Effects Of Obesity On Children 's Behavior

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 is considered to be a serious issue among our youth. Obesity can cause many types of physical problems, which most are aware of, but it can also cause some undesirable internal feelings within children and adolescents who suffer from it. Self-esteem, or self-worth, is important as it helps develop personality and is a major ingredient to our mental health status (Wang, F. and Veugelers, P. J., 2008). Some have said obesity may even have a negative effect on cognitive development, as well. There have been studies performed to research the effects of obesity on children and adolescents, which I am going to review.

Healthy People 2020 defines a built environment as the conditions “in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of life settings (e.g., school, church, workplace, and neighborhood)” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2013, para. 5). The built environment plays a major role in physical activity and other obesity-related behaviors. According to Paxson, Donahue, Oreleans, and Grisso (2006), over the past forty years, the built environment has changed dramatically affecting healthy behaviors and outcomes such as poor diet, physical inactivity, obesity and the disproportionate burden of these health risks among certain subpopulations (Rossen & Pollack, 2012).

Childhood obesity has been a crucial global concern for the past years, especially in the United States. Obesity within children has become a concern because it can develop multiple health risks. Although some of the health risks can be treated, there are many that could follow them for a lifetime. Some of the health risks could be minor, but many of the health issues are deadly. Childhood obesity has been related to affecting the majority of the child’s main body systems. For example, childhood obesity could affect the pulmonary, muscular, skeletal, and cardiovascular systems. A United States government publication called Childhood Obesity Facts, acknowledges that, “Children with obesity are at higher risk for having other chronic health

Childhood obesity has multiplied exponentially in the past two or three decades. More than one third of children and young adults were classified as obese or overweight in 2012. Childhood obesity has become an epidemic all over the world but especially in the United States. Health is the most important part of a person’s life and it is unaccepta-ble for multitudes of people to be at a disadvantage when it comes to health at such an early and tender age. There are some trends of society that can be seen as apparent rea-sons for this increase in childhood obesity such as the rise of a more sedentary lifestyle and the growing access to unhealthy food. However, children and parents are not solely to blame, rather, society as a whole may be

“Childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States. As a result, children are at increased risk in myriad preventable acute and chronic medical problems- many of which are associated with increased morbidity and mortality.” (Cause and Effect in Childhood Obesity: Solutions for a National Epidemic). The issue of childhood obesity is a huge controversial problem that revolves around America. Over the last decade, children have been overweight for their height and age. It is abnormal to have a child to be gaining weight after a month and month. Many years ago, this issue was not as big as it is today. Since the year of the 1970’s, childhood obesity has multiplied by two between the ages two and five years old. Not only

The United States, the busiest country on over the world, is being threatened by the obesity, especially children. Compare with the past 30 years, in 2012, the number of children are obese increases doubled (Childhood Obesity Facts). The major elements that lead to the childhood obesity not only come from the invisible factor are family’s gene, but also the environment grow them up as school and the influence of technology in the modern society. But if the parent and school have a positive behavior on children’s eating habit, and also control the time using the technology of children, they can contribute to preventing this situation.

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.

There is a common misconception that when children eat a candy bar or any type of sugar in general, they become hyperactive and turn into the Tasmanian devil. This theory was easy to conceive for most of us due to all the TV shows and movies we grew up watching that illustrated this myth when in fact numerous studies have been conducted to debunk this claim. Many people have bought into the belief that children consuming sugar causes hyperactivity because back in 1973, Dr. Benjamin Feingold was popular for his diet (for children) that recommended the avoidance of food additives like dyes and artificial flavors because they can lead to hyperactivity (Huynh 2010). Sugar was not mentioned

Childhood obesity is on the rise and has seen a dramatic increase over recent years. The percent of children facing obesity today is 18% and has doubled over the course of 30 years.1 With 2/3 of the adult population being overweight and obese it is no surprise that children are following the trend. Obesity simply defined is excess body fat from an energy imbalance. Obesity occurs when energy intake is more than energy expended and results in excess body fat. Childhood obesity can be measured with the CDC BMI-for-age and sex growth chart. A BMI equal to or greater than the 95th percentile is considered obese. Childhood obesity is a significant problem because it leads to immediate health consequences such as high blood pressure, high

Other problems with correlational studies are that they are based on retrospective assessments of the children’s food intake, and provide data only on what children had been eating a week or two before the study. Sugar’s effect on behavior may be more immediate or may take much longer to take affect. Most reports of sugar adversely affecting behavior are noted within 0.5-3 hours after consumption, or after long time-periods based on lifelong dietary strategies or prenatal factors. Another concern is the method of participant selection. Participants varied in regards to how they were selected and this was defined by age, clinical diagnosis of a hyperactive disorder, diagnosis of a hyperactive disorder by a parent or availability to the researchers.

Obesity costs Canada billions of dollars in health care per year (Tran, Ohinmaa, Kuhle, Johnson, & Veugelers, 2014). Obesity impacts individual’s ability to participate in and contribute to society fully due to the psychological and physical consequences, such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and some types of cancers (Tran et al., 2014). Risk factors for obesity include poor eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle (Tran et al., 2014). In an Alberta based study looking at the impact of school-based programming in preventing childhood obesity, Tran et al. (2014) predicted two thirds of current Canadian youth are likely to become overweight or obese at some point in their lives and found promotion of healthy eating and active living is most effective in childhood, as it has the potential to create healthier lifestyle choices that persist into adulthood. In addition, comprehensive education about healthy eating and active living benefits children long term by increasing levels of knowledge, improving attitudes, promoting self-efficacy, and enhancing leadership skills related to making healthy choices (Tran et al., 2014). Fostering healthy eating and active living through school-based education has the potential to save the nation millions of dollars in health care costs in the years to come (Tran et al., 2014).

In America, there are many children and adolescents that are suffering from nutrition issues. According to the (CDC), there was 16 percent of children from the ages of 6-19 years-old that was overweight in 2002. Health and nutrition for children around this age are very critical to their growth and development. As I have learned in this class the media and the promotions of junk food in one of the biggest problems that affect children with obesity. In this paper, I address the long and short term impacts that obesity has on children, in their growth and development. I will also describe a specific of a child who is affected by obesity, and give three ways to help obesity that involves schools, families, the community.

What is childhood obesity? Childhood obesity can be described as the excessive accumulation of fat that might impair the health of a child. This is a medical condition that has a huge impact on children and teenagers. Every individual has a body shape that is just right for his or her changes. It is important for children to be taught that excessive eating is bad for their health and should be supervised. (Lachal, 2013)

Teaching children of all ages could be difficult if not having their full attention or not being able to reach them physically or on an emotional level for the information needed to be taught. Childhood obesity is a very sensitive subject specially with bulling in all grades continuing to adulthood. So the teaching plan is to make children be aware of childhood obesity and to have those numbers decrease by increasing activity and healthy eating.