Teen Obesity Essay

Do you get enough exercise? Are you sure about that? Or how about this, are you overweight, do you even know? Today’s adolescents don’t. In fact today’s adolescents face serious risk from their lack of activity. Today’s children are obese because they have developed some very bad habits related to healthy living and as result can suffer serious physical and psychological damage.

Within the last 30 years, there has been an increase in childhood obesity that is alarming for parents, health care professionals, and children advocates. This epidemic is a result of children not participating in regular exercise and eating high caloric, fast food. We can combat this epidemic by increasing the education to the family and encourage more physical activity and nutritious foods.

Before searching for ways to end obesity, we should know some of the factors that contribute to people becoming obese. Surprisingly, there are many factors that specifically affect teens. A few of them are, excessive use of electronics, a large consumption of fast food (which is high in calories.) and genetics. The most likely cause for the high rate of teen obesity is fast food. Most teens enjoy going out and buying a cheap and quickly prepared meal over making

Childhood obesity is increasingly becoming a major problem of Public Health in developing countries, particularly in Canada and the United States. Lack of physical activity, poor nutritional choices, easily accessible fast foods and the built environment are all seen as factors that contribute greatly to childhood obesity. Individuals who are obese have increased risk of developing high blood pressure, impaired glucose function and may sometimes fall victims to physical and psychological abuse (Ludwig, Peterson & Gortmaker, 2001). In Canada, the prevalence rate of obesity has risen predominantly among children and adolescents (Roberts, Shields, De Groh, Aziz & Gilbert, 2012). An estimated 19.8% within the age groups of 5 to 17

“At present approximately 9 million children over 6 years of age are considered obese” (Mahshid Dehghan). Childhood obesity continues to increase every year. Childhood obesity has a lot of causes centering on an imbalance of energy taken in and the amount of energy used. Factors of childhood obesity include children having obese parents; low energy expenditure which is a low amount of physical activity is a factor and too much television which is a cause for low physical activity time. Another factor that influences childhood obesity is heredity. Infants born to overweight mothers are found to be less active than other infants. Parents are the primary contributors of childhood obesity based on statistics, obesity risks, and government

With children as early as age 7 showing dissatisfaction with their body, and as young as 9 starting dieting, eating disorders are a serious issue in our society. Taking a look at perceptions, behaviors, and medical issues associated with the disorders of anorexia and bulimia, scholars have tried to categorize and find answers to the problems which certain adolescents suffer. In this paper I focused on the two major eating disorders of anorexia and bulimia.

Obesity is a leading nutritional disease in the United States, and there are various causes for why teenage obesity is growing. Hereditary factors like having a parent who has obesity, lack of physical activity, or unhealthy diets, are all signs of provoking obesity. Teenagers that are surrounded by family members that are obese tend to also be linked to the same eating habits as their family members. Consecutively, another cause for teenage obesity is a medical condition involving hormonal growth but this however

In the last 10 years, 12.7 million of adolescents in the United States aged between 12 to 19 years old are obese. Obesity is generally caused by eating too much and moving too little. When teenagers consume high amounts of energy from their diet, through fats and sugars, but do not burn off the energy through exercise and physical activity, much of the surplus energy is then stored by the body as fat. An obese person has accumulated so much body fat that it might have an adverse effect on their health. If a person's body mass is at least 20% higher than it should be, the person is considered obese. Many teenagers in the United States have gained weight for a variety of reasons, some have accumulated so much body fat that it might have a negative

There was a time when chubby children were considered cute. It was assumed that their baby fat would melt away and a healthy adult would emerge. We now know that childhood obesity can be very harmful for our nations children. Not only can obesity cause health problems but also psychological problems. In observing the causes of childhood obesity, hopefully we can slow down the epidemic.

In order to impede the epidemic of childhood obesity, the actual causes of the problem need to be evaluated and dissected. Obesity in children is becoming a huge problem in American society. In the past three decades, the rate of overweight children has increased by 300%. This is an alarming rate that is only climbing higher. Every member in society should take steps to becoming healthier. This would help the present generations as well as future generations to come. The lifestyle of Americans keeps us too busy to be a healthy society.

The fast food industry promotes childhood obesity by manipulating the young mind, putting them at risk for health complications such as hypertension and diabetes. The super-sizing of America is been a frequently talked about subject lately. Especially since it is seem to have negative effects on the health of children and adults alike through massive consumption of fast food. Health providers and other authority figures are now concerned about children’s obesity rates shown during the past 3-4 decades. They have now drawn a close connection between fast food and obesity and identified a childhood obesity epidemic with increased negative health factors. According to the American journal of public health, 2005 September issue, fast food

There are some specific and real problems that advertising can cause upon children (William A. Ramsey). Fast-food restaurant advertising it’s influencing our children to be obese. Childhood obesity around the world is causing worries, especially detrimental as its effect carries on into parenthood. The ratio of children 's who are overweight has approximately tripled in the same period, reaching fourteen percent (Center for disease control

Food advertisements, if focused at the right people and in the right places, are a complete success. These features, some of which are commercials, seduce society into buying food that we necessarily do not need. Many advertisement companies, especially those about food, are directed to children because they know that if you grab the kids you have their parents. While brands are using fun cartoons like “Trix Rabbit” and “Toucan Sam” (Green, 2007, p. 49) supermarkets are taking these items and placing them right in front of the children, at their level, advertising the “Fun foods” (Elliot, 2008, p. 259-273). They do this so the kids will use their, “pester power” (Scholsser, n.d., p. 2) to get what they want. A series of studies have been performed on children and television advertisements. An article states, “These studies have generally linked children's television viewing to negative health effects” (Korr, 2008, p. 451). Amongst these negative effects is a higher level of childhood obesity (p. 451). Similarly, in another study performed by a group of researchers, kids were asked to explain the television commercials that they remembered the best. The answers given were then compared with their diets. Interestingly, the items those children remembered best, chips, sweets, and sodas were a huge part of what they ate (Hitching & Moynihan, 1998, p. 511-517). However, some authors argue that television producer’s, even though their

The commercials feature animated characters selling fast food kid meals. Children relate with the cartoon characters and want to eat the foods that are being promoted. Children receive the message that fast food is good for them, and do not understand that eating too much fast food can be unhealthy for them. Unfortunately the message from this type of advertising is geared toward the child thinking I need to have the fast food. This is a bad message to leave in children?s minds, because it can also cause problems with their health. The obesity rate in young children has risen drastically over the last twenty years. Health reports have attributed this to the continuing increase in the amount of fast food children are consuming. Television commercials for fast food are on every channel, and the number of channels has risen over the last twenty years. Children who watch television are exposed to a non-stop borage of commercials. This continual exposure promotes a cycle of the child always wanting to go to the fast food restaurants. Parents also are affected by the commercials. Their children want to eat fast food, and the fast food is very convenient for busy families. It is much easier to go through a drive-thru and order the food, then to cook the meal at home. This can be a harmful pattern for the family to establish. Convenience over a more healthy home cooked meal adds to the childhood obesity

With children being overweight or obese, it is very much associated with it happening as adults. Most teens are not worried about their calorie intake. They eat what they think tastes good, not caring if it is healthy or not. Children mainly become overweight because of what they eat and drink. Whether male or female, some young people who are extremely overweight drop out of school and will not leave the house unless it is absolutely necessary (6). Boys tend to do more physical activities than girls, that is why girls are more effective when it comes to obesity. For example, boys are always outside playing sports such as football, baseball, soccer, and basketball. As for girls, they may do the same but most girls just sit inside watch television, movies, and eat junk food. Programs have been developed to prevent adolescent obesity (Power 14). Many young teens begin to smoke cigarettes at their age. If they try to quit, it is most likely that they will gain weight. When children are overweight or obese, it transitions to adulthood.