Childhood Obesity

Thesis

Obesity in American is a growing epidemic; for that reason it is important that we be able to prevent it, identify early warning signs and, learn ways to overcome it.

What is obesity?

Childhood obesity is a serious medical condition that affects children and adolescents. It occurs when the child's weight is above the normal weight for his or her age and height. Childhood obesity is a problem because the extra weight often set kids on a path to health problems that were once only seen in adults such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. Children today are eating excess amounts of food and are exercising less. In today's society children are spending more time watching TV, playing video games, and surfing the Internet instead of engaging in a daily physical activity.

What are major risks factors associated with it?

“Obesity has become a pandemic, with more than a billion people affected worldwide. More than 30% of children in the United States are overweight or obese.” According to the International Obesity Task Force 22 million of the world's children under 5 years of age are overweight or obese. Childhood obesity is a world wide problem that is being seen everywhere not just in well developed countries. Children that are overweight or obese are known to have physical and psychological problems. The development of obesity is not fully understood, and it is believed that there are several factors that contribute to childhood obesity such as lifestyle choices and cultural environment. “In general, overweight and obesity are assumed to be the results of an increase in caloric and fat intake. On the other hand, there are supporting evidence that excessive sugar intake by soft drink, increased portion size, and steady decline in physical activity have been playing major roles in the rising rates of obesity all around the world.”

Low income or single parent families are at greater risk of having overweight or obese children due to financial problems, These parents have a hard time trying to make ends meet, and as a result they don't always buy healthy food. These families buy what they can afford, and as a result the children are eating more fatty foods that are unhealthy or maybe lacking proper nutrients that a child needs to grow up healthy.

Health Statistics

A study of adolescent obesity dynamics was undertaken across four longitudinal studies using nationally representative data from Brazil, Russia, and the U.S. and a nationwide survey data from China showed that overweight prevalence measured by changes in the time periods has increased in Brazil 4.1% to 13.9%, China 6.4% to 7.7%, and the US 15.4% to 25.6%. In Russia, overweight decreased 15.6% to 9.0%.

Overweight and obese children are often teased for being fat, which has impacted their self, esteem level, and can contribute to psychological problems. In a research that looked specifically at fat teasing - being teased, bullied, or called horrible names for being fat using questionnaire inserted into a self-perception profile for children. In a ...