Obesity in Children

Us Americans love to eat food and eat more than we need to. We tend to snack and constantly eat even when we even arent hungary. Childhood obesity has brought many problems for kids and has allowed them to suffer from things. Surgeon general Richard states that “Because of the increasing rates of obesity, unhealthy eating habits and physcial inactivity, we may see the first generation that will be less healthy and have a shorter life expectancy than their parent.” Childhood obesity is increasing among the years, it tends to have many health effects, environmental causes, theories, and many reasons on how to prevent it.

One of the most common medical illnesses of school-age children is obesity. Childhood obesity can be attributed to sugary snacks and beverages provided at schools and homes. This paper will discuss the policy

One of the most common medical illnesses of school-age children is obesity. Childhood obesity can be attributed to sugary snacks and beverages provided at schools and homes. In this composition, I will discuss my policy priority issues as it

“Childhood Obesity in Florida.” States of Obesity. Trust for America's Health and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2014. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.

Obesity has substantially increased in the American population, affecting both adults and children. According to the Mayo Clinic, the definition of obesity is defined as a condition of increased body weight that is caused by an excessive accumulation of fat. Many factors contribute to weight gain such as the two important ones, poor diet and physical inactivity. As people are exposed to high fat foods and have very low physical activity, it’s so easy for that person to become overweight or obese. As in today’s society children tend to overeat, many changes in a child’s life are the reason why there is an increase in overeating. The place where children should be fed healthy and should influence them to eat healthy is actually where the problem starts. School cafeterias have been known to serve food with large fat content and low nutrition. School cafeterias even supply students with soda and candy machines (Kempster, 2004). According to a study done by King et al. (1999) has shown that fruits and raw vegetables given in school cafeterias has decreased substantially. Instead they provide unhealthy meals for these children like, pizza, tater tots, and many other numerous high level fat foods. At school children should have the access to eat healthy, however they are exposed to fast food choices everyday, making it difficult to support healthy eating (Kuntzman, 2004). The lack of physical activity is another major factor in the cause of childhood obesity. Due to the increase

Obesity is a condition where someone is significantly overweight for their age and height. On a child, it can lead to life-threatening diseases and health problems in the future. This excessive amount of weight that a child bears can lead to future diseases and mental abuse from peers and even on rare occasion 's parents. Childhood obesity has become a national problem in the United States and continues to grow at a substantial rate. This growing health problem presented with children is affecting them negatively for the future. Is fast food really to blame, or is it the new lazy lifestyle that revolves around technology? With technology growing quickly, children seem to be less likely to play outside and live an active lifestyle than

Childhood and adolescent obesity is a growing endemic in the United States. It affects more than thirty percent of children, making it the most common chronic disease of childhood. According to the research article Prevalence of Childhood and Adolescent Overweight and Obesity from 2003 to 2010 in an Integrated Health Care Delivery System by Lynn Acknerson “this number has more than tripled since 1980.” It has now become a major health issue. Today, more and more children are being diagnosed with morbid health conditions associated with obesity.

Diet: Poor diet and nutrition is one of the largest if not the largest contributors to childhood obesity. Over the last few decades, calorie dense, high fat, and low nutrient food has become more assessable and affordable while the prices of nutrient dense and unprocessed foods have become more expensive and less accessible. Food has changed from a means to nourish ones body to a source of pleasure for people. On average, a children’s meal from a fast food restaurant would take between 1-2 hours of extremely vigorous activity to burn off. A big issue to the rising calories that children are consuming is through fast food and processed foods. These foods are cheap and easier for parents to provide to children and, they generally taste better

than 1 billion overweight individuals and no less than 30% of those as corpulent. The

Public school foods have the most impact on childhood obesity, and the board has decided to set a plan to terminate this issue. Studies show that most teenagers are obese due to an improper balance of calories, and calories being burned. If this issue continues in the life of an adolescent, it can bring a great deal of diseases in the future. If studies have demonstrated anything is that obesity in America is an epidemic that starts at an early age. Consequently, there is a considerable amount of meticulous steps the board will take to achieve success. The health plan will bring tremendous beneficial results to children also society as a whole. Childhood obesity is one of the major health problems in America today, and it is rooted to unhealthy school nutrition.

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

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).

where the life expectancy of today’s generation is being threatened. Prevention of overweight and obesity is imperative. Parents, especially mothers play a major role in preventing overweight and obesity among the children. Their knowledge of nutrition, food selection and family meal structure has major impact on their children’s food habit. The preschool age is crucial for the children to learn and develop their lifelong habits. Education starts from home, where parents are the primary source of teaching their children about health, nutrition and food choices. They are the first liner in prevention of childhood obesity. When children start going to school, it is parents’ responsibility to continue maintaining the shape of healthful eating and physical activity in their children. The researchers have described how parenting can influence childhood obesity in various ways at different stages of their child’s development. Children are at a high risk of developing obesity genetically, if the mother suffers from diabetes mellitus, gestational diabetes, and under or over nutrition during pregnancy. They need screening to prevent diabetes during pregnancy. During their child’s toddler years, parents need to expose them to healthy foods including fruits and vegetables to their children. They also need to focus on outdoor activities for their toddlers. Physical activity is more important at this age to burn off extra calories.

Today, an unhealthy diet is the number one issue that causes obesity in children. It is very common to see children of all ages consuming fast food which can be purchased everywhere and is easily accessible. Fast food contains high calories and fat which eventually leads to various different diseases amongst young people.

Over the past years obesity has become of a great concern for pediatricians across America. Obesity, once known as a sign of a disorder that afflicted a very small population, is one of today’s top ranking diseases. It does not discriminate affecting people of all ethnics, genders, socio-economic status and ages. Obese children have to make difficult decisions in terms of what they should or should not eat. They don’t understand why having a scoop of ice cream is unhealthy when they see the other children enjoying it. Why has childhood obesity incidence increase over the past years? Why is it beginning at such an early stage of life? Obesity is known to have a genetic etiology but this is not the only cause for the disease. Children are more commonly affected by this disease due to the early introduction of solid foods during infancy, the use of formula milk vs. breast milk, or the introduction of sugary drinks to the infant’s diet.