How Childhood Obesity Has Become A Dangerous Epidemic Facing Our Country

Obesity continues to be a problem in the United States. With obesity rates on the rise something must be done to prevent this massive issue. Seventeen percent of children and adolescents about 12.5 million are obese (Diet). Obesity is the result of a rise in fat that accumulated over time due to the lack of exercise and having a calorie surplus due to unhealthy food. An adult with a BMI (body mass index) higher than 30% is considered to be obese (Obesity). There isn’t a direct focus on obesity, because people don’t think it’s an important issue. To ensure a better future, solution is needed now. The solution to ending the obesity epidemic by encouraging a healthier lifestyle on children at young ages, improving nutrition at schools and restaurants, as well as providing more time and space for citizens to get physically active.

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

The new generation continues to increasingly fall under obesity’s evil spell. Although many Americans recognize that their children are obese, they fail to accept that this is an epidemic that should be controlled and given dramatic attention to. Research suggests that childhood obesity in the United States has doubled in the past decade. Despite the fact that we have necessary resources to control these statistics, Americans continue to expose their youngsters to unhealthy and fattening meals. It is no joke that America is the fattest nation in the world. Thus, preventing this serious issue should be perceived as a life-or-death situation where if we fail to control it, many more overweight children will grow up to be obese adults in the future.

Definition of Childhood Obesity: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2015), a child with a body mass index (BMI) at or above the 85th percentile and below the 95th percentile for children and teens of the same age and sex are considered overweight. If a child or teen has a BMI over the 95th percentile they are considered obese (CDC, 2015).

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.

Families across the nation are affected by this issue. Many parents have a lack of knowledge in regards to nutrition and activity, in hindsight the food industry impact families. The article The Childhood Obesity Epidemic discuss despite the government pushing for healthy food choice initiates, have to continue to maximize selling of their products that include junk food, therefore blame shifting towards the food industry (McHugh, 2016, p. 95).

Childhood obesity is increasing at rates that have alarmed health care researchers, public health agencies, medical providers, and the general public as the incidence has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years (Ogden, Carroll, Kit, Flegal, 2014). The problem is complex, as it involves the diverse economic, social and ethnic backgrounds of children and the necessity for multi-agency involvement and coordination to effect the needed change. Public health nurses can play a major role in the prevention of this epidemic as they are out in the community and are able to contact individuals at home, school and workplace settings to provide health screenings and education regarding nutrition and

Childhood obesity has expanded tremendously within the past thirty years (CDC, 2015). It is not only a state, but also a nationwide issue. For many children, they depend on their school lunches to provide them the nutritious meals they cannot afford to have at home. As a community, we need to get our children into better shape. Not only will they become more astute, but they will also live healthier lifestyles, and have less health complications as they age. When you are overweight or obese, you are much more likely to develop health problems like heart disease, diabetes, or even a stroke. It is our responsibility as a community, state, and nation to offer nutritious meals and activities for our youth and future.

Childhood obesity is one of the major public health challenges of the 21st century. The prevalence of obesity is increasing globally. In 2013, the number of overweight children under the age of five was estimated over 42 million. Childhood obesity can cause premature death and disability in adulthood. Overweight and obese children will grow up to become obese adults and are more likely to develop diseases like cardiovascular diseases and diabetes at a younger age. Many factors can contribute overweight and obesity in children, however a global shift in dietary habits and lack of physical activity play a crucial role. Overweight and obesity are preventable. Unlike adults, children cannot select the environment they live or the food they eat, they are unware about the long term health consequences of their behavior. Therefore, it is important to have strict policies for the prevention of obesity epidemic. School play an important role in fighting against the epidemic of childhood obesity (World Health Organization, 2016). Even after the legislature has enacted laws to support school nutrition and physical education, many states including, Texas has not yet adopted these policies. It is important to have these policies in practice to prevent childhood obesity (National Conference of State Legislatures, 2014). Government play an important role in making sustainable changes in public health. For that reason, the author is intended to

The present work confronts the global epidemic of childhood obesity. This important issue will be defined in terms of its meaning linguistically and in terms of its meaning as a global problem, including the physical and psychological risks it entails. A biopsychosocial approach is applied to analyze the potential factors implicated in its manifestation. With this, biological, psychological and social factors are reviewed as to get the most comprehensive understanding of childhood obesity. Next, a review of the literature is presented as to view the diverse methods used in the past to tackle this issue. Lastly, a new combination of ideas is proposed as a novel, useful and simplistic solution to address the problem of childhood obesity.

Youth Obesity happens when a child’s body collects abundance muscle to fat ratio ratios that inevitably causes a negative effect in his/her wellbeing. Individuals have distinctive body sizes that ought to weigh relatively with their stature as showed by wellbeing researchers. A tyke gets to be corpulent when he weighs about 20% in overabundance of what he ought to weight at a particular age. This abundance weight is measured by a BMI test. A Body Mass Index test exudes from the connection of a singular 's stature and weight. This test decides the satisfactory body weight. Youth corpulence has ended up uncontrolled in the United States of America since it has influenced almost one out of a gathering of six kids. This study will concentrate on whom to be faulted for adolescence corpulence. There are now more than 1.4 Billion adults overweight and more than half a billion obese children. Childhood obesity is now one of the most serious public health challenges. Although childhood obesity is highly preventable, more needs to be done because it is a serious epidemic in America. Some of the leading causes of childhood obesity are lack of exercise, poor diet, lack of sleep and stress. However, childhood obesity is highly preventable with some care, caution, attention to detail and effort. Schools can certainly do more by creating certain programs to control eating habits and behavior while encouraging exercise. Also, parents can prevent their child from the disease by spending

Childhood obesity is becoming a concern more and more every year, so severe to the point where I have read and heard it be referred to as an epidemic among todays youth throughout the country. Causing a dramatic increase in long term heath risks, disease and associated health related problems and concerns in todays youth every year at an alarming rate. Be it due to the abundance and variety of fast food chains and ease of simply pulling into the drive through line asking the magical box for which ever combo meal your fatty and cholesterol lined heart desires, oh and don’t forget to super value size it while you 're at it. Maybe its the convenience of pulling a meal from the freezer, popping it into the microwave for a few minutes and dinner is served, maybe it’s more being financially frugal and pay less for a cheeseburger and soft drink, save yourself the time and effort or pay a heftier price for a healthier alternative like a grilled chicken salad and water, have to spend the time shopping, preparing and end up paying a higher price for a nutritious meal. Even then if you do make the effort to choose the healthier and more nutritious option, dousing it in a sugary artificially flavored and preservative filled dressing sauce kind of defeats the purpose.

Obesity means being overweight or extremely fat. Obesity in not only in old people but also in young people and even children. There are a number of factors that cause that hazardous disease such as wrong eating habits, less healthy foods, Advertising of non-healthy foods, lack of daily physical activity, limited access to healthy foods, greater availability of high-fats foods and sugary drinks, television and media, genetic or medical Factors. As a result of that affliction, people may suffer Childhood obesity has many effects on health, it has immediate effects and long-term effects, as for the immediate health effects, obese people are more likely to have risk factors for cardiovascular diseases such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure or prediabetes. They are also at a great risk for sleep apnea, bone problems and social and psychological problems such as stigmatization. But as for the long-term effects, obese people are more likely to have some health problems like heart disease, stroke and specially cancer, as studies showed that obesity are associated with increased risk for many types of cancer, including cancer of the breast, colon, endometrium, esophagus, kidney, pancreas, gall bladder, thyroid, ovary, cervix and prostate. Media affect every single aspect of the people’s life, especially anything related to the people’s health. We have seen a numerous media campaigns that tackle our problem “Obesity”. On the top of these media campaigns are the 2 ads being

In the past decade, more people are becoming overweight or obese including children and adults of all ages. Obesity is “defined as the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in metres (kg/m2). A BMI over 25 kg/m2 is defined as overweight, and a BMI of over 30 kg/m2 is obese,” BMI standing for body mass index (“Obesity and Overweight” 1). While some people may disagree regarding whether or not there is a growing obesity epidemic, research proves indeed that the number of people that are becoming either obese or overweight has doubled in the past 30 years. All around, people are getting heavier. Weight issues are on the rise with “more than 1 billion adults overweight- at least 300 million of them clinically obese” and “an estimated 17.6 million children under five are estimated to be overweight worldwide” (“Obesity and Overweight” 2). Without proper and consistent exercise along with healthy eating habits, becoming overweight is more likely to affect you. Those that are overweight have increased health risks. The quantity of obese children is on the rise with food deserts and fast foods joints becoming more popular for better or worse. Being aware of the growing epidemic allows for preventative actions to be taken to slim the numbers back down.