Childhood Obesity : Parents Change Their Own Habits

Childhood obesity is not just an issue in United States- it is an growing epidemic. Obesity epidemic in kids has increased by alarming rate just in last few decades. Nearly one in every five child is obese in the United States. If the pattern of obesity continued on most of America’s children will be living with diabetes, heart disease, and dying young due to obesity. The American Heart Association reported this year that childhood obesity is the top health concern among parents in the United States, beating out smoking and drug abuse. My own younger siblings suffer with child obesity. Their craving for fast food and very limited physical activity has made them overweight and currently they suffer from health problems. Is this the future of our young generation? How much contribution should a parent have in their child’s diet? Fast food has taken over American diet and it has lead to poor nutritional diet among American youth. Fast food companies spend billion of dollars every year on commercials, convincing youth to love and eat their product. It’s just not our eating habits that has lead our young generation into obesity, lack of physical workout has also played a major role in obesity epidemic. TV, computer, video games and other technology entertainment has contributed to children getting no exercise. Obesity in children can put them in high risks of developing chronic and serious illness. Unhealthy weight leads to having weaker lungs, poor blood quality, heart

Obesity usually rises at early age; this positions children to encounter detrimental health problems later in life. The annotated sources validate that obesity is linked with serious health problems, both medical and emotional. Frankly, it is crucial that parents and adolescents are kept up-to-date with the information outlined throughout this argument. About ten years ago children would ride their bikes around the neighborhood, engage in sports, and play tag; when they got home, a nutritious meal would be waiting for them on the dinner table. Where did all this vanish to? Should parents be blamed for allowing their kids to become coach potatoes? There are several theorized solutions to control the number of overweight children in

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.

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

Over the past three decades, childhood obesity rates in America have tripled, and today, nearly one in three children in America are overweight or obese. (“Data & Statistics.” Childhood Obesity in America, childhoodobesityinusa.weebly.com/data--statistics.html). The reasons why the numbers are increasing are because children are eating more empty calories than ever before. Instead of healthy fruits, veggies and nutritious snacks and lunches, parents are packing and serving processed snacks that contains high fructose corn syrup. If this problem is not solved, one third of all children born in 2000 or later will suffer from diabetes at some time in their lives. (National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, letsmove.obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/learn-facts/epidemic-childhood-obesity). Childhood obesity should be prevented because it is a risk to kids' health, low self-esteem, and they can be bullied because of it.

Although, parents are not the only cause of childhood obesity, they play a giant part in the fight against it. There are many other contributing factors like advertisements sending the wrong message about nutrition, and using toys, and cartoons like Ronald Mcdonalds to lure children. To put an end to this, parents can start educating their children, and themselves about nutrition, they can decrease the amount of trips to fast food venues, and start preparing meals at home. We can all start breaking bad habits, and start leading healthier

Individuals and groups in support of the government intervening in order to combat the epidemic of childhood obesity claim that, “parents who strive to keep their kids healthy may not have all the tools they need to do so” (“Childhood Obesity.” Issues & Controversies). Therefore supporters agree that the government “should step in and enable parents to do the best job they can” (“Childhood Obesity.” Issues & Controversies). Joe Thompson, “director of the Rober Wood Foundation Center to prevent Childhood Obesity” claims that not all parents are able to have full control on what their children eat as well as how much they exercise (“Childhood Obesity.” Issues & Controversies). He claims that some families do not live in neighborhoods where “fresh produce” are inexpensive and readily available (“Childhood Obesity.” Issues & Controversies). In addition, Thompson states that, along with the foods children eat, parents are also not in full control of how much physical activity their children are involved in (“Childhood Obesity.” Issues & Controversies). He asserts that, “you can’t say to a parent, ‘your child should exercise more’ if there’s no PE in school” (“Childhood Obesity.” Issues & Controversies). It is apparent that not all parents have the money as well as a strong influence in order to guide their children into forming a healthy lifestyle that involves clean eating and engaging in physical exercise. Because of a parent’s lack of time, money, and other resources to keep

The rate of childhood obesity has grown an enormous amount over the years with more than 40 million children being overweight! That number is astonishingly high and it is very obvious that something needs to be done about this. Studies had shown in 2008 that more than 40 million children were said to be overweight and the sad truth is that they are still increasing rapidly to this day; also every 1 in 4 teenagers is said to not reach the fitness guidelines (Tanner) according to an article by Lindsey Tanner. For this problem to be resolved not only do the parents of children need to make sure their kids are staying active but also, the schools they attend need to make sure they are getting a well-balanced meal and have some type of physical activity during their school day. Each state in America is given a percentage rate on the number of obese people in that particular state. The highest ranking state is Mississippi with a percentage of 34.9 and the state ranking the least is Connecticut with 24.5 percent. Different researches have shown that each day 850 lives are taken due to obesity and each year there are more than 300,000 people that die from obesity related illnesses. These are deaths that most likely could have been avoided if these individuals would have had the proper exercise and diet in their lives.

After reviewing the information provided, I have come to a conclusion that there is not one sole solution in stopping obesity within our children. There are way too many factors such as social, environmental, and financial that influences the eating habits and activity levels among children. The solution would have to be a multifaceted approach involving physicians, medical organizations, federal government, schools and parents. If nothing is done to combat the current the epidemic of childhood obesity, today's obese children may indeed have shorter and less healthy lives than their parents.

Childhood obesity is a big concern that we face in every day in the United States. In fact, according to the American Heart Association, one in three American kids is either overweight or obese. To put that in perspective, it has been tripled from 1971 to 2011. Also, it is now the number one concern among their parents surpassing both drug abuse and smoking. There needs to be a better way to reduce this number. Seeing how this number tripled in only forty years makes the question of how is this possible? Is it because their parents are overweight or obese, so the children just follow in their footsteps? Or is it possible the parents are the ones who are solely responsible because of the lack of home-cooked meals? Whatever the case is,

Even with measures in place, obesity continues to increase and now not only affects the adult population but is epidemic portion in our children. America’s rise in childhood obesity is a major health concern. Researchers have examined the attitudes of parents in regard to the health of their children. They found there is a gap in parental perceptions of school resources and what is actually available to help manage their child’s healthy eating habits. The purpose of this case study was to establish the degree of parental perceptions and the use of school resources and to investigate the insights and experiences of participants to help define factors that influence their attitudes. In Phase I, qualitative data were collected through an interview

According to Campbell (2008), parental beliefs suggest that strategies to create health promotion should have extended family involved. Parents agree that childen should be encouraged to establish healthy eating habits early in their life. He (2008) states many parents believe strategies to promote healthy weight should start early in a child’s life. According to Huang, (2009), while it has been identified that parental support of health promoting behaviors can impact positively on child overweight and obesity, research shows that parents may not recognize the detrimental health consequences of their children being overweight. Huang (2009) also reports that parents often feel confused by numerous strategies for addressing childhood obesity problems. Dyson (2008) reports that family is the primary source impacting children. Parents are significant in informing schools and other professionals of their perceptions on healthy behaviors (Watt, 2009).

Psychological and behavioral issues play crucial role in child obesity. Fast food companies are working hard cutting corners to continue marketing to children. They spend billions of dollars a year for children to see their ads. Children and teens view and estimated 4,000 ads in a year. It is up to parents to start changing their eating habits, and begin making better eating decisions for their kids. As pointed out by Nurse Patricia Fitzgerald, from Nevitt Elementary in Tipping the Scales, “kids follow what their parents do.” Besides having the proper diet kids have to be active. Schools need to provide more physical activity programs to help balance the intake of calories and calories being used. It will not only reduce obesity, but it will

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.

“Parental behavioral patterns concerning shopping, cooking, eating and exercise have an important influence on a child’s energy, balance and ultimately their weight” said diet specialist, Anne Collins (“Childhood Obesity Facts”). Childhood obesity has more than tripled since the 1980’s (“Childhood Obesity Facts”). Childhood obesity often leads to obesity as an adult which can put a person at greater risks dealing with the heart, diabetes, and many other obese related diseases. People want to blame the schools and today’s technology for childhood obesity, in reality, the responsibility lies in the hands of their parents.