The Childhood Obesity Epidemic Essay

One reason for this cause is the parents’ lack of personal responsibility for their children’s health, making sure that they are eating healthy, and having the proper exercise they need to stay in shape. In the article by journalist Daniel Weintraub “The Battle Against Fast Foods Begins in the Home”, he argues that child obesity starts in the home, that parents are the reason why child obesity rates are booming by stating “ It’s the fault of parents who let their kids eat unhealthy foods and sit in front of the television or computer for hours at a time .” . Parents allow their children eat whatever they want, not knowing or caring how detrimental it may be for their health. Also, many parents don't encourage their children to go outside for physical activities for at least a half hour a day. Instead, many parents accuse video-games for the reason that their child is obese. Parents play a main role towards the cause of child obesity, even though fast food industries might seem like the culprit, one must understand all the factors that contribute to the obesity

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.

Childhood obesity is a major public health epidemic which has significantly risen over the past three decades and there is no chance in sight of slowing it down unless real action is taken. This major health crisis continues to reduce individuals’ quality of life and has caused severe health problem like heart disease which is the leading cause of death in the United States and around the world. In most cases, obese children grow up to be an obese adult. The prevalence of childhood obesity can be addressed through education initiatives such as school prevention programs because children spent a majority of their time outside of the home at school, therefore school provides a great opportunity to educate and improve a child’s health at an ideal point before the problem gets worst. My paper will focus on childhood obesity prevention in Hill Top Middle school Lodi, New Jersey.

Childhood obesity is becoming an increasingly severe problem in today’s society. This portfolio aims to explain different causations of childhood obesity, and evaluate the interventions that have been put in place to combat the issue.

Also, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in a study in 2004, 16 percent of children that are between the ages of six and nineteen years of age are overweight or obese. This is a number that has nearly tripled since 1980, mostly due to technological usage. Being overweight can bring with it great health concerns. Many of these children have a chance of developing Type II Diabetes, asthma, sleep apnea, social discrimination, high cholesterol and/or blood pressure. Moreover, according to a Stanford University of Medicine study, elementary students consume 20 percent of their daily calorie intake while watching television, which usually includes unhealthy snacks, largely due to advertisements for junk food and boredom. Coincidently, kids are not burning off any of these calories while they are plopped in front of the television.

In many cases obesity can be caused by bad eating habits, a traumatic experience, or bad eating habits as a child. In many instances, if the parents are overweight, there is a good chance that the child will be overweight as well. Children who are overweight at a young age are almost certain to be overweight when they grow up. Not only does being overweight make you less active, it also causes long term damage to your health. Being overweight can cause a number of risk factors and diseases. These can include diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. These are growing problems everywhere in the United States. It has been known for years that being overweight causes an early death. There have been many sides to what actually causes obesity. Some say that is it caused by the environment. For example, lack of neighborhood sidewalks, or safe places for children to play, this is a problem for many. Another big cause is advertising. Americans are surrounded by ads from food companies. Children are the target of

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 now reached an epidemic in several parts of the United States. As a result, children now have a higher risk to have numerous chronic and acute medical problems. Several of the long-lasting medical problems a child might face as a result of obesity could eventually result in death. In addition to chronic medical problems, childhood obesity has severe psychosocial effects on an individual such as low self-esteem and depression. Childhood obesity is a serious problem that is caused by a numerous amount of factors that can eventually lead to severe health complications.

Obesity has been a major health issue in the community for the past three decades, and has recently become a spreading concern for children (Black & Hager, 2013). Childhood obesity leads to many health and financial burdens in the future, and has become a public health priority. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2016), childhood obesity has doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years. Black and Hager (2013) state that pediatric obesity is a major public health problem that effects a child’s mental and physical health. Having childhood obesity also increases the risk of developing adult obesity and many other chronic illnesses. Childhood obesity will be further explored in the following sections and will include: background, current surveillance methods, epidemiology analysis, screening and diagnosis, and the plan of action.

Another environmental cause of childhood obesity is the lack of physical activity. The problem is that physical activity has been replaced by video games, television, social networking and other technology. (Child Obesity Statistics) “It’s proven that children who watch the most hours of television have the highest incidence of obesity.” (Hosten) The American Heart Association they recommend “all children age 2 and older should participate in at least 60 minutes of enjoyable, moderate-intensity physical activities every day.” They also recommend “if your child or children don't have a full 60-minute activity break each day, try to provide at

First and foremost, the most common causes of childhood obesity are genetic factors, overeating, and not exercising enough. Although obesity may run in a family, it does not determine whether a child will be obese or not (“Obesity in Children”). If a child who comes from a family of obesity, happens to become overweight like them, the likely cause is due to bad eating and activity habits. Many children today spend more time inside the house eating and watching television, rather than being active outdoors (“Obesity in Children”). This is due to the recent popularity of having electronics such as television, games, and phones serve as entertainment. Another reason for the excessive eating is because parents are often too busy to cook healthy foods on a regular basis, leaving children to rely on fast food or

The causes of children obesity in the United States are improper dietary habit, inactive life style, and genetics, which was the central idea of the speech.

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.

In the humanistic perspective, obesity can be caused from a number of different things. Gender differences could be a recent factor to why children are becoming more obese from a younger age. We can link this to how social media is teaching its younger viewers. Social media today talks a lot about how women do not have to be super skinny to be pretty and to embrace their natural curves of their body. It also talks about men “bulking up” and eating a lot more in order to do so and gain as much muscle as possible. Children from a young age seeing this everyday can be the cause of so much weight gain because they do not understand when to stop or what