Childhood Obesity: Serious Global Health Concerns Of The 21st Century

Childhood obesity is a growing epidemic in the United States. More than one third of children are overweight. This figure is increasing rapidly. This epidemic puts children at risk for various health problems such as type two diabetes and heart problems. Although they are several risk factors for obesity, parents play a significant role in this issue. This paper will look into how parents are influential to their children, how they contribute to this problem and how they may help fight the fight against obesity. Obesity is a very serious problem and there are solutions that parents can apply to help their children lead a healthy lifestyle. Obesity does not only affect a person physically, but mentally and psychologically as well.

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

There is a growing epidemic in our country, its called obesity. In fact, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), childhood obesity has doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years, and in 2012 more than one third of children were overweight and obese. There are countless reasons as to why this epidemic has gained so much weight over the recent decades, often people say; it is an inherited tendency to put on pounds, lack of good nutrition and diets, or simply because we are too busy or too lazy to exercise. The truth is, physical activities and dietary behaviors of young Americans are influenced by many sectors of society. Including; the families and cultures we

Childhood obesity is more than a major issue in the United States: it is an epidemic. The number of overweight and obese children in America has increased at an alarming rate over the past years. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years [1]. American Heart Association stated, “Today one in three American kids and teens are overweight or obese; nearly triple the rate in 1963” [5]. Unfortunately, this affects our children physically, mentally, and long-term.

Childhood obesity is an epidemic in U.S. In the year of 2012, about “one third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese.” Also, percentages of childhood obesity have increased by over ten percent in the last thirty years in children and adolescents (Childhood Obesity Facts 2015). These statistics are shocking, and many people are concerned for the health of their children. This medical condition, as defined by Mayo Clinic, leads to serious health conditions in the future in the children’s adult lives, which can only be treated with pricey medication, treatments, and surgeries (Mayo Clinic Staff 2015); some can also lead to a very short life, ending their lives in between the ages 40 and 60. Due to many studies and research, 1childhood obesity can be easy prevented early on from infancy by analyzing the causes, studying the effects and finding the solutions to the problem.

In the United States, childhood obesity is an epidemic and in the past 30 years, childhood obesity have had nearly tripled. There are 31 % of American children and adolescents are either overweight or obese. And according to the numbers, more than 23 million of American children are either overweight or obese and more than 12 million are obese (National Conference of State Legislatures, 2013).

Childhood obesity is a growing epidemic across the world, and has become a rapidly increasing problem in the US. In the past thirty years, the obesity rate for children aged 12-19 has quadrupled, and it has doubled in children aged 6-11 (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2015). When compared to the lifestyle of an average 13 year old thirty years ago, today’s lifestyle is one that seems to stack the cards against them. Thirty years ago, kids participated in recess and gym class daily, today those programs are being cut in order to allow for academics. Children thirty years ago enjoyed fast food only on occasional and typically ate a home cooked meal, with a wide range of food groups and smaller portions (Let 's Move!, 2010). Kids no longer walk to school for a multitude of reasons, and they often opt to come home from school and play their favorite video game or watch their favorite show instead of playing a game outside like children who grew up 30 years ago did. There are also factors that contribute to obesity that may be out of the children’s control. Often times children aren’t in charge of what they eat or what activities they participate in (Haelle, 2013). Socioeconomic factors may also contribute to childhood obesity (Wang, 2001) yet another factor that the children themselves cannot control. While there may be many reasons why we see a spike in childhood obesity, there are also things that we can do to fix the problem.

More and more children are suffering from the chronic condition of obesity (Serrano). Children become overweight when they consume more calories than they burn while partaking in physical activity (“A Growing Problem”). Of the six most vulnerable times in life for the development of obesity, five affect children and teens (Berg 34). Educating the people of America about acknowledging the presence of a weight problem, the history of this problem, and the physical and emotional effects of childhood obesity could potentially minimize this issue and improve children’s lives.

Recent statistics have shown that childhood obesity has reached global epidemic status. In the United States alone, approximately 34% of adolescents and young adults are considered obese or overweight (Pbert et al, 2013). The rates are equally concerning across the world and appear to have rates that are disproportionate among minorities and low-income families. The root causes include factors that are genetic, environmental, societal and developmental, but it is largely caused by controllable factors such as unhealthy diets and lack of physical activity. The condition is fraught with significant risk factors such as depression, low-esteem and a further increased risk of becoming obese adults. Furthermore, there is an increased risk of adult-onset diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases (Pbert et al, 2014).

Childhood obesity is simply the result of a surplus of calories consumed and a deficiency in calories burned. It is a nationwide public health concern that has increased dramatically over a few years. Childhood Obesity is a public issue, but it affects the health and well being of children we call our friends, and family. Currently most Americans use the body mass index or BMI as one of the main methods for determining childhood obesity. However, this is where the concern for childhood obesity for most Americans ceases to exist. This is when people start to think that this dilemma of childhood obesity doesn’t affect them in their lives. Mark Blum, Buddhist thinker states there is this mentality, this motto “If I could consider my body as mine, from an egocentric standpoint, I would be free to do whatever I want with it” that has developed (Blum 148). People feel like their body, or in this case their obesity is a personal problem and it can’t be dealt with in public matters. Nevertheless, it comes back to this when the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) reported “an estimated 16.9% of children and adolescents in the age group of 2-19 years old were obese.” As well as Healthy People 2010 ranked “obesity as the number one health problem in the nation” (Karnik and Kanekar). This clearly shows us that childhood obesity has become a serious issue over the past couple of years. No child is immune to childhood obesity, and health problems adults typical

Childhood obesity is one of the most serious public health crises facing the nation as evidenced by one out of every three children in the U.S. being overweight. It should come as no surprise then that children today are less active and have less healthy diets than preceding generations. The combination of decreased activity and increased consumption of processed foods is contributing to the alarming rise of childhood obesity and ongoing attempts to decrease the obesity rate have made little impact because they fail to address the root cause. Environmental, cultural, and socioeconomic factors are the true barriers to a reduction in the childhood obesity rates. It is simply too narrow minded to think that merely focusing on reducing processed foods, increasing activity levels in children, and role-modeling expected behavior is enough to reduce obesity rates. Improved transportation systems, increased access to affordable healthy whole foods, development of an education program that is both culturally sensitive and focuses on changing the current food culture are the proper strategies that will reduce the childhood obesity rates in the United States.

In recent decades childhood obesity has become a global epidemic. Globally it is estimated that around 40-50 million children are obese. In the United States the amount of school-age children who are considered obese has risen from 6% in 1973 to 31% in 2009 (3). In children, obesity is defined as a child’s height and weight being at or over the 95th percentile (1). Childhood obesity can lead to a large amount of adverse consequences, including: low self-esteem, asthma, cancer, premature mortality, and type 2 diabetes (3). Once thought to be a disease that only affected adults who were overweight or obese a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes has become increasingly common in school-age children (3). In the past, school-age children

A child is defined as affected by obesity if their body mass index (BMI) for their age percentile is greater than 95% and a child is defined as overweight if their BMI for their age percentile is greater than 85% and less than 95%, this is identified on the BMI for age percentile chart (Raj & Kumar, 2012). The World Health Organization (WHO) regards childhood obesity as one of the most serious global public health challenge for the 21st century (WHO, 2016). Globally, in 2013 the number of obese children under 5 years of age was estimated to be over 42 million, nearly 31 million of these are living in developing countries (WHO, 2016). Obese children and adolescents are at an increased risk of developing various health problems and have a higher risk of becoming obese adults (Public Health England, 2016). Prevention of childhood obesity needs to be high priority, these obese children are likely to stay obese into adulthood therefore are at risk of developing non-communicable

Over the past decade, there has been a rise in the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents, In 2013, the number of children (under 5 Years) said to be overweight was over 42 million with 31 million of them living in developing countries. (WHO, 2015), and if not properly handled, could lead to serious health problems like cardiovascular disease. (Owen et al., 2009). Childhood Obesity is becoming a major public health problem and if not properly talked could lead to serious case of morbidity and in extreme cases mortality. There is a growing evidence of the impact of childhood obesity in the long run into adulthood, it could lead to long term illnesses like osteoarthritis, hypertension, stroke, coronary heart disease and certain forms of cancer. (WHO, 2000). As the UK population grows and ages, A report by McKinsey states that after smoking, Obesity has the second largest impact in the United Kingdom, costing about £47 billion per year. Obesity is now known to be bigger than war and terrorism. According to McKinsey, “Obesity is jostling with armed conflict and smoking in terms of having the greatest human-generated global economic impact. The global economic impact of obesity is increasing. The evidence suggests that the economic and societal impact of obesity is deep and lasting.” (Gregory, 2014). It has also been predicted that the burden of Obesity will cost the NHS £10billion per year by 2050 and as a result, there would be escalating rates of

Childhood obesity is a growing problem that needs to be resolved. Many people may say it is the Child’s fault, he is weak willed. This is just a common misconception; there are hundreds of different reasons for childhood obesity. I will just be scratching the surface of this paper. By the same token childhood obesity is a growing problem that needs to be resolved. We can achieve this by understanding some common misconceptions, understanding health problems, and understanding fitness.