In Washington state alone children age 2 -5 were 18.4% were overweight and 14.4% were considered obese. Obesity is a major risk factor for many serious health conditions including type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, high blood pressure and certain cancers, and among youth these diseases are at an all-time high. The most striking fact to me is that during the past 40 years obesity rates for children age 3-11 nearly tripled from 5% to 14$ and more than tripled for adolescents age 12-19 n from 5% top 17.1%. Some of the causes as stated on the National Heart Lung and blood Institute were lack of exercise, oversize food portions, lack of access to healthy food, food advertising, and parents work schedules. Also some common factors such as genetics and cultural environment experts have agreed that are a cause of childhood obesity.
And when taking a look at the statistics of obesity in children and adolescents in the United States, 18.8 percent of 6 - 11 year old children are obese, 17.4 percent of children ages 12-19 are obese (www.cdc.gov). Childhood obesity is associated with many different health related problems and issues. They may experience health risk and may be at risk for other health related problems as adults. Obesity in children and adolescents are psychosocial. Many obese children are discriminated against at an early age and can be targeted for bullying, low self-esteem, having a lack of social skills, and can hinder academics; these issues can persist into adulthood.
In today's society, obesity, more specifically child obesity has become a growing epidemic for many years not only in the U.S but all around the world. The change in the environment is not the only cause of obesity, the change in genes is also a major contributor. Obesity has many causes, but the main cause is children not getting enough exercise and eating too much. The calories that are not burning up can results into excess fat, which is stored in our bodies causing obesity. Every child gains weight different mostly due to problems like poor eating, not enough exercise, family geneses, health issues, the environment, and psychological issues.
Why does the author suggest giving infants vegetables and meat before sweet fruits? You've probably heard the statistics. Childhood obesity has doubled over the last 20 years, affecting 10 million children. One in five children are either overweight or obese. Diseases once thought of as adult onset, including obesity, are now affecting children.
High blood pressure (hypertension) in children is blood pressure that’s the same as or higher than 95% of children who are the same sex, age and height as your child. (There isn’t a simple target blood pressure reading that indicates high blood pressure in children, because what’s considered normal blood pressure changes as children grow). * High cholesterol in children can be dangerous and increase their risk for heart disease the older they become. * Diabetes in children and bring on many other health issues later on in life and is not an easy disease for a child to have to learn to deal with. * Breathing problems such as snoring and sleep apnea brought on by childhood obesity can lead to heart conditions later on in life.
It’s sad to say that Obesity now affects 17% (12.5 million) of all children and adolescents in the United States. “In 2007-2008 the results from NHANES, using measured heights and weights, indicate that an estimated 16.9% of children and adolescents aged 2-19 years are obese. This is triple the rate from just one generation ago”. (Ogden 2010) Parents shape their children’s dietary practices, physical activity, sedentary behaviors, and ultimately their weight status in many ways. (Lindsay
Childhood obesity is so important to tackle at an early age, because studies have shown that it leads to long term health risk such as diabetes, heart disease, and cardiovascular disease. Children are also affected by the social and psychological factors that come with them being overweight at a young age. Although some genetic predispositions have been linked to childhood obesity,
As a whole it is all of our responsibility to fight against this epidemic so that we can win the war for our children’s health. Becoming obese is a result of consuming more calories than you burn off with activity. As stated earlier depression can play a part in obesity as well, children that are not popular, may feel left out and eat as a way to cope with those feelings. Many do not realize this is a cause for obesity, but it is and needs
Obesity is a phenomenon that reached an epidemic level among children in developed countries. Many factors are behind that; and obesity, of course, has tremendous effects on children’s health as well as on their psychological state. Some of the consequences of obesity are used to be frequent among adults, but nowadays, children have it. In a journal article reporting a study done by Stephen R and Daniels, in addition that now children are having their parents’ diseases, the phenomenon is increasing in high frequency, and the types of diseases include high blood pressure, early symptoms of hardening of the arteries, type 2 diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, polycystic ovary disorder, and disordered breathing during sleep, another point made by Daniels and Stephen is that the obesity destroys the human body, but if it starts from the childhood, it actually accelerate its effects which in his turn causes the heart attack, or stroke, to start in childhood. Another point made by Daniels is that the effect of obesity doesn’t stop at this point, but it may go to the extent to reverse the stable increase in life expectancy which makes of obesity one of the most public concerns; thus efforts are being made to determine what causes obesity among children(Stephen, & Daniels, 2006, p 47-67).
The easy way out to being healthy and eating right for ones body, fast food has plagued the nation especially with diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and even strokes or heart attacks. A question is now posed of whether or not fast foods should be fed to children, in substitute of their regular lunches at school. These kids are what seem like innocent victims because of their naivety towards the real problems with fast food. The problems with this quick fix in school cafeterias are that students would become obese, they would develop bad habits, and that the school would be advertising for these companies. “More than 70 percent of obese adolescents retain their overweight and obese condition even during their adulthood” (What Are Children Munching On?).