Childhood_Obesity

Obesity in children has increased rapidly in the last two decades; it is becoming an epidemic that researchers believe is consistently getting worse. Without immediate intervention and change obesity will have terrible effects on children for the rest of their lives. The recent spike has been caused by many factors such as an introduction to fast food, little time for home cooked meals due to overworked parents, sedentary lifestyle, television becoming a babysitter, and unhealthy eating habits. Childhood obesity is not only bad for the obvious health reasons such as risk for heart problems or stroke, but also obesity causes psychological problems in many children. When a child is obese he or she will most likely be ridiculed by other children causing social problems. At the ages of some of these children self-esteem is needed and self worth is a huge step for a child to grow up. When those are affected it can result in many psychological problems for the child in his or her later years. The negative social experiences that these obese children will encounter are inevitable due to society’s norms and expectations. Obesity in children today has stemmed from many years of negligence from parents, and businesses who advertise products that appeal to children and parents alike, but lack the nutritional values that are necessary for proper growth. Looking at Obesity: Definitions & Causes The two main causes of childhood obesity are lack of physical activity and poor diet and nutrition choices. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, obesity is defined as, “a weight that is not considered healthy for a certain height, and that can increase the likelihood of diseases.” Obesity is determined on an individual basis by checking the body mass index or “BMI” which is the percentage of body fat a person has and determining if it is within the healthy range for that person’s height it is age and sex specific. In 2002 the World Health Organization listed that nearly, “twenty million children under the age of five are obese.” This morbid statistic really shows the severity of the problem eight years ago, the fact that today the problem still persists calls experts to insist on change. Obesity is brought on by a culture that focuses on convenience where cars are seen as a necessity and things like remote controls for televisions allow for a person to move as little as possible. Eating habits have changed drastically over the years, things like larger portion sizes, foods high in fats, sugars, and carbohydrates, the most common change has been the increase in the amount of calories consumed by the average person. It has been scientifically proven that if an individual intakes more calories than he or she expends during the day, weight gain will be experienced. Television viewing has also increased, at one point only wealthy families had television sets in their homes; today many families have multiple televisions in their homes and children have their own televisions as well. A random sampling taken by researchers in West Sussex, England showed that 34% of advertisements run during children’s programming are for food. Video games, computers, and internet all things that promote a sedentary lifestyle for children cause obesity rates to rise. Effects of Childhood Obesity The effects of obesity on children are physical and psychological. Obese children more prone to health issues later in life that stem from their weight like heart problems like heart attack, some other health issue that these children may encounter if their weight is not controlled are things like diabetes, stroke, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. Other problems faced by obese children are not always the obvious physical issues. What some may not know but researchers say is almost more significant than the usual physical limitations is the psychological and social challenges that these obese children have to deal with. Children that are obese suffer from many challenges when dealing with their weight. Evidence supported by research is now showing that obese people are more likely to suffer from psychological distress from depression, poor quality of life, low self-esteem, and eating disorders. These psychological problems are seen in boys and girls. A study shows that by the age of five the effects can be seen in obese girls, however, researchers note that younger obese boys show less effects of obesity; these become clearer in teenage years. The relationship between obesity and depression can seen amongst those children whose weight problems transcended into their adolescent years. The depression is seen by doctors to be brought on primarily by the social isolation from peers, peer rejection, and shame they feel because of their weight problems. The children who are overweight are looked down on by their peers because of the negative stigmas relayed by society that are stereotypes. These obese kids are stereotyped as having no social skills, being unhealthy, academically inferior, lazy, and unhygienic. These psychological effects can transform over time in the children and turn into other problems. Research has shown especially with females who where obese at early age they develop eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia, both are very dangerous eating disorders with hazardous effects all stemming from being obese as a child. Solutions to Childhood Obesity Solutions to the weight problem have been promoted recently by many different agencies from the government to the NFL. The National Football League is trying to increase the activity in children’s lives with the Play 60 program that is trying to make kids more active every day. This program promotes physical activity and is trying to get children to go out and play at least sixty minutes to get exercise daily and reduce obesity. It is a general consensus among experts that if parents just took the extra time to show their kids how to eat healthy and play sports the obesity rate would start dropping. Other ways that childhood obesity can be fought is improving diet and nutrition knowledge in schools. Every child must take health in high school but in most cases it is too late. Children in elementary school need to be shown that eating healthy is good and fun at the same time. As previously stated most ads aired during children’s programming are food related; a solution to that is monitoring the television that children are watching. Researchers have recorded that many families with obese children are also families where the parents work full time, or it is a single parent household and family dinners have become dinner in front of the television. It has been proven that eating in front of the television causes bad nutrition habits. All of the food commercials that air are not usually for healthy foods thus it implants thoughts and desires for high fat, or high sugar foods making it less likely for the person watching to choose nutritional foods when hungry. If family dinners were re-introduced nutritional foods can be prepared resulting in good wholesome family time involving good wholesome foods. The children will relate the two together and be less likely to eat bad foods and the family will be a tighter unit, which can also prevent eating disorders down the road. The most obvious solution hailed by all researchers and experts is simply dieting and exercise. If those two can be practiced by all, not just children the world will be a healthier place for all. In the last few decades obesity in children has become extremely prevalent and can be seen all over the country. With all of the innovations in quick meals and fast food, children have not been getting the proper nutrition needed for a healthy life. Not only is this effecting the physical health of children by causing a sedentary lifestyle and limiting physical activity, but also making them susceptible to diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and other major problems. Obese children are also more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety, eating disorders, negative self image, and an entire laundry list of other psychological problems that can handicap these children all the way through childhood, teenage years, and potentially for the rest of their lives. Researchers agree that if things are not put into place quickly to undo the harm done not only will the obesity rate in children sky rocket, but many of those children will not make the transition into being an affective adult and will not have the abilities to be successful later in life. More physical activity needs to be pushed towards these kids to get them into a healthier lifestyle. All in all obesity in a huge problem in society today, experts warn that if something isn’t done to fight it soon huge it may spin out of control and possibly become an epidemic that cripples an entire generation. Most solutions proposed by experts stem from the basic idea of dieting and exercising. Obesity rates in children have exponentially grown and they need to be stopped so there can be happy healthy children. Works Cited Ács, Zoltán J., Alan Lyles, and Kenneth R. Stanton. Obesity, Business, and Public Policy. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2007. Print. Burns, Annina Catherine., Kara Nyberg, and Lynn Parker. Childhood Obesity Prevention in Texas: Workshop Summary. Washington, D.C.: National Academies, 2009. Print. http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/defining.html Parker, Lynn, Annina Catherine. Burns, and Eduardo Sanchez. Local Government Actions to Prevent Childhood Obesity. Washington, DC: National Academies, 2009. Print. Poskitt, E. M. E., and Laurel Edmunds. Management of Childhood Obesity. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2008. Print. Weber, Karl. Food, Inc.: How Industrial Food Is Making Us Sicker, Fatter and Poorer -- and What You Can Do about It. New York: PublicAffairs, 2009. Print. Whitacre, Paula, and Annina Catherine. Burns. Perspectives from United Kingdom and United States Policy Makers on Obesity Prevention: Workshop Summary. Washington, D.C.: National Academies, 2010. Print. Williams, Kimberly, and Marcel Lebrun. Keeping Kids Safe, Healthy, and Smart. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2009. Print.