Early Childhood Obesity Epidemic

Childhood obesity is a health problem that is becoming increasingly prevalent in society’s youth. For a number of years, children across the nation have become accustomed to occasionally participating in physical activities and regularly snacking on sugary treats. In result of these tendencies, approximately one third of American children are currently overweight or obese (Goodwin). These grim statistics effectively represent all the lack of adult interference, in regards to health, has done to the youth of America. The habits of over consuming foods and under participating in physical activities are all too common in the children of today. Children cannot solve this issue alone, though. These young people need to essentially be given the

In the past three decades, rates of childhood obesity have increased precipitously. Between the years and 1980 and 2000, the prevalence of obesity has increased from 6.5% to 19.6% among 6 to 11 year old children and 5.0% to 18.1% among 12 to 19 year old adolescents x(National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2010). This condition is accompanied by many physical and psychological consequences for these children. There are two common postions in the debate about the causes of this condition. One belief of the cause of childhood obesity is that it is a question of “personal responsibility” or in the case of children, of “parental responsibility.” That is, increasing rates of obesity are due to

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.

Childhood Obesity can lead to a wide variety of health problems that can be both immediate and/or long-term. Obesity is the condition of

Childhood obesity has increased dramatically over the last three decades, and conditions in many communities continue to act as barriers to healthy eating and adequate physical activity. Childhood obesity is a serious health problem that has adverse and potentially long-lasting consequences for individuals, families, and communities. Perhaps most shocking, life expectancy for today’s children may be shortened in the United States because of the impact of childhood obesity (Olshansky and Ludwig, 2005).

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

Being fat takes the fun out of being a kid. Paul Campos in his article “There is no Childhood Obesity Epidemic” discussed the there is a “stunning” drop in childhood obesity rate. He claims that obesity rates among two to five year olds have plunged over the past decade, and that the so called “obesity epidemic” had ended. I strongly disagree with Campos view that there is no childhood obesity epidemic, this is due to the researches that was done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which shows that childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescent in the past years.

According to Time Magazine, childhood obesity rates have skyrocketed. Since the 1960’s, the percentage of children ages 6 to 11 have tripled to 13% (Time, 2015).

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

Obesity is a serious global health problem for both children and adults (Werthmann, Jansen, Vreugdenhil, Nederkoorn, Schyns, & Roefs, 2015). Obesity, as a medical terminology, is a condition in which there is increase in the proportion of body fat to the extent that there are associated health consequences (Grønbæk, 2008). Children are considered overweight if they have their body mass index (BMI) within the 85th to 94.99th percentile range (adjusted for age and sex) on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) growth charts. Similarly, they are considered obese if they have BMI at the 95th percentile or higher (Puhl & Latner, 2007) on the CDC growth charts (Fleming et al., 2008). Weight gain takes place when the caloric (energy)

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

this diseases impact over the past few years. With the changing of lifestyles, the production of children who are not as healthy as they should be has increased. Due to these results, a widespread of children being obese has occurred. The Center for Disease Control, CDC, distinguishes between being overweight and being obese. Overweight simply means that the weight is high compared to others in the same height category. According to the CDC, obesity means “an excessively high amount of body fat . . . in relation to lean body mass” (CDC). There are so many factors of childhood obesity. Some might say it’s the parent and some might say that it’s from advertisements. Childhood obesity can be a combination of factors scientific, genetic, cultural, or even environmental. The debate over childhood obesity and its factors has been going on for decades.

According to Cummings, Welch, Mason, Burbage, Kwon, and Kuo (2014) the food environment is the most important factor in combating childhood obesity. For children and adolescents the school nutrition programs are major parts of the food environment (Cummings et al., n.d.). “Adequate energy and nutrients are required for young children’s growth and development, but excess energy over the long term can lead to overweight and obesity” (Briefel et al., 2013 P.269). There are many different factors that contribute to the continuing growth of childhood obesity.

There are many problems in the world. Each country has special problems. The one problem that all the world has is childhood obesity . It’s one of the biggest problems in America. Obesity has become more than usual in the US . The definition of obesity is having an excessive amount of body fat. Obesity will raise the number of children’s health and diseases problems such as heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure unless children do physically activity (“ Diseases and Conditions Obesity” par. 1). Between 1980 and 2012 the number of obese children aged from 6-11 increased from 7% to 18% (“Childhood Obesity Facts.” par. 2). People must fight this problem . Children become dependent on their parents because parents feel sympathy for