Lowering The Rising Rates Of Obesity

Childhood obesity is a growing problem in America. "the percentage of obese children doubling from 6.5% in 1980, to 17.0% in 2006. Weight, nutrition, and physical activity are the main components to a child’s overall health.”(1) “When parents become too busy to cook meals in their homes, children learn poor eating habits and develop into unhealthy eaters.”(1) They will take what they learned at home and apply it to anywhere else that they eat. For example a child that drinks milk at dinner and sits with their family at dinner when asked what they want to drink when they are at a friend’s home will ask for milk because the child would associate milk with dinner. Children cannot make healthy choices of their own they need to be guided so

I will be the first to admit, I was not a lean child by any means.

Childhood obesity is a rather new reality in the United States due to intake of sugary snacks and beverages, childhood obesity is the result of a sustained energy imbalance. Most youth never eat the required daily servings of fruits and vegetables; its noted only one in five eat the required servings (21%) (Moore, Wilke, & Desrochers, 2017). The availability of sugary snacks and beverages in schools are what one would call “junk food”. According to a study conducted by Ashlesha Datar and Nancy Nicosia (2012) students could purchase more than one single food and beverage items either

The issue of obesity has been ongoing in the American society for over a decade and there is much that can be done to fix it. As the great businessman Richard Attias said, “Obesity is a problem that nearly every nation in the world is facing, but there is much that we can do to fix it” (Attais). With very little progress being made to stop or slow it down in the present time, the focus should be shifted towards the future. America’s younger generation should be taught about health, nutrition and preventing major weight gain. Adding lessons and classes to the American public school system that pertain to these subjects would greatly benefit our society in the future. Educating students about nutrition and physical activities will make them more aware about their health and staying healthy. This will cause students to be more proactive by eating healthier and exercising frequently. As a result, there will be a decrease in obesity in our society as the younger generation grows up.

Many individuals do not realize it, but obesity has become a huge epidemic in today’s society. Individuals tend to ignore the growing unhealthy products around them; instead of questioning why people are gaining weight so rapidly, they enjoy the unhealthy and unsuitable substances that they are putting in their body. Some eat whatever they can find, and since they are in a certain predicaments, they have no choice but, end up doing the same thing to their children. Many have not seen it yet, but parents are feeding their children unhealthy substances. The nutrients that they are feeding them are unhealthy, and since children do not know any better, they cannot disagree with what is being provided to them, nor can they tell whether they have had enough or not. In an article “Too Much of a Good Thing” by Greg Critser. He explains how parents are partially to blame for their children 's obesity and also their children 's environments. Critser uses statistic, biological experiments, and comparisons show how child obesity has become a great problem in today’s society and that parents have much to do with it.

Both the prevalence and incidence of childhood obesity may increase because of all these potential root causes. Katzymarzyk & Janssen (2004) support this with their conclusion that in North America it is likely that both dietary intake and physical inactivity have played a role in the increasing prevalence of obesity, not just one single factor. Of these possible root causes, overconsumption due to large portion sizes will be focused as the single root cause as it dictates the probability of becoming obese at the fundamental level. Canadian society has seen a shift in the past century to larger serving sizes, inexpensive and accessible food, and frequent snacking that make it easier to overload on calories (Blackburn-Evans, 2004). Additionally, a different study concluded that obese children and adolescents need to limit their sugar-sweetened drinks and out of home food consumption as there is a relationship between these foods and body fatness, due to higher calorie intake (Gillis & Bar-Or, 2003). Gillis & Bar-Or (2003) went further to determine the types of foods children that are obese were consuming, and they found that they were consuming more servings of meat and alternatives, sugar-sweetened drinks, grain products, and potato chips compared to non-obese children. Overconsumption of these products contributes to a higher daily calorie intake. Overall, managing children’s calorie input to calorie output

For the past few decades, the dire situation of obesity in America has gotten worse and is now affecting new generations of young Americans. Every day the poor eating and physical choices that children make can lead them to a life with diabetes, heart disease, and cancers. The unhealthy lifestyle that children have is influenced by their parents and the society that surrounds them. This unprecedented surge of poor lifestyle choices has lead to an epidemic that young children are now facing. Ultimately, the health of young children is at stake.

Childhood obesity is the most common pediatric nutritional disorder in the United States (Balog, 2015). Most people believe that the solution to stopping childhood obesity relies entirely on education. Sadly, this is not true. While education is one of the main factors for solving this epidemic, there are many other factors that need to be resolved as well. One cannot rely on the simplistic idea that, once educated, Americans would make the healthiest choices. This is because Americans choose, buy, and consume their food based heavily on the taste, convenience, and economic motivations, not health reasons.

Childhood obesity is not merely an issue in the United States- it is an epidemic. The number of overweight and obese children in America has increased at an alarming rate over the past years, and there is no chance of it slowing down unless action is taken. Obesity puts children at a high risk of developing many serious illnesses. Not only do children who are obese have unhealthy weights, but they also have a high risk of having weak lungs, poor blood quality, and a variety of other sicknesses. Parents have turned a blind eye to their children’s eating habits. A fast-food craze has swept over the country, consequentially leaving a trail of poor nutrition in its wake. Fast-food corporations seem to be encouraging children to consume regular amounts of unhealthy foods by giving away toys with the purchase of a child’s meal Televisions, computers, and video games, which are considered to be technological necessities, have begun to cloud the importance of exercise. These influences are all major causes of childhood obesity, which bring an overwhelming abundance of negative effects. Despite the many obstacles, there are ways to slow, if not halt, the outbreak that is childhood obesity. Prevention can be achieved by following a balanced, mostly plant based diet and by participating in a healthy amount of physical activity.

​The issue of nutritious meals for children has become a common topic in the media in the last several years. “Significant excess body weight affects over 25 per cent of children in developed economies…” (Hawkes and Lobstein, 2011), which presents one of the major markers for poor nutrition- childhood obesity’s prevalence. Although there have been highly publicized pushes for our children to be healthier, such as Michelle Obama’s school lunch program, American children are faced with a future that paints them as being unable to become anything but obese and nutritionally deficit. Changing the content and eating behaviors of children can “...prevent immediate health problems as well as promote a healthy lifestyle…[which may] reduce the risk of a child developing a chronic condition…later in life.” (Brown, 2011). Essentially, the focus has become preventing health problems rather than treating them after disease onset.

Since the 1960s, the United States has experienced an uptick in the amount of patients living with chronic diseases such as type II diabetes, coronary artery disease, and obesity. Currently, diseases such as obesity overwhelm the US healthcare system, which incurs major financial cost and negatively affects an individual’s quality of life. Particularly, the growing epidemic of obesity is affecting millions of people. Distressingly, the current generation of children is cited as the first generation that will not outlive their parents. Childhood obesity is defined as a child’s weight that is disproportionate to their height. More specifically, the body mass index for the child’s age must exceed the 95th percentile. In the past, obesity in the pediatric population was seldom seen. Accordingly, healthcare policies written by lawmakers and endorsed by healthcare providers must be implemented in hopes of winning the war waged against childhood obesity. Most importantly, this report will analyze Alabama Public Schools Policies and Implementation which is grounded on the Federal Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act. Additionally, this report will examine the historical, ethical, and political foundation of Alabama’s policy. In conclusion, this essay will reiterate the policy’s effectiveness and its impact on the nursing profession.

Obesity rates have climbed at such a staggering rate over the past thirty years that it has become an epidemic, with some even arguing that it is a pandemic. In the United States alone, 69.2% of adults are overweight or obese (CDC, 2009-2010). With so many contributing factors to obesity, many of those affected by this disease do not know where to start to try to help themselves and some have even reached a breaking point and feel they have nowhere left to turn for help, so they give up. When help is offered in the form of an exercise prescription, or diet program, intervention, etc. there are many who are too intimidated by the magnitude of the commitment that is required to get the results they desire. This lack of self-efficacy combined with the innate tendency humans have to be defensive when they feel they are being attacked is why I have developed a new weight loss drug, PILLARS, an acronym which stands for, “Pill to Increase Leptin Levels And Receptor Sensitivity.” This pill is to be taken once per day in the morning before an individual ingests any calories. This product targets those who are overweight or obese who wish to lose weight in a safe and effective way, without a strict diet/exercise program. It is also for those who are looking to avoid the struggle of changing behaviors through behavior modification strategies or behavior change theories, such as the transtheoretical model or stages of change theory. With PILLARS, patients can expect weight loss

Medical care and nutritional education of the children is obviously the parents’ responsibility, but so many parents are careless about basic nutrition and the need for exercise. In addition, how many parents just don’t have the gumption to “battle” with their preschoolers regarding what they eat? Some parents have the attitude that “at least they are eating SOMETHING”. We’ve all been there, at our wit’s end just trying to get a picky 2 year old toddler to eat some kind of fruit and then using the cookies, pudding cups, chips, or gummy snacks as a reward (or substitution). A parents control over meals and their attitudes toward dietary intake are factors that contribute to childhood obesity. “Hood et al. (2000) found in their study that disinhibited eating in the parents, when coupled with dietary restraint, may be associated with an increased risk for obesity in the child”.

There is a problem within the U.S. that affects many of our youth. One in four children within the borders of our country will become obese at a young age. Of that fraction, 70% of those children will become obese adults. The topic of childhood obesity seems to be an issue that many individuals disregard. My research shows that there are many underlining factors that contribute to obesity at a young age. These include lack of physcial education and also lack of parental control in terms of eating habits of the wrong foods. It is very important for parents to educate themselves on the products that they allow their children to consume.

Obesity in children has become a very complex issue. Approximately 17 percent of children from the age of 2-19 are obese (CDC 1). One of the major causes of childhood obesity is inadequate eating. In today’s society fast foods have dominated our way of living. Fast food chains like McDonald’s, Burger King, Pizza Hut, and Domino have inserted themselves into the modern world. Children are more inclined to eat foods with too much sugar, salt and fats than eat fruits and vegetables (CDC 1). They are consuming unhealthy foods moderate in calories while not spending adequate amount of time exercising or being active. Maintaining a