Hawai’i Pacific University
THE RISING COST OF CHILDHOOD OBESITY
The relationship between income and childhood obesity
Barbara Can
Ms. Amber Leonard
WRI 1200
Mar 1, 2011
Just take a short drive down any main street in a popular city and you will drive past no less than eight fast food restaurants and three convenient stores within a couple of blocks from each other. If that is the route driven on your way home every day from work and you don’t feel up to making a home cooked meal, what do you think your family will be eating that night. It is sometimes cheaper to buy a cheeseburger off of the value menu rather than cooking one at home. Fast food is a large reason why childhood obesity takes place. Fast food restaurants do not
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Every child is different, you can see a group of children all different heights and weights but same age group. Almost every commercial break on television has a thirty second bit about a special at a local fast food restaurant. In the 1990’s McDonalds had their hamburgers on sale on a certain day of the week, instead of one dollar they were thirty nine cents. Imagine a family going there easily ordering twenty for a family of six. In a low income family, having the specials McDonald’s had to offer were almost the best thing that could happen because everyone is able to eat and have a full stomach. Everyday there are new ideas for new snacks, either healthy or un-nutritional, but each person has their choice at the store for which items them buy. Price on items are constantly changing, mainly rising, especially the food that feed us energy and help us to live a healthier lifestyle. . Americans have consumed 400 more calories per day than the average in 1985 (Russel 2). If a low income family is trying to eat healthy, they might find it almost impossible because of the economy. A recent Cornell University analysis shows that the inflation-adjusted price of fruits and vegetables rose 17 percent between 1997 and 2003, while the price of a McDonald’s quarter-pounder and a Coca-Cola fell by 5.44 percent and 34.89 percent, respectively (Russel 2). It has been said that as long as you are physically active you can eat whatever you want and still keep off the weight, but
Because of parents using food as a reward, many children learn that being good means eating unhealthy. Combined with the advertising techniques used by the fast food industry, children begin to make a correlation between fast food and a reward. Ellen Gustafson further confirms that fast food contains “more refined grains, fats and oils and sugars than the 1980’s.” All of these components of fast food make it appealing to children. Furthermore, many parents do not have time to make healthy meals for their children because of our fast-paced society. As David Zinczenko relates in Don’t Blame the Eater, “lunch and dinner, for me, was a daily choice between McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken or Pizza Hut. Then, as now, these were the only available options for an American kid to get an affordable meal.” This is not a rare situation. Many parents work long hours and therefore encourage their kids to eat fast food instead of taking the time to teach healthy habits. This has the ripple effect of overeating and lack of exercise. Without exercise, many kids gain weight, become obese or are at risk for diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and asthma. (Childhood Obesity) Today, type 2 diabetes exists in 30% of childhood obesity. (Zinczenko 154) Gustafson further states in her presentation “1/3 of American children are overweight and obese.” When a child has obesity, their ability to participate in everyday activities like sports and play is inhibited, which means
Obesity has become an increasing issue in the United States and all around the world. The study that I read about analyzed data from 68.5 million persons to assess the trends in the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and adults between 1980 and 2015 (The GBD 2015 Obesity Collaborators. 2017.). Children learn lifestyle choices from the adults that are around them. We, as adults, influence children on a variety of things, such as; eating or sleep patterns, exercise, or how we act towards situations or people. It is important to set a good example for the younger generations so that we can thrive in the future.
Unluckily, some kids are unsurprisingly predisposed to obesity. Eating a large amount of high calorie foods, like baked goods, and vending machine snacks and fast foods surely contributes to weight increase. Lack of financial resources can lead to childhood obesity as well. Financial and time pressures force many families to minimize food costs and meal preparation time, resulting in increased consumption of prepackaged convenience foods that are high in calories and fat. Many urban neighborhoods do not have supermarkets, outdoor produce stands, or other healthy alternatives to convenience stores and fast food outlets, making it harder for residents to purchase fresh and inexpensive
Rochman, Bonnie, and Bonnie Rochman. "Childhood Obesity: Most U.S. Schools Don’t Require P.E. Class or Recess | TIME.com." Time. Time, n.d. Web. 01 Sept. 2015. Only six states require P.E. at some point in high school, including Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Illinois and Iowa. If we were to require P.E. before you graduate, it may make some people angry, but it could be a great way to help with one of the worst problems in the world. The author, Bonnie Rochman, reports that 39 states do not require recess at all, at any level of school. Kids need time to run around and have some physical activity during the day, and recess is a good way to provide that. Rochman states that many schools are cutting physical
What search terms did you use to locate this research study to analyze? What database did you use? What was your rationale for selecting this particular study to analyze over the others identified in the search results? What is the full reference of for the study in APA format?
Overweight and obesity are risk factors for diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and other health problems. Since there is no single cause of all overweight and obesity, there is no single way to prevent or treat overweight and obesity that will help everyone. Treatment may include a combination of diet, exercise, behavior modification, and sometimes weight-loss drugs. In some cases of extreme obesity, bariatric surgery may be recommended. Once the disease is there it plans on staying there is no easy way of getting rid of it. We have to plan early and quick that is the importance and the message trying to be conveyed. We must make an early strike to prevent further
Statement of Health Problem: Childhood obesity has been a significant problem across our nation for decades, and can be clearly associated with insufficient nutrition, health, and wellness. Obesity is defined as a body mass index (BMI) at or above the 95th percentile for adolescents within the same age group ("Defining Childhood Obesity"). The most recent data show that the national childhood obesity rate for those between 2-19 years old is 18.5% ("The State of Childhood Obesity"). This equates to nearly 1 in 5 school age children being classified as obese ("Childhood Obesity Facts").
I enjoyed your post as it was very informative. When we talk about childhood obesity the first area of concern needs to reside with the parents. We have to consider the foundational understanding as it relates to health, daily habits, and teaching. Being in the health care industry and advocating for public health, education and continuing to bring awareness to many issues that jeopardize the health of our children is a major concern . Adults have to take responsibility for raising their own kids and what they consume and not look to place the blame on the fast food industry. There is no doubt that childhood obesity has become a matter of global concern. Reports show that in 2014 there were 41 million children under the age of 5 around
I will be researching childhood obesity in the United to states because I want to better understand the cause's and how it can be prevented. I have chosen to research childhood obesity to help my readers understand the influence they may have in children's lives and in their future. By asking questions such as, when does the onset of child hood obesity occur, I hope to find out what social institutions play the biggest role. With social institutions comes the question of relevance of socioeconomic status, and the impact that has. I lastly will be asking the question of the long term effects of childhood obesity. My goal is to understand why so many
The continued concern over childhood obesity is a major topic across the United States and continues to be a newsworthy topic. The Public Health Research, Practice, and Policy published a study that looked at the associations between a family's income in comparison to the physical fitness and obesity of children in California schools between 2010 through 2012. (Jin Y., Jones-Smith JC., 2012)
“Childhood Obesity in Florida.” States of Obesity. Trust for America's Health and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2014. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.
What is childhood obesity? Childhood obesity is when a child is above the normal weight for his or her age and height. There is an epidemic of childhood obesity in the United States and throughout the world. According to Center for Disease Control and Prevention, “The percentage of children aged 6–11 years in the United States who were obese increased from 7% in 1980 to nearly 20% in 2008. Nearly 43 million children under the age of five were overweight in 2010” (Child Obesity Facts). A serious medical condition affects children and adolescents. Childhood obesity is an increasing health problem in the world and unless actions are taken to prevent it, this problem will continue. Even though there are many causes such as environment, fast food,
Childhood obesity has become an epidemic, in fact childhood obesity has tripled over a 30-year span, covering nearly 40% of the nation’s children ("www.Letsmove.gov," 2010). As a pediatric nurse, I see more and more children with the beginnings of chronic disease, linked to obesity, that has historically been reserved for adults. Cardiovascular disease (CVD), Hypertension, Hypercholesterolemia, type 2 Diabetes, and Hyperinsulinemia are a few that have been noted. In a study of obese children, ages five to seventeen, 60% were found to have at least one risk factor for CVD and 25% had two risk factors ("www.Letsmove.gov," 2010). Children in their early years are now having cholesterol issue, so much so that the American Academy
Today obesity is shortening the lives of approximately 36 percent of Americans. Obesity is commonly measured by body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference. Recent studies have found that one third of Americans are on the verge of type two diabetes. The common belief is that obesity is most often caused in later teen and adult years of life, when in actuality it often occurs in infancy. Many of the milk and formulas toddlers are given are very high in calories and they end up consuming many more calories than what is necessary. Research shows that if a child is overweight before the age of five they have a high risk of going through adulthood obese.
Newfield could have avoided this bias by simply choosing a topic in which she was not personally