Plain baked potatoes instead of French fries and high-fibre, fortified cereals instead of high-fat doughnuts would be healthier. Small changes like these could improve her diet dramatically. “Try not drinking so much soft drink,” Mary suggests. “Bottled water or a glass of milk would be much more beneficial.” “I can’t drink milk!” Clara says. “Last time I had a glass of milk, my stomach hurt for hours.
Childhood obesity is increasing at rates of epidemic proportion across the globe and is becoming a significant health problem. The current obesity rates in Australian children are among the highest in the developed world. ‘In 2007–08, one-quarter of all Australian children, or around 600,000 children aged 5–17 years, were overweight or obese, up four percentage points from 1995 (21%). According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABOS) (2009). ‘Research indicates an annual increase of this figure of 1-1.5%, a trend that suggests half of all young Australians will be overweight by the year 2025’ (Tipping the scales: Intervention and management of childhood obesity 2007).
(www.thefreedictionary.com) Body: I. New American Epidemic A) Fifty eight million Americans living in the United States are obese, and eight out of ten people who are over twenty-five are overweight. B) This is the fastest growing health concern. 1. obesity condition is not limited to only adults. 2.
Childhood Obesity in America Childhood obesity has been a rising problem in the United States. The problem has grown considerably in the last years. Being so easy to recognize but so hard to treat, childhood obesity is a significant problem in America. Obesity is confirmed when the child’s weight is ten percent higher than what is considered normal for their height and body type (Collins, 1998). When finding the cause of obesity, genetics, behavior, biological, and cultural factors all are included.
There are several contributing factors involved with obesity in children and many components that may influence its development and onset including family lifestyle, family history, psychological factors, socio-economic factors, and many more. Obesity does not happen overnight; it is the result of a chain of bad habits, poor nutrition, and lack of exercise (Zeratsky, 2011). In today's fast paced society, time management has become extremely important. This may be a factor that contributes to why some children have poor nutrition; they are simply not eating healthy because there may not be ample time to cook nutritious meals (Zeratsky,
Mrs. Obama stated, "We have a right to expect the food (our kids) get at school is the same kind of food we want to serve at our own kitchen tables." Most of the children that participate in these programs eat more than half of their daily food intake at school. Offering a higher quality of food and better choices that are more nutritious improve children’s diets. (CBS, 2012) The First Lady and the USDA took charge with Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act by reducing starchy foods like potatoes and prohibiting schools from counting a small amount of tomato paste on a slice of pizza as a vegetable. Before they counted as 1 whole serving of vegetables.
This makes them directly correlated to the current trends in the prevalence of obesity. According to Friel (2009) inequity which results to social profiles has resulted to increased prevalence in obesity. The affluent, with good income spend much eating junk foods and doing less exercise. The underprivileged on the other hand are bound by illiteracy, poor social amenities, retrogressive cultures and unemployment. This makes both groups vulnerable to obesity as they indulge in unplanned and bad eating habits.
The problem facing this population is the obesity and the core problem is not addressed. The symptoms are treated without addressing the obesity. “The increasing prevalence of obesity and its significant health consequences are straining our health-care system. In 2000, the total cost of obesity in the United States was an estimated $117 billion—$61 billion in direct costs and $56 billion in indirect costs” (Lee, 2010, p. 597). Some states have addressed these issues by starting with children and forcing schools to offer healthier lunches.
CHILDHOOD OBESITY Asia Jackson ENGL 122 English Composition11 Jason Vinson December 17, 2012 Childhood obesity is an ongoing epidemic in the United States. Today in America every one and three children are obese. Obesity is defined as an excessively high amount of body fat in relation to lean body mass. Schwimmer, J.B., Burwinkle, T.M and Varni, J.W., (2003), Ch ildhood obesity is now the number 1 health concern among parents in the United States. Child obesity is a very serious matter.
And it is not surprising that childhood obesity is a good indicator for the likelihood of obesity into adulthood. What is surprising, however, as Galvez (2003) points out, is that "studies on obesity consistently report a higher prevalence of obesity in African Americans and Mexican Americans compared with the white, non-Hispanic population" (p. A684). The etiology of childhood overweight is multifaceted, but is seemingly always tied to socioeconomic factors. Poor nutritional choices and a sedentary lifestyle cause obesity, but it is societal stressors that lead to these inadequate choices. Such stressors include increased exposure to television advertisements for unhealthy foods, unsafe neighborhoods which inhibit outdoor play and exercise, and limited availability of healthy, fresh foods in low socioeconomic residential areas (Galvez 2003).