Importance Of Social Play

Childhood onset overweight and obesity and its’ associated health consequences are quickly becoming major significant public health issues facing America today. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) define overweight as a body mass index (BMI) between the 85th and 95th percentile while obese is defined as BMI above the 95th percentile for children of the same age and sex . The prevalence of overweight children, defined based on 2009 CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics data, has more than tripled in the past 30 years. Between 1980 and 2006, the incidence of overweight among children aged 6 to 11 years increased from 6.5% to 17.0% while overweight levels for adolescents aged 12 to 19 years increased from 5.0% to 17.6% .

Childhood obesity has become an epidemic in the United States in the past three decades. In 2012, roughly 17% or 12.5 million children and adolescents are overweight or obese” (“Childhood Obesity Facts,” 2014). According to the Centers of Disease Control and

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).

In a research article by Gee, Chin, Ackerson, Woo & Howell, (2013) from the years of 1970 to 2000 the pediatric population in the U.S. tripled in obesity rates, interestingly from the year 2000 – 2010 BMI’s have held steady yet a staggering 30.4% of this population were either overweight or labeled obese. Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) performed a research study in 2001, which had three goals related to the study

Ogden, C. L., Carroll, M. D., Kit, B.K., & Flegal, K. M. (2012). Prevalence of obesity and trends in body mass index among U.S. children and adolescents, 1999-2010. Journal of the American Medical Association, 307(5), 483-490.

Childhood obesity has not only been a problem for children, but for adult as well. Childhood obesity is not as big as the adult percentage of obesity, but it is a problem as well. The percentage of childhood obesity has changed in the last thirty years. The percentage of children ages 6-11 has changed from about 7% to about 18% in about 35 years. The percentage of children ages 12- 19 has changed from 5% to about 21% in the same amount of time. About one third of America’s children suffer with childhood obesity since 2012. Male children are shown to have a higher percentage of being obese than female. The male children percentage is about 18% while the percentage of female children are about 16%.

Flegal, K. M., Kit, B. K., Carroll, M. D., & Ogden, C. L. (2011-2012). Prevalence of childhood and adult obesity in the United States. Journal of the American Medical Association, 8(311), 806-814.

According to the CDC, childhood obesity in the United States is at a steady incline and has seen an exponential growth in the past 30 years. (“Childhood Obesity Facts”, 2015).

Forty years ago in America childhood obesity was rarely a topic of conversation. A survey done in the early 1970s showed that 6.1% of children between the ages 12 and 19 were overweight. Eight years later the same survey was done and 17.4% were considered overweight (Iannelli). “Childhood obesity epidemic in America is now a confirmed fact since the number of overweight or obese children has more than tripled during the last 30 years” (Childhood Obesity Epidemic). “Over the last 20 years, the prevalence of obesity in children aged 6 to 11 years has tripled from 6.5% to 19.6%” (Childhood Obesity Epidemic). As a nation statistics should be alarming. Why are American children today so obese?

Through play, children are also able to form relationships with their peers, therefore developing socially. They are able to “learn how to work in groups, to share, to negotiate, to resolve conflicts, and to learn self-advocacy skills” all of which are important skills in a child’s world as well as the adult world (Ginsberg 183). This is especially prevalent in young school age children, who have had relatively few social encounters without the presence of their parents before entering school. These young children will often make life time friends by sharing a popular treat at snack time or borrowing a color crayon to another child who has broken theirs.

Childhood obesity affects more than 30 percent of children in the United States, making it the most common chronic disease among children. A child is defined as being “obese” if their BMI-for-age percentile is greater than 95 percent. A child is defined as being “overweight” if their BMI-for-age percentile is greater than 85 percent and less than 95 percent. (Obesity Action Coalition, 2017). Childhood obesity has rapidly become one of the most serious health challenges faced in the United States. Usually obesity is caused by living an unhealthy lifestyle although genetics can play a factor, it is more common now for children to be obese or overweight because of environmental and behavioral factors. In order for us to fight childhood obesity

The obesity rate in the United States has remained steady since 2003 and 2004. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2014) 17% of children in the U.S. between the ages of 2 to 19 are considered overweight and obese. Upon examining the diversity line, obesity in children is higher in

The first national survey conducted in United States was in 1963. Many of the studies have suggested that child obesity epidemic is recent and unexpected. Over the last three decades, obesity rates have tripled in the U.S. One out of six children is obese and a one out of three child is overweight. The United States is ranked number one in the world. There has been some control and steadiness in the child obesity rates since 2008, but there are some groups that have higher rates than others. In the 1970’s, 5 percent of U.S. children ages 2 to 19 were obese; by 2008, nearly 17 percent of children were obese, a percentage that held steady through 2010. About 10 percent of U.S. infants had a high “weight for recumbent length”—a measure that’s similar to the body mass index but used in children from birth to age.

The Surgeon General’s Office, First Lady Obama, and many other prominent officials have called to action campaigns to address obesity as public health issue which leads to many other chronic care issues. Childhood obesity has reached epidemic levels in developed countries. Twenty five percent of children in the US are overweight and 11% are obese. Overweight and obesity in childhood are known to have significant impact on both physical and psychological health. The mechanism of obesity development is not fully understood and it is believed to be a disorder with multiple causes. Environmental factors, lifestyle preferences, and cultural environment play pivotal roles in the rising prevalence of obesity worldwide. Childhood obesity now affects 1 in 6 children and adolescents in the United States (CDC, 2015). In 2011-2012, (Ogen, Caroll, Kit, Flegal,

Play is the foundation stone of children’s healthy and productive lives (Oliver & Klugman, 2002) and is also a significant means of child’s learning and development (Zigler, Singer & Bishop-