Childhood Obesity: Fast Food Companies Are To Blame Essay

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.

“I’m Lovin’ It.” This slogan has become one of the most recognized in both the United States and in the world. Our nation has slowly gravitated towards fast food, allowing for a new industry to explode and expand over the past few decades. This monumental fast food industry has become a symbol of America and our diets. Fast food is convenient, quick, and cheap, requiring hardly any effort. It is the perfect formula for our fast-paced nation and suffering economy. The problem is shown through our sky-high rate of obesity. Though fast food has some short-term benefits like saving time and a few dollars, it has severe physical, mental and financial consequences for children, showing that the negatives of consuming fast food outweigh the

Would you feed your children lard? The answer for most all of us is “No Way”. Most parents can safely say that they want healthy choices for their children and would never want to give them something that is bad for them. However, with many of the foods on fast food menus this is not far from the truth. We have all heard the statement that childhood obesity is on the rise, and has been for quite some time now. We have seen the heartbreaking stories of overweight children being bullied, made fun of, and even being subject to more diseases. According to the center for disease control the childhood obesity rate rose from 7% in 1980 to an unbelievable 20% in 2008 (CDC, 2011). Parents

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.

Childhood onset overweight and obesity and its’ associated health consequences are quickly becoming major significant public health issues facing America today. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) define overweight as a body mass index (BMI) between the 85th and 95th percentile while obese is defined as BMI above the 95th percentile for children of the same age and sex . The prevalence of overweight children, defined based on 2009 CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics data, has more than tripled in the past 30 years. Between 1980 and 2006, the incidence of overweight among children aged 6 to 11 years increased from 6.5% to 17.0% while overweight levels for adolescents aged 12 to 19 years increased from 5.0% to 17.6% .

Before the causes, effects, and prevention of Childhood Obesity can be debated, there must be a clear difference made between overweight and obesity. Being overweight is the state of “having excess body weight for a particular height from fat, muscle, bone, and or water.” Being obese includes the definition of overweight, but it also includes “having excess body fat.” (“Facts”) In short, the state of being obese is worse than being in the state of overweight, and has more considerable causes and effects.

Childhood and teenage obesity has been an issue in America for more than twenty years now. The percentage of obese children has nearly doubled in this time, according to the article “Is Your Kid Failing Lunch?”. Today’s generation of kids is recorded as the fattest generation in history. One of the main causes of this is believed to be fast food kids are exposed to every day in school lunches. Schools are now starting to serve fast food in their lunches as more kids demand it, causing an increase in the schools profit. Outside of that, Americans are currently spending more than $100 billion a year on fast food. Each day one in four Americans will eat at a fast food chain (Beaver). This is easy to believe as the global fast food industry spent

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.

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States and other developed economies. Over the past 30 years, the prevalence of obesity among children and adolescents in the U.S. has increased at an alarming rate, from 5-7% to 18-20% by 2008 (CDC, 2012). In addition, a full one third of all children in the U.S. are now overweight.

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.

Obesity has become an epidemic in today’s society. Today around 50% of America is now considered to be over weight. Fast-food consumption has been a major contributor to the debate of the twenty-first century. Chapter thirteen, titled “Is Fast-Food the New Tobacco,” in the They Say I Say book, consists of authors discussing the debate of fast-food’s link to obesity. Authors debate the government’s effects on the fast-food industry, along with whether or not the fast-food industry is to blame for the rise in obesity throughout America. While some people blame the fast food industry for the rise in obesity, others believe it is a matter of personal responsibility to watch what someone eats and make sure they get the proper exercise.

The percentage of children with obesity in the United States has more than tripled since the 1970s (“Healthy Schools.”). Childhood obesity is a medical condition that affects children and teenagers who contain excess body fat. This condition is very common today, having about 3 million cases per year (“Healthy Schools.”). A sign that a child is suffering from obesity is when their weight is well above the average for a child’s height and age. Today about one in five school children, ages 6-19, are obese (“Healthy Schools.”). I will be addressing the causes, health complications, treatments, controversy, and supporting obese students.

In recent years there has been a growing epidemic of obesity, especially in America. According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey posted on the Center for Disease Control website there are 12.5 million children from ages 2 through 19 that are obese. Many people are starting to complain that the commercials and ads for these restaurants are the result of such an incline in obesity. Although there have been current ad campaigns aiming at children to live a healthy life style there are still hundreds of advertisements that are putting restaurants in a sort of ultimatum position. Either restaurants change their advertisements or they improve their menus. In 1979 McDonalds debuted their world famous Happy Meals to the

Fast food advertisement agencies take advantage of the ignorance of children to scam them into wanting unhealthy meals. Each year, the fast food industry spends over $3 million of advertising targeted towards children. Half of television advertisement is used during children’s shows and with cartoons. Out of all the factors

Fast food tastes best when they are fresh out of the restaurant. No matter how big the portion is, fast food can be hardly eaten as leftovers. So children have gradually trained their stomachs-adults likewise-to hold fattier, oily, sugary foods that come in super sizes. The initial issue seemed to be just being overweight and obese, as these children who consume more fatty foods than necessary grew up to be a fat generation of adults. But now, the fast food monster has grown bigger and wilder that it brings children critical health issues at much younger ages.