Obesity And Its Effects On Childhood Obesity

An estimated 97 million adults in the United States are overweight or obese (Klein 2000). “"Affecting one in five Americans – or more than 22 percent of the U.S. population – obesity is one of the most pervasive health problems in our nation right now," said George L. Blackburn, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of surgery and associate director of the Division of Nutrition at Harvard Medical School/Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. "We need to implement steps to slow the progression of this national epidemic” (NAASO 1999). But the problem of obesity does not only affect the United States. "We now know that the growing prevalence of obesity is creating major health problems worldwide," said Dr. James O. Hill, president of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity (NAASO) and Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. Obesity was once regarded as unique to Americans, but it is now seen as a global health risk affecting developing and underdeveloped countries (AOA 2000). Obesity is increasing at an epidemic rate in the United States - 1.3% a year for women over 20. Rates of obesity among minority populations, including African-Americans and Hispanic Americans are especially high (AOA 2000). There is also a marked increase in obesity among children.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than one-third, 34.9% (78.6 million) of adults in the United States are obese (Adult Obesity Facts). In 2008, the annual medical cost of obesity was $147 billion dollars, and the people who were obese had medical costs that were $1,429 higher than those at normal weight. The National Census Bureau of the United States reveals that the overall percentage of all ages with a body mass index of over 30 (obese) has increased from 20% of the population in 1998 to 33% in 2008. The amount of adults who are physically inactive has increased in that same time period from 28.9% to 36.2% of the population. Non-Hispanic blacks have the highest age-adjusted rates of obesity of 47.8%, followed by Hispanics at 42.5%, non-Hispanic whites at 32.6%, and non-Hispanic Asians at 10.8%. The prevalence of childhood obesity in the United States in 2011-2012 was approximately 17% or 12.7 million of children aged 2-19 years old.12 There are significant racial disparities in children as well. Obesity prevalence was higher among Hispanics at 22.4% and non-Hispanic black youth at 20.2% than non-Hispanic white youth at 14.1%. The lowest prevalence of obesity was non-Hispanic Asian youth at

It is no doubt that obesity exists worldwide, but it is a very prevalent issue in the US. This pandemic has certainly risen in focus in the past decade, with a rate of obese children that has quadrupled since the 1970s. Though this issue seems quite new, obesity exists in every generation, and the adults in the current generation are living with thirty-four percent of their fellow adults obese. This amount may seem high, and

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.

Currently, more than one in six American children is obese, which is three times the rate as that of the 1970s [1]. There has been much attention given to childhood obesity as an epidemic in our nation. However, far less attention, has been given to the severe and rising rates of childhood obesity among communities of color, which usually have the least available resources to tackle with the consequences of obesity [2]. In terms of racial/ethnic disparities of childhood obesity, 22.4% of Hispanic and 20.2 % of African-American children are obese, compared to 14.3 % of white children. The statistics are even higher for Hispanic boys, with 24.1% of obesity rate [3]. Obesity contributes significantly to cardiovascular disease, different types of cancers, as well as diabetes. About 70% of obese children/adolescents have at least one risk factor for heart disease, such as hyperlipidemia and hypertension, and almost 40% of obese youths have at

Obesity in the United States has been a serious problem affecting Americans and has been continually growing higher in numbers each year. American obesity has nearly doubled within the last 40 years and is now considered to be an epidemic that is affecting millions of people around the nation. According to the National institute of Diabetes and digestive and kidney Diseases, 31% of men and 35% of women are considered seriously overweight, along with 15% of children between the ages of six and nineteen are also overweight. The lack of physical inactivity and extreme poor dieting are catching up to almost the same threat as cigarettes and tobacco smoking. We as a nation are considered to be the fattest country in the world.

The topic of obesity is a current American issue that is in the midst of being solved. Obesity, the condition of being overweight, was named a disease in 2013. Obesity has rapidly emerged as an American problem and poses as a serious health challenge. The cause of obesity has a lot to deal with America’s social dynamics. Today, advertisements are in all places promoting an unhealthy lifestyle. Considering the great expense of healthy foods, low income families can barely afford fruits and vegetables. These two ideas are greatly connected with the increasing obesity rate in the United States. Seventeen percent of American adolescents were considered obese from 2011 to 2014. This is double the amount of obese

Obesity has been on the rise in America and is reaching all time heights. Obesity in America is at 27.7 percent and 1 in 5 children in America are obese currently and many will have to deal with it throughout their lifetime. With almost a third of our population struggling with this problem, the increasing obesity rates are becoming a major concern. Even though there isn’t a single answer to why obesity has become so prevalent, there are many contributing factors such as socio-economic status, the rise in technology, fast food, car culture, politics, socio-economic status, stress, and biology.

Obesity remains an extremely serious problem worldwide. Once considered a problem for wealthier counties, overweight and obesity are now rapidly increasing in low and middle income countries (WHO, 2011). In American, the rates of obesity continues to rise. NIH (2012) recognizes obesity as a risk factor for diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and other health problems. According IFT over two-thirds of the US are overweight or obese, and over one-third are obese (Fast food restaurants ‘not to blame’ for American obesity 2012). IFT.org (2012) in September it was predicated that 75% of Americans would be overweight in 2020. The problem is thought to cause Americans $150-170 billion in annual medical costs. Many people argue that the

Obesity has been and still remains a big struggle among many Americans, including children and teens, in today’s society. That being said, American obesity can also be subdivided by ethnicity and region. According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) “non-Hispanic blacks have the highest age-adjusted rates of obesity (47.8%) followed by Hispanics (42.5%), non-Hispanics whites (32.6%), and non-Hispanic Asians (10.8%)” (“Adult Obesity Facts”, 2014). The CDC also states that “obesity is higher among middle age adults, 40-59 years old (39.5%) than among younger adults, age 20-39 (30.3%) or adults over 60 (35.4%)” (“Adult Obesity Facts”, 2014). The CDC shows this through various self-reported obesity prevalence maps (Figure 1).

I have decided to research Childhood Obesity. I chose to research this topic because I am currently working with families that are not aware of the types of food that promote good health for their kids and the statistics of “Childhood Obesity”. I plan to effectively limit the topic to just stating the main causes of obesity in America, statistics and the History of “Childhood Obesity”. During my research, the claim I plan to argue will be “Confronting America’s Childhood Obesity Epidemic”, and “How the Health Care Reform Law Will Help Prevent and Reduce Obesity”. In this paper I will present the truth and facts about “Childhood Obesity.” While studying here at Ashford University over the past weeks, I have learned how to properly research information pertaining to my topic. Over the years obesity has become an Epidemic and my research will touch on the areas that statistics show that are the major causes for obesity. The USA is the leading country with obesity? After my research I will have a better understanding and more knowledge in many ways and from different viewpoints about this Epidemic. The Internet has a lot of knowledge about the history of obesity, the causes of obesity and the proper steps to take to prevent this sickness that has become an epidemic from getting out of control.

In April 2014, an article was published in The Toronto Star Magazine discussing the recent increase of obesity rates in children and the dangers associated with this rise. The research focused specifically on children who had survived cancer and later developed obesity, causing more complications in their health. This rise of obesity in child cancer survivors has been linked to numerous potential factors causing an increase in the possibility of developing this disease. The potential factors that increase the risk of childhood obesity in cancer survivors include, treatment therapy, lack of physical activity, and restricted diets. Childhood obesity will be viewed based on how prominent the condition has become, and its relations to the potential risk’s that develop in cancer survivors and its significance to nursing. Child cancer survivors have a higher risk of develop obesity due to a number of factors, such as treatment therapy, lack of physical activity, and restricted diets.

Childhood obesity is a growing problem that needs to be resolved. Many people may say it is the Child’s fault, he is weak willed. This is just a common misconception; there are hundreds of different reasons for childhood obesity. I will just be scratching the surface of this paper. By the same token childhood obesity is a growing problem that needs to be resolved. We can achieve this by understanding some common misconceptions, understanding health problems, and understanding fitness.

In recent years, the world’s prevalence of obesity in children has increased alarmingly in most of the countries. It is estimated that 170 million of children under 18 years old are overweight, in the US there is a 30% prevalence of obesity, similarly 27% of children in Mexico are obese (OCDE, 2014; Gutiérrez et al., 2012). In some countries like East Germany, New Zealand, the Netherlands and Canada the prevalence of overweight children had risen by one percentage point each year (Wang & Lobestein, 2006). According to an OCDE report obesity rates have grown more rapidly with low socioeconomic and education (OCDE, 2014).

Obesity is a health crisis in the United States (US) as well as all over the world (American Heart Association, 2015). It is estimated that 20% of the adult population in the world will be obese by 2030 (Jones & Bloom, 2015). According to Centers for Disease control and Prevention (CDC, 2015), more than one-third of the US adult population is obese and in the last 20 years the prevalence of obesity in the adult population have escalated dramatically from 15% to 35%. These trends have significantly increased the health risks (CDC, 2015). In the US, obesity is more prevalent in African-Americans than whites. The African-American adults are approximately 1.5 times obese than the whites (CDC, 2015). According to Lancaster, Carter-Edwards, Grilo, Shen, and Schoenthaler (2014), disease conditions associated with obesity, such as hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, stroke and some types of cancers are dominant in African-Americans, especially in African-American females. The sedentary lifestyles, unhealthy food habits, and physical inactivity are the main contributing factors of the escalating problem of obesity (Knutsen, Terragni, & Foss, 2011). Without appropriate interventions, this problem could drastically increase the risk of comorbidities that can adversely affect the healthcare system and the economy of the US.