Does A Parent 's Education Level Affect Their Nutritional Habits?

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.

In 2014, two parents were arrested because their son was obese. The boy weighed 210 pounds; however, his parents did not consider his weight to be a problem. They did not think that being obese was a big deal. Like this case, these days, the rate of childhood obesity is increasing greatly, and childhood obesity is becoming a serious issue for children. Childhood obesity has many poor aspects for children. For instance, it is unhealthy for children’s bodies, and it also negatively influences their future bodies. Also, it causes bullying at school because of childhood obesity and truancy that are related to mental issues. Scholars assert that childhood obesity is the fault of parents; however, some scientists claims that it is due to genetics or diseases, such as an internal predisposition and hypothalamic disease. Despite these claims, the evidences shows that childhood obesity is a result of a lack of parental care, and parents should be held accountable on childhood obesity.

Health is a complete physical, mental and social well-being and functioning of a human being. It is the unity and harmony within the mind, body, and soul ( The Seven Assumptions). What the person perceived and what he is actually experiencing needs to be in harmony. The limitation to this is there is only so much you can do as a health care professional to help a patient . Some may think eating chips and drinking three cases of beer is healthy. As a

Obesity in America is a developing issue, and not simply in grown-ups. Today, around one in three American children and teens are overweight or fat. Young obesity has rapidly turned out to be a standout amongst the most genuine wellbeing difficulties of the 21st century. Frequently, obesity is the aftereffect of an imperfect way of life. Despite the fact that hereditary qualities

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

There is also continued increase in the proportion of children at risk of being overweight (Puhl & Latner, 2007). Childhood and adolescent obesity and overweight trend increased considerably between 1999 and 2004. However, the trend seemingly leveled between 2005 and 2006, and then surged in subsequent years. In 2008, the estimated obesity prevalence rate among children and adolescents of 2-19 years of age was 16.3 percent and overweight prevalence rate was 31.9 percent (Fleming et al., 2008). In 2010, it was estimated that 38 percent of children in the European Union and 50 percent of children in North America were overweight. This dramatic increase in childhood obesity is likely to have considerable long-term impact for economics and public health. If not reversed, the public health obesity toll is likely to continue rising as children and adolescents enter adulthood and start experiencing delayed and usually life threatening obesity complications (Fleming et al., 2008). In addition, there is increasing concerns regarding the vulnerability of many children to the adverse emotional and social obesity consequences. The effects of some of these consequences may be immediate with undesirable health outcomes and potentially lasting effects (Puhl & Latner, 2007). Childhood obesity is specifically problematic because it is not only linked to various comorbid physical and psychological problems but also adult obesity predictors and mortality risk factor (Werthmann et al.

The past several decades have seen an escalating trend in the rate of childhood obesity. Obesity results from an imbalance involving excessive calorie consumption and inadequate physical activity. Childhood obesity has continued to be a major issue in the public healthcare system, and has more than tripled. Obesity has increased from 6.5% in 1980 to 20% in 2014 among children aged 6 to 11. During the same 30 year period, obesity among adolescents aged 12 to 19 increased from 5.0% to 18.1%. With that said, America is experiencing a very serious health issue concerning its youth.

This paper will explore and discuss the rising issue of childhood obesity by using published books and articles. I will explore five different factors that correlate to possible beliefs of childhood obesity. The factors that I will discuss include: parenting, education, technology, marketing, and the Fat-Gene theory. There has not been one specific cause to childhood obesity but there are underlying effects that can be harmful to children from 2-19 years of age. The

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

Childhood obesity is a disease where excess body fat affects a child's health or wellbeing. With the number of children affected by the disease increasing, it is important to understand the consequences. Not only will obesity influence a child’s physical heath, but it can also affect their emotional and social health as well. Acknowledging that obesity is a preventable disease should help lower the number of children affected by it. It is not about dieting; it is a lifestyle change that should be adopted and practiced by the whole family. Being obese increases a child's risk of being an obese adult. I will argue that parent education regarding the physical and emotional effects of childhood obesity can protect the lives of children.

A huge problem that we are facing in the world today is that of childhood obesity. It is a rising epidemic, not only in the United States but around the world. One study states: “OBESITY RATES HAVE INCREASED STEEPLY IN RECENT DECADES, with two-thirds of American adults and one-third of American children (aged 2 to 19) currently overweight or obese. Obese children are more likely to become obese adults, and obesity is associated with a host of chronic diseases, including Type-2 diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease, whose health effects are cumulative over time” (WOLFSON, J. A., GOLLUST, S. E., NIEDERDEPPE, J. and BARRY, C. L. (2015), The Role of Parents in Public Views of Strategies to Address Childhood Obesity in the United States. Milbank Quarterly)

While exploring possible health issues and a population to focus on for my project, I was overwhelmed by the number of issues we are faced with everyday. I narrowed the search down to obesity and the population I would like to focus on is the adolescents. Health People 2010 identified overweight and obesity as one of the top ten leading health indicators that needs serious attention. Obesity has reached epidemic levels globally; being a significant threat to our own nation’s health. Adolescent obesity rates have more than tripled, as the adult obesity rate has doubled since 1980’s (Trust for America's Health, 2011a).

Obesity: a common underlying issue on today’s society, yet then again it is an issue profoundly in front of our face. One could inquire the reasoning behind a hamburger, greasy and fat, being less expensive than a nutritional healthy salad, and one could honestly answer in saying that they would not know. It is easy for parents to go grab a kid’s meal, cheaper too, which the option of cooking and/or eating something healthy is soon weighed out as an option of being time consuming. It is very apparent that children are more overweight and obese in the present than in the past. Childhood obesity has doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years (Childhood obesity causes & consequences 1) Along with the physical change, there are many health risk that can be involved when a child is obese. Immediate health issues include: risk factors pertaining to cardiovascular disease, increasing chances in having pre diabetes, and higher risk of having bone joint problems (Childhood obesity causes & consequences 1). In the long run, the obese children will become obese adults, therefore greater risk for adult health problems such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke and several types of cancer (Childhood obesity causes & consequences 1). Since children are heavily dependent on their parents and guardians, parents play a vital role in the development of their child; so it is the parents’ responsibility to insure that their child is a healthy weight by taking

Obesity is a serious and growing problem among adolescents in the United States. “In 1999, 13% of children aged 6 to 11 years and 14% of adolescents aged 12 to 19 years in the United States were overweight. This prevalence has nearly tripled for adolescents in the past 2 decades” (“Fact Sheet”). A key cause for concern is that “overweight adolescents are at higher risk of medical conditions such as hyperlipidemia, glucose intolerance, hypertension, and sleep apnea. Also, overweight adolescents are more likely to be overweight as adults, and they are at higher risk of cardiovascular disease and

The media bombards society with photos of people who are ideally thin, but rarely offers proper techniques to obtain such an image. Teenagers growing up are easily influenced by societies idea of healthy living which can lead to eating disorders or obesity. With the use of education, teens can have life long positive effects from eating healthy. This can easily be prevented through proper education on how to implement exercise, healthy eating habits, and informing them on the consequences of not eating healthy.