APA RESEARCH PAPER

Childhood Obesity

Childhood Obesity

Introduction

Childhood obesity has increased dramatically over the years. The United States is one of the highest ranked countries with obese children. A direct cause of obesity in children is the parents. Many parents for decades have served large portions and expected children to eat all of the food the child (children) had on their plates. Instead of forcing children to eat all of their food, children should be taught to eat moderate portions and when feeling full the parent should not force them to eat more.

Discussion

Throughout the United States, many parents do not see their children being overweight or obese. In several research studies, parents did not think their children were anything near being obese. Parents are in denial and do not take much action to correct the issue. The ways parents feel differ throughout the regions. There was only 13 percent of the parent who took heed to their children's obesity compared to parents in the Northeast regions who had the highest rate of 37 percent (Walling, 2008, 17-46). The pie chart below illustrates the different regions and the percentage of concerned parents. These numbers need to increase; more parents need to be more concerned about their children's weight and well being. A change needs to be made for the children's sake.

Only 13% of parents in the Midwest region are concerned about their children's obesity, 29% in the South, 31% in the West, and 37% in the Northeast. This number should increase dramatically; more parents need to care about their children's weight and health (Slusser, 2008, 34-37).

Parents with obese and overweight children know there is a possibility their children may stay obese when they become adults, but a lot of parents believe their children will grow out if it. Parents want to be comforting to their children, but giving your children food and over feeding them is not a comfort when later in life can cause harm to your child. What parents think is helping their children is in turn hindering them. Parents put their children at risk of having health complications each time food is shoved in front of them as a reward or comfort.

In the article, are parent's perceptions of their child's weight accurate, there was a study done to determine if parents of obese children realized their children's obesity would lead to health issues later in life? Advice was given to parents on how to intervene and get their children back on track so that they may live a healthier lifestyle. It was stated that many parents perception of their child's weight was nothing close to their child's actual weight. The statistics show how out of touch parents are with how mandatory it is to feed children healthy foods and stop overfeeding and super sizing the food the children have been fed (Slusser, 2008, 34-37).

Children are dependent on their parents for providing their nutrional needs. This goes to the extent of when children are fed, how much they ...