 33 percents of all children and teens suffer from obesity. But why is child obesity such a major problem in the United States? Though obesity has been shown to have some genetic inheritance between parents and offspring. Adolescents are regularly eating fatty and unhealthy foods, and are not getting the

Due to the rapid increase in childhood weight gain, the threat of obesity to our health, environment, and economy is enormous. According to the Economic Cost of Obesity, “The estimated annual health care costs of obesity – related illness are a staggering $190.2 billion or nearly twenty-one percent of annual medical spending in the United States. Childhood obesity alone is responsible for fourteen billion in direct medical costs." (Economic Costs of Obesity 4) Obese kids tend to become obese adults. According to Alliance for a Healthier generation, one in three children (2-19 years) in the United States is overweight or obese. There is evidence that a child’s environment has a great impact on childhood obesity. Children are being raised

One must understand the diversity of health issues in dealing with different ethnicity groups in childhood obesities. Since my research data demonstrate that minorities are more likely to be obese than non-minorities, thus I do not want to provide an image of social labeling and stigmatizing minority children who are overweight. There are many factors that play in role in children being obese that must be taken into accounts. One of the factors, the income status of the parents and how it generally affects the child quality of life, living environment. For example, if the parents have a low yearly income it can factor in the child being obese in comparison to a child’s parent having an average or high income, including affecting the living environment and the type of food eaten. In addition, obese children are prone to psychological issues such as depression, general anxiety, emotional problem, including eating disorder (Holm et al., 2014). And different race and ethnicity deal with these types of psychological issues differently.

The socioeconomic status that somebody holds can contribute to obesity. Children who come from a low socioeconomic status have a greater risk of obesity when they are older (Pudrovska al., 2014). There are different reasons why this fact comes to life. Children with a low socioeconomic status are more likely to have inadequate care while in the womb, experience stress, and get a substantial amount of less physical activity than children with a high socioeconomic status. Some children who come from low socioeconomic status families don’t receive proper prenatal care. Research shows that, “a heightened risk of obesity can be programmed during inadequate prenatal development” (Pudrovska al., 2014). This fact shows that obesity is more than

Childhood obesity is at an all-time high in the United States, afflicting one in every five children aged 6 to 19. The prevalence of childhood obesity in the U.S. was 17% in 2011-2014. The CDC notes that obesity rates are not equal across ethnicities, noting a prevalence of 21.9% for Hispanics, and 19.5% for non-Hispanic blacks compared to 14.7% for non-Hispanic whites. In this report, we will focus on childhood obesity in low-income communities. Youth in low-income families (which are disproportionately Black and Hispanic) are at greater risk for obesity because they are more likely to live in a neighborhood with unfavorable conditions such as poor housing, unsafe

Both Shih et al., (2012) and Demment, Haas, & Olson, (2014), both focused on obesity rates in children in low income populations. Demment, Haas & Olson found that children who live in low income communities throughout their childhood have a greater chance of maintaining being overweight, in comparison to their counterparts that have never lived in a low income neighborhood. Regardless if the children moves to a better community, the prevalence of them being overweight will still be higher than the children in the neighborhood. This study followed 700 children from birth until the age of 2 with 18% of them below standard poverty levels. Shih et al. (2012) supports this by adding in their study that the prevalence of childhood obesity in communities with “highest hardship quartile” based on an index of six different indicators, is more than double than the “lowest hardship quartile” (26.9% versus 12.5%). Children from low socioeconomic communities, are more likely to have overweight mothers which in turn leads to a higher risk of childhood obesity (Gibbs & Forste, 2014). Additionally, the researchers believe that racial and socioeconomic status accounts for at least 24% of childhood obesity rates among different

As the old saying goes, “You are what you eat”. Initially, some people would say that there is someone to blame for childhood obesity, the parents. Children are becoming obese because of poor health choices and ineffective parenting. According to David Rogers, public health spokesperson for the Local Government Association, "parents who allow their children to eat too much could be as guilty of neglect as those who did not feed their children at all”. However, others will argue that childhood obesity is caused by genetic and hormonal factors. Some children who come from overweight families may be genetically obese, or is this an excuse? In extreme cases, the parents of a morbidly obese child should lose temporary custody of their

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

Today, the rate of childhood obesity in the United States continues to rise. Obesity, a lifestyle disease, is rampant in the current world; it has become common because families lack sufficient information about the existence of health journals and articles on healthy eating habits. The cause of obesity is associated with many other factors, such as nutrition. Adolescents consume large amounts of sugar and engage in little to no exercise. That said, the consumption of large amounts of sugar is not always the direct cause of obesity; in some instances, obesity may develop in an individual due to genetic factors.

Axmaker, Larry. "Childhood Obesity Should be Taken Seriously." Online Posting 24 November 2004. Accessed 9 April 2005. 1-4.

1) One of the big causes for the increase of childhood obesity are food commercials. Children are exposed to media more now than before, usually children channels include a wide number of food commercials. This is done on purpose because kids usually can get their parents to buy them anything. This leads to kids eating more junk food. Another big cause for obesity is lack of physical activity. Kids now skip board games or outdoor games, and rather play games on an iPad or phone. This reduces the amount of physical activity greatly, which leads to obesity.

Child obesity can originate very early in life, causing a child to be more susceptible to a greater fat period; therefore, child obesity can be anticipated during the parental period, infancy, and young to mid-childhood. For example, the amount a pregnant mother eats can be impacted by over/under nutrition during the pregnancy. The prenatal period is crucial for a child’s development, and will influence the body’s size, metabolic system, composition, and endocrine system. A pregnant person who eats a wide spread amount of foods, especially those

We are a non-profit organization dedicated to advocating and helping children and families affected by childhood obesity. We offer education for the disease and help implement methods to treat and prevent it. We offer support against obesity biases and discrimination. Most of all we are here to give a voice to those that cannot speak for his or her selves.

can’t be blamed on that one specific factor. Another element one must add to the

When speaking of her 8-year old daughter's obesity, a prideful mother replies "Oh it's no big deal, she just still has her baby fat." Unfortunately, chances are that the daughter's obesity is not caused by her baby fat, but can be contributed to a combination of diet, genetics, and a sedentary lifestyle. Studies show that obesity among children 6-17 years of age, has increased by 50% in the last 20 years, with the most dramatic increase seen in children ages 6-11 (Axmaker, 1). This obvious epidemic has raised great concern in the medical community because widespread childhood obesity has increased the prevalence of the once rare juvenile diabetes and pediatric hypertension (Bastin, 45). This concern has prompted intense investigation