Problem statement is obesity:
What could be done to reduce childhood obesity rates in Mississippi?
Background:
Childhood obesity is a serious problem that puts children at high risk of developing other related health issues. Obesity can lead to cardiovascular diseases, type-2 diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, sleep disorders, low self-steam, negative body image, and depression.
In the United States, more than half of Americans are obese where Mississippi has the third highest rates of obesity (CDC, 2014). Mississippi has the highest level of poverty and the highest rate of obesity among adults (35%). According to the CDC, data from Youth Risk Behaviors Surveillance System shows that 31.4% of high school students in Mississippi
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The other bad stakeholder is the governor of Mississippi Phil Bryant who signed a senate bill on 2013 which became a law in Mississippi. The law basically prevents counties from banning extra-large soft-drinks, and does not require restrictions on restaurants to put calories counts on menus. He stated that the government is not responsible for an individual 's health, but a person 's health depends on their choices of diet and exercise.
Options:
One of the options that can help in reducing the rates of obesity among children is increasing the access to healthier and nutritious choices of food such as fruits and vegetables by making healthy food more affordable by reducing the prices of fresh produce and financing small grocers and gas stations, which can be the only available access to food in poor communities, by the government to provide more fresh and healthy food by giving them tax credits for offering fresh fruits and vegetables.
Another option that can benefit the Mississippi state in reducing childhood obesity rates is to increase schools ' health and wellness standards and physical education. Supporting policies that require schools to ban soft drinks and to provide physical education and high nutritional quality of food served in schools can help in preventing students and young generations from becoming obese. Also, connecting schools with local farms and supporting farmers to
There are short and long term impacts of childhood obesity. One short term impact is having a low self-esteem. A child that is obese is likely to be bullied and teased by peers. These children are then likely to isolate themselves from others. This then leads to them think negative about themselves.
We as a state have a problem Mississippi is the state full of the most obese people in the country. It is recorded that 35.1% of the people living in Mississippi are overweight, that being said we have to make a change to our state in some way. I don’t entirely blame the people of Mississippi for being overweight; I think our state is to blame to. It is not our fault there is not much to do; the state needs to find more activities for kids and adults. I think that is why people in other states are not as obese as the people in Mississippi.
In the United States Mississippi is the most unhealthy state, being well known for obesity. On estimate 41.8% of school-aged children and youth in Mississippi are obese. 450 children in grades 1 through 4 spend at least a year being educated on how to stay healthy and healthy eating habits. Then after grade four healthy matters aren’t as important. Not till highschool is it required to take a health class in Mississippi. They teach teens that the littlest things can make obesity occur and make it worse. Such as prohibited purchase of fresh fruit, vegetables, protein, poor dietary habits, unhealthy school breakfast and lunches, limited physical effort, and an increase of time on phones, television, or tablet. As for Programs are trying to make a difference for instance the team Healthy Mississippi is partnering with a program called University
Twenty one point seven percent of Mississippi’s ten to seventeen year old population is currently obese. Obesity in any area, regarding age, is a problem. Childhood obesity needs to be addressed first, because reducing the amount of obese residence in Mississippi would subtract from the adult obese rate. Obesity causes so many health problems that children should not be experiencing at a young age (“State of Obesity”). Childhood obesity has been casting a dark shadow over Mississippi for a very long time; taking lives and causing diagnoses every day, therefore childhood obesity is a problem that needs to be fixed.
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.
To mitigate the threat of obesity, there needs to be the implementation of different approaches and participation of different stakeholders. Significant interventions need to be done at different levels. There needs to be an intervention at the individual level so as to encourage one to participate. Intervention strategies also need to be done at schools so that students and the community can be involved; and there needs to be change in the agriculture and food industry, urban planners and transportation. Each and everything done at each stage may have a small effect but may have a significant effect to the overall strategy.
In the St. Louis, the state of Missouri, by 2008, the state ranked the 27th in overall prevalence of obese numbers in children. According to the 2008 Pediatric Nutrition Surveillance System (PedNSS), 30% of low income children aged between 2-5 were overweight in Missouri. This all started in 2003 when the rate of children falling obese continuing to rise. According to a study done by Christina, about 43% of children in the United states have at least 1-2 chronic heal conditions which increases to a 54.1% when the child is overweight. This shows that being obese also increases the risks of fatality of an illness in an individual. A different study done by (Kamath, Celia et al 4615) revealed that prevention of the condition is better than trying to manage the condition as pediatric efforts do not play a huge role in reducing the BMI and changes are seen after a very long time. It however can be helpful to those who already had the condition for instance the children who have inherited the condition can be helped through pediatric efforts to manage themselves and maintain their health.
Childhood obesity has become an epidemic in the United States. With families always on the go these days it has become easier to grab something to eat at a fast food restaurant than to cook at home. Parents have also instilled in their children that they don’t always need to eat healthy. Children would rather eat junk food than eat fresh fruit or vegetables.
Child obesity is a major issue in the United States, but with the help of government involvement, this problem will decay over time.
To prevent obesity in children, Carprio (2006), states that strategies should be more effective in treating this disease and obesity should be taking seriously. Some ways to prevent child obesity is to improve diet, exercise more, and change your environment, and so forth. For example, watch less television and play soccer or basketball. Children should be moving their body and getting their heart rate up. This disease has gotten out of control and has grown to be a problem in today’s society. Treating obesity should begin immediately. According to the article Preventing Childhood Obesity (2014), studies have shown that there has been a decline in child obesity among low-income children (ages 2-4) who participate in the Special Supplemental
The rising rate of childhood obesity has become a growing nation’s concern and the rates of young children becoming obese is a public health problem. The American norm for a child is to eat unhealthy snacks and meals and decreased physical activity. Given the rising rates of childhood obesity, this brief presents three policy options to alleviate childhood obesity.
One of the most controversial issues of recent date is that of how to treat America's obesity epidemic. The increased rate of obesity amongst children is particularly alarming. Children are beginning to develop diabetes, heart disease and other illnesses linked to weight gain at very high rates. Given this concern, many solutions have been proposed. Some have suggested bringing back mandatory PE; others have suggested improving children's diets within the public school system and banning fast food-related advertising on the airwaves.
To begin, we need to limit what children eat more strictly because many children have become obese because of what they eat in school. Children do not prefer to eat the healthy things at home or in restaurants because they crave sugar. Sugar is in many of the food choices at schools, so therefore kids choose to eat the unhealthy things at school instead. For example, more than twenty hours a week is spent at school, so for twenty
Obesity basically means having too much body fat. Not being overweight for your height, having too much muscle, or water in your body. What exactly is obesity? “Obesity is a condition that is associated with having an excess of body fat, defined by genetic and environmental factors that are difficult to control when dieting. Obesity is classified as having a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or greater. BMI is a tool used to measure obesity. Obesity increases your risk of developing related conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and sleep apnea, to name a few. Many individuals are affected by obesity and are not aware of it” (O.A.C, 2016). Causes of obesity vary from person to person, but most are from the same reasons. Taking in more calories than your body can burn leads to obesity because your body stores the unused calories as fat. Typical causes are eating too much food than your body can use, drinking too much alcohol, and not getting enough exercise. Many obese people who lose large amounts of weight and gain it back think it is their fault. They blame themselves for not having the willpower to keep the weight off. Many people regain more weight than they lost. Today, we know that biology is a big reason why some people cannot keep the weight off. Some people who live in the same place and eat the same foods become obese, while others do not. Our bodies have a complex system to help keep our
“Our children are the rock on which our future will be built, our greatest asset as a nation. They will be the leaders of our country, the creators of our national wealth, those who care for and protect our people.” Nelson Mandela. Children are the future of society and there is an epidemic of overweight underperforming children in America today. Childhood obesity is primary in the “grades of two (ages7-8), grade four (9-10) and grade six (11-12).”The whole of systems Trial of Prevention Strategies for Childhood obesity: WHO STOPS Childhood obesity. Many things can cause obesity some contributing factors are physical activity, diet, quality of life, environment, and social networks. The main points of childhood obesity that this will cover are going to be about, is the fact that countless families don't have access to healthy foods due to minimum wages. The cost of healthy foods almost doubles the cost of unhealthy foods. A lot of families try to get more for their money to be able to feed their children and that is why children and parents are being exposed to the dangers of obesity. Along with only having minimum wage jobs parents often work long hours resulting in fast food to feed their kids. Along with the fact that kids just don’t get enough exercise. Many times schools cut out things like recess and gym classes. Schools also give the kids homework which can take up apart of their day. Another contributing factor is the kid's bad habits to watch tv or play video games