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.
Doctors have found biological connections between fat, insulin, and the high blood sugar levels that define the disease. The CDC estimates that 55 percent of adult diabetics are obese, significantly more than the 31 percent prevalence of obesity in the general population. And as obesity has become more common, so, too, has diabetes, suggesting that one may cause the other. Yet the critics dispute claims that diabetes is soaring (even among children), that obesity is the cause, and that weight loss is the solution. A 2003 analysis by the CDC found that “the prevalence of diabetes, either diagnosed or undiagnosed, and of impaired fasting glucose did not appear to increase substantially during the 1990s,” despite the sharp rise in obesity.
Overweight and obesity has become a national epidemic problem. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, obesity has affected a third of the adults in the United States and a third of the Americans seem to be getting fatter. (Freedman, 2011) It has created many problems, such as an increase in health insurance premiums, health related diseases and unhappy lives. These factors are affecting Americans of all ages and the problem is not going away unless drastic interventions are implemented. In the present paper, overweight and obesity is being investigated.
10-21% of people with diabetes develop it xii. In 2005, a total of 46,739 people initiated treatment for end-stage renal disease (kidney failure) because of diabetes. (The World Almanac and Book of Facts 01-01-2010) i. Amputation xiii. It is the most common cause of non traumatic lower limb amputations xiv. The chance of amputation is 15 to 40 times greater for a diabetic than average American.
Running Head: CHILDHOOD OBESITY IN AMERICA 1 Childhood Obesity in America Kilah Bryan-Lawson Liberty University Online CHILDHOOD OBESITY IN AMERICA 2 Abstract Childhood obesity has become quite a problem in America. This paper describes the obesity problem as a nationwide epidemic. It defines what it is to be medically obese and addresses the issues that adolescents face when they encounter this issue. This paper also discusses the reasons that childhood obesity has become an epidemic. It also discusses ways in which schools enable childhood obesity and gives ideas on what schools can do help prevent childhood obesity.
Epidemic of Obesity Introduction Obesity is spreading at an alarming rate and is becoming an epidemic around the United States; research shows that every year 300,000 adults will die from complications associated with obesity (Charles E. Menifield, 2008). Obesity is caused by many different factors such as: over eating, lack of physical activity and poor diet. There are many health problems associated with obesity and many of them can lead to mortality. Some of the medical conditions linked to obesity are: chance of stoke, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, glucose intolerance, asthma, sleep apnea, impaired balance, orthopedic problems, and depression (Kellie R. Lang, 2012). With health problems like this plaguing the country, there
Childhood Obesity: A Preventable Epidemic Dr. Andrew H. Locke University of Connecticut Childhood Obesity: A Preventable Epidemic Over the course of recent years, childhood obesity has become a modern problem of epidemic proportions. Being the fact that the population of obese American children is estimated to be 30% total, the risks need to be appropriately managed by parents to dampen this growing populous (Benac, 2010). Just in the past 30 years among American adolescents alone, obesity rates have tripled in size which consequentially increases complications resulting in the possibility of early mortality. Furthermore, a child suffering from obesity may live and develop weight-related debilitating diseases such as type-2 diabetes, high
Childhood Obesity: A Growing Epidemic Obesity continues to become an increasing cause for death worldwide, none as true as in the United States. Obesity is a “lifestyle risk resulting from an imbalance between energy intake and expenditure”. Internationally, at least 10% of school age children are considered obese. In the United States, this number is near 32%. 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.
CHILDHOOD OBESITY The research topic that will be discussed is childhood obesity; childhood obesity is the number one cause of diabetes in children today. It has reached epidemic proportion; worldwide approximately twenty two million children under five years of age are overweight ( Rocchini, A.P par. 1, March 14 2002). The number of overweight children in the United States has more than double during the past three decades. The reason I am doing a research on childhood obesity because is to inform millions of parents with children to understand that this is a deadly disease that can stay with you throughout your adult hood, and it is best to take care of it while you are at a young age.
Running head: CHILDHOOD OBESITY 1 The Causes and Prevention of Childhood Obesity Patricia Stewart ENG 122 Prof. Craig Smith August 27, 2012 CHILDHOOD OBESITY 2 The Causes and Prevention of Childhood Obesity Childhood obesity is a major cause for concern because it has become an epidemic in our society. The causes are surprising and concerning as well. There are multiple factors causing childhood obesity that can be prevented, which include health and lifestyle. According to the Journal of the American Academy of Physicians Assistants, “Obesity in childhood is influenced by social and familial factors as well as the child’s genetics and activity level” (Perplech; Russ; Rizzolo; Sedrak, 2011). The medical conditions that contribute to childhood obesity are due to genetics.