How Childhood Blubber Is A Vital Issue

Childhood obesity is a major public health epidemic which has significantly risen over the past three decades and there is no chance in sight of slowing it down unless real action is taken. This major health crisis continues to reduce individuals’ quality of life and has caused severe health problem like heart disease which is the leading cause of death in the United States and around the world. In most cases, obese children grow up to be an obese adult. The prevalence of childhood obesity can be addressed through education initiatives such as school prevention programs because children spent a majority of their time outside of the home at school, therefore school provides a great opportunity to educate and improve a child’s health at an ideal point before the problem gets worst. My paper will focus on childhood obesity prevention in Hill Top Middle school Lodi, New Jersey.

Childhood obesity has increased dramatically in the past few years. It is a result of an imbalance between how much a child eats and how much a child keeps their body active to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Common factors that are influencing childhood obesity would be the lack of self-control, environmental, and genetics. In order to combat these rising numbers of childhood obesity, people as a collective force must target problem areas within homes, schools, and their surrounding community by educating each other.

 I feel like schools should pay closer attention monitoring the health of children because health is such an important factor in everyday life and not all children are given that luxury at home. Some students might feel that they are overweight and schools can help students understand what the real definition of overweight is, how can they stop becoming overweight and the importance of a healthy lifestyle. Sometimes the stigma of being overweight can lead to eating disorders of students so it’s good to promote positive eating

The pathophysiology of obesity is when there is a buildup of excess body fat. This excess body fat is determined by calculating a person body mass index (BMI). The BMI is calculated by an individual’s weight in kilograms divided by the square of a person’s height in metersthis allows us to come up with appropriate range of weight to an individual’s height. The body mass index is used to find out if an individual is overweight or obese. Individuals who’s BMI that have a range of 25 to 29.99 are thought to be pre- obese and overweight When an individual body mass index has surpassed 30kg this person is considered obese. As an individual’sBMI increases they become part of a different class of obesity there’s class I which is 30-34.9, class II

(www.members.iglou.com) “Results on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999–2000 indicate that an estimated 64 percent of U.S. adults are either overweight or obese.” (www.cdc.gov) In addition, “The number of

“Schools have been recognised as an appropriate setting for the prevention of eating disorders and child obesity due to the continual and concentrated access to a large number of individuals at a developmentally appropriate age” (Yager & O’Dea, 2005). If teachers and health professionals believe that changes need to be made to

This section also addresses the health risks associated with obesity including type 2 diabetes and heart problems. Additionally, it is based on fact and is made directly from the government.

The rate of childhood obesity has grown an enormous amount over the years with more than 40 million children being overweight! That number is astonishingly high and it is very obvious that something needs to be done about this. Studies had shown in 2008 that more than 40 million children were said to be overweight and the sad truth is that they are still increasing rapidly to this day; also every 1 in 4 teenagers is said to not reach the fitness guidelines (Tanner) according to an article by Lindsey Tanner. For this problem to be resolved not only do the parents of children need to make sure their kids are staying active but also, the schools they attend need to make sure they are getting a well-balanced meal and have some type of physical activity during their school day. Each state in America is given a percentage rate on the number of obese people in that particular state. The highest ranking state is Mississippi with a percentage of 34.9 and the state ranking the least is Connecticut with 24.5 percent. Different researches have shown that each day 850 lives are taken due to obesity and each year there are more than 300,000 people that die from obesity related illnesses. These are deaths that most likely could have been avoided if these individuals would have had the proper exercise and diet in their lives.

Although many individuals are uncertain about the increasing statistics associated with obesity, more than seventy percent of men and virtually sixty-two percent of women within the United States adult population are overweight or obese (Wilmore, Costill, & Kenney). Obesity refers to the condition of having an excessive amount of body fat. If an individual’s amount of body fat becomes too excessive, he/she is at a much greater risk of developing life-altering diseases such as heart failure, hypertension, type II diabetes, cancer, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, etc. (Wilmore, et al., 2008).

Social determinants of health impact the health status of individuals (Mikkonen and Raphael 7). These determinants are related to the conditions that impact the way in in which individuals live. For example, employment, income that individuals earn, gender, housing situation, education, job security, employment, health services, Aboriginal status, race and disability (Mikkonen and Raphael i). These determinants are also regionally specific and account for the variation in regional differences in obesity rates. As well, obesity is not a blanket term; there are three classes of obesity in Canada. Individuals with a BMI between 25-30 are considered overweight. BMIs >30 are divided in the three classes: 30-34.9 is designated as Class I; BMIs between 35-39.9 is designated as class II; and class III are individuals with BMIs measuring >40 (Brierley 156). These classes determine treatment options from therapeutic lifestyle changes to treatment methodologies

What interest me in this topic is that many people do not realize the danger of obesity. And many people need awareness of obesity and what causes. What scare is that obesity can begin at very young age , most of children in our society are overweight which is can causes them health problems later in

In order to impede the epidemic of childhood obesity, the actual causes of the problem need to be evaluated and dissected. Obesity in children is becoming a huge problem in American society. In the past three decades, the rate of overweight children has increased by 300%. This is an alarming rate that is only climbing higher. Every member in society should take steps to becoming healthier. This would help the present generations as well as future generations to come. The lifestyle of Americans keeps us too busy to be a healthy society.

Yet today America has become the fattest nation in the world. “Percent of adults age 20 years and over who are obese: 34%” (CDC). Of the 34% of people that is nearly 125 million of the American population that are obese. If there are this many people that affected by obesity, there is silent epidemic among the population. It is the responsibly of the school to provide

Teachers can play a large role when it comes to addressing and preventing obesity. Because children spend such a large portion of their time with the teacher, it is the teacher

Morbid obesity, which is also called extreme obesity or class III, is defined as an individual having a BMI of 40 kg/m2 or greater. This classification is made based on increased risk for comorbidities, including hypertension, cardiovascular disease, sleep apnea, gallbladder disease, metabolic syndrome, type II diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, osteoarthritis, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, hormonal cancers, and depression, among others.1