Obesity Is The Most Common Pediatric Chronic Disease Essay

This can encompass multiple factors, but the largest factor are a lack of exercise and poor nutrition. Children are now spending more time playing video games, and watching television, both of which drastically increase their sedentary time. Their lack of exercise at home could also be from the fact that for many families, including low income families in poorer neighborhoods don’t have avvess to safe or desirable physical activity locations. In addition, children are also consuming more processed, saturated foods, which not only affects their weight, but also their healthy development. This is in part to families being unaware of the health risks, and because children are often more exposed to unhealthier foods through advertisements according to the CDC. It is well known that children are often do not have the ability to choose their diet, not do they have the knowledge to fully grasp the negative consequences of their sedentary lifestyle. With so many factors contributing to young student’s lifestyle, it is easy to understand how the childhood obesity crisis quickly came about.

Childhood obesity has doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 20 years. Children aged 6-11 in the U.S who were obese increased from 7 % in 1980’s to nearly 18% in 2012 and adolescents aged 12-19 years of age increased from 5 % to nearly 12 % in the same time period.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2009), Childhood Obesity is defined as a Body Mass Index at or above 95th percentile for both male and female children in the United States. Approximately 9 million children are struggling with Obesity (Gootman, J.A., McGinnis, M., & Kraak, V.I., 2006). The rate at which children are being diagnosed with obesity has more than doubled over a span of 25 years form 7% to 18% for children ranging in age from 6-11 years (Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Kit BK, Flegal KM., 2014). Furthermore, the National Center for Health Statistics reported the percentage of obese adolescents aged 12-19 years more that tripled within the same time span from 5% to nearly 21%. The National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, through collaborative efforts defined overweight as having an excess in body weight, along with a specified height, for a particular combination of mass from fat, muscle, bone and water.

Childhood obesity is a medical condition of being overweight or obese. This condition has continued to grow and increase over the past five decades. In the US alone there are more than three million cases per year. For one to be obese it means that the individual is significantly overweight for their age and height. The way to tell if someone is obese or overweight is by a BMI, which stands for body mass index. Being overweight is defined as having a BMI that is at or above the 85th percentile to the 95th percentile for children and teens. Childhood obesity is a common problem in America today and changes need to be done to save the future youth from having these health problems.

Childhood obesity is a significant issue that is plaguing the youth of the current era. As time goes on, countless children are faced with the tribulations of an unhealthy lifestyle, leading to innumerable health hazards. Children are not given the utilities needed to stay fit, resulting in them becoming increasingly obese. Parents and schools must do more to encourage young children to follow a healthy diet and exercise routine.

Child obesity is a global epidemic that affects adolescents all throughout the world. Medical conditions that were once thought to primarily target adult patients are now being seen in children and adolescents more than ever before. According to (Tyler, J., Fruh S., Mulekar, M., 2014), adolescents who are overweight are more likely to continue to be overweight into adulthood. This increases the chance of obesity related complications such as cardiovascular disease, renal disease, and cancers. Factors that attribute to obesity are “increased intake of sugar-sweetened beverages, calorie dense snacking, large portion sizes, and increased intake of processed foods.” (Tyler, 2014)

Child obesity has become a leading public health problem in the United States. It requires attention and awareness from the health care providers. It is known from the universal media that the rate of adolescent obesity has been increasing over the years. According to Seal and Broome, "Over the past three decades the proportion of overweight children has doubled among 2- to 5-year-olds and tripled among 6- to 19-year-olds"(1). Obesity in children and teenagers has been found to play a role in the serious health risks such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, disability, mental health problems, premature deaths, some cancer, and type 2 diabetes, which have negatively affected the health care system in the United States. Obese teenagers are more likely to have psychosocial problems which deal with self-esteem, social isolation, mental issues, and depression (Seal and Broome 4). As a result of serious health risk, the psychological and social effect of childhood obesity, scholars are finding effective treatments and intervention to prevent obesity.

Throughout the years studies have shown a tremendous decreases in children's physical activities. According to article 1, Alice Parker states, "Obesity shows no signs of slowing, and the reasons why it is widespread can be faced to an increasingly sedentary lifestyle that keeps people inactive, and eating more hours of the day' (Parker 4). Obesity has increased drastically over the years. Obesity counters many different age groups but a big percentage of obesity counters teens. Lack of exercise is the cause of this. Exercise comes with many different benefits that help many different people but benefit teens most. Exercise maintains good physical health, excellent body health, and also mental health.

Have you ever watched the news and saw a report on the proclaimed drop in child obesity and then went out and noticed that there are thousands of children who are over weight? Then sat there and thought to yourself, how could this be happening to our youth and why? Well, recently this year alone there has been multiple studies conducted to try and figure out why our youth are suffering from being over weight. According to multiple, news, articles, and studies, there are many factors that are contributing to the rise or stability in children being obese.

Childhood obesity can be defined as “A serious medical condition that affects children and adolescents; occurring when a child is well above the normal weight for his or her age and height.” According to “The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry”, obesity most often develops from ages 5 to 6 or during the teen years, and also have a chance of becoming an obese teen. Obesity in children is predominant so that one could almost speak of an epidemic. In fact, it is estimated that today, in many countries, one of ten children is obese at age 10. Moreover, obesity is not only overweight; it also carries several problems that can affect children’s life during the course of his life.

Obesity is defined as a disorder resulting in excessive amount of body fat. In today’s society, obesity seen in the adolescent population has vastly increased from previous years. As a result, many health issues, such as diabetes, are now more common to see in adolescents. Due to the increasing numbers who suffer from obesity, it is important to treat and advise adolescents about healthy living and encourage them to be more active to decrease the risks of severe health issues they may face when entering adulthood.

While exploring possible health issues and a population to focus on for my project, I was overwhelmed by the number of issues we are faced with everyday. I narrowed the search down to obesity and the population I would like to focus on is the adolescents. Health People 2010 identified overweight and obesity as one of the top ten leading health indicators that needs serious attention. Obesity has reached epidemic levels globally; being a significant threat to our own nation’s health. Adolescent obesity rates have more than tripled, as the adult obesity rate has doubled since 1980’s (Trust for America's Health, 2011a).

Solutions to this growing problem of obesity among teens may not be easy. Three main strategies to reducing childhood and teen obesity are rather straight-forward. Education, increasing physical activity, and making changes in the diet, can all make a big impact on a teen’s health. While many teens may not have much control over the food brought into their home, they can choose to become more physically active and use

Childhood obesity is a tremendous problem among our youth today. Over the past couple of decades, the prevalence of obesity has increased dramatically. Studies show that in the last 30 years the percent of 6-to 11- year-olds as well as the percent of 12- to 19- year -olds who fall under the obese or overweight category has tripled (Finkelstein). Nearly two out of every three Americans are overweight or obese, and one out of every eight deaths in the United States is caused by an obesity-related illness (Carmona). Obesity has always been an issue, but in recent decades the severity of the cases of obesity as well as the percent of obese people has increased dramatically.

    When many teenagers imagine obesity, they envision a victim from My 600-lb Life and reassure themselves that he/she will not reach “the point of no return”. This dangerous mentality allows adolescents to keep pushing themselves towards more obesogenic foods. According to cdc.gov, the definition of obesity is “weight that is higher than what is considered as a healthy weight for a given height.” There are many side effects of being