Childhood_Obesity

The Increase of Childhood Obesity                   All children gain weight as they grow older, but it is the extra pounds that kids are gaining which are leading to the growing problem of childhood obesity in the United States.  Obesity, which is unhealthy excess body fat, is a serious problem that affects every one in three children.  People may overlook the extra pounds that kids are putting on but it is these “insignificant” pounds that are leading children on a downward spiral to significant problems like diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol- all problems which were once confined to adults. In the past year, childhood obesity rates increased in twenty-three states and did not decrease in a single state. Though obesity is a growing epidemic that is affecting kids throughout the United States, it is the responsibility of the parents along with the U.S government and school systems to work conjointly in an effort to stop this unfortunate problem.  (http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/obesity/)      Childhood obesity is a complex problem that is caused by an imbalance between calories consumed and calories used.  One may think that this problem seems simplistic- why not just consume less calories'  The answer is that although obesity is caused by the imbalance of calories, in turn, the imbalance of calories is affected by the influence and interaction of multiple factors including genetic, behavioral, and environmental factors.            Genes play a major part in how your body balances calories and since obesity is caused by an imbalance of calories, genetic characteristics increase an individual’s susceptibility to excess body weight.  Obesity tends to run in families and a child with an obese parent or sibling is more likely to become obese.  There is an inherited component to childhood overweight that makes it easier for some children to become overweight than others and there are a number of single gene mutations that are capable of causing severe childhood obesity. While genetics does affect families, it needs to be taken in account that genetics alone does not cause obesity.  Many people throughout the United States are satisfied with simply attributing a child’s obesity to genetics.  However, genetic characteristics of humans have not changed in decades, yet obesity rates have tripled among children throughout the decades. In an effort to help obesity, it is essential to realize that even children with genetic risks will still only become overweight if they consume more calories than needed. http://www.obesity.org/information/childhood_overweight.asp             Obesity is such a difficult problem to tackle because there is not one specific behavior that causes it.  Rather, there are multiple behaviors that contribute to an energy imbalance, which then leads to obesity.  Eating large portion sizes of food and beverages with added sugar often contribute to excess energy intake to kids.    Recent studies are showing that the consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks is a leading factor of childhood obesity.  Between 56% and 85% of children in school have at least 1 can of soda every day. There are very few beverages on the market that have a low level of sugar, which is why switching water for sugary drinks is one of the small solutions offered for helping childhood obesity. Schools can help solve this problem support by restricting the sales of food and beverages that are high in fat and sugar. Emerging evidence shows schools can offer more healthy foods in their vending machines without losing revenue. A one-year “ditch the fizz” campaign discouraging both sweetened and diet soft drinks led to a  3 percent decrease of elementary school children who were overweight or obese. Not only can schools help out, but ideas have been brought up such as taxing high-calorie, low-nutrient food items. Many studies suggest that as a result of socio-economic status, families resort to buying cheaper, less nutritious food. Having a tax on these foods, and providing a local grocery store that offers plenty of healthful foods would help lower the childhood obesity rate. (http://healthyamericans.org/reports/obesity2            Along with energy imbalance, lack of physical activity and an increase in the amount of time children spend with the media are two contributing factors of obesity.  As said before, it is not individual factors that cause obesity but rather the interaction of multiple factors.  The popularity of television, computers, and video games is ultimately linked to the amount of kids who are inactive in the United States.  According to recent studies, children in the United States spend an average of over three hours per day watching television. Not only does this use little energy, but it also encourages snacking and the consumption of the dangerous sugar-sweetened drinks that were previously discussed.  Kids who spend more time with the media are being exposed to food advertisements and are not exercising enough. In order to help this growing epidemic, parents and schools must work together.  Schools can start fitness programs such as the FitKid project that was implemented in Georgia.  This program provided, "third-graders in Augusta-Richmond County with 80 minutes of physical activity and 40 minutes of academic enrichment every day after school for the duration of the school year." At the end of the program students who came in twice a week saw 0.7 percent decrease in their percentage of body fat, whereas children who did not join saw a .1 increase in body fat. Those who came in four times a week saw a tremendous decrease of 1.1 percent in their body fat. (http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/obesity/)     Environmental factors also contribute to childhood obesity. Parent-child interactions can affect the behaviors of young children so parents must be role models for their children by avoiding junk food and encouraging physical activity. Unfortunately, many parents are not able to be with their children 24/7 and in today’s society, there is the fear of unsafe environments. Many parents are apprehensive about letting their children go outside because of busy roads and crime. One possible solution is having more police patrol in communities so that parents feel at ease sending their kids outside for exercise. It is also important to not only focus on a child’s home environment, but also the environments within a school, child care, and community.   For example, a lack of sidewalks, safe bike paths, and parks in neighborhoods can discourage children from walking or biking to school as well as from participating in physical activity. Communities can not only provide sidewalks, but they can improve access to sporting facilities for both children and parents. Easy access for those from lower socio-economic groups is particularly important because kids in a lower socio-economic status do not have enough access to physical activity.                 ( http://www.obesity.org/information/childhood_overweight.asp)            Just like there are many factors that lead to obesity, the effects of obesity are just as numerous.  As the rates of obesity continue to rise, children are now suffering from diseases that once were thought to primarily plague adults.  Some common findings in overweight children are high cholesterol, high blood pressure, arthritis, fatty deposits in the liver, and type two diabetes.  In addition to diseases, extra adipose tissue found in overweight youths affects their hormonal balance.  Girls can develop an early onset of their menstrual cycle, whereas boys can develop breast tissue and have either an early onset or delay in puberty.  Unfortunately, obesity is not just a problem found in children and it is found that overweight children are more likely to become overweight adults.  In fact, a study found that approximately eighty percent who were overweight at ten to fifteen years old were obese at the age of twenty-five. (http://healthyamericans.org/reports/obesity2009/)             Not only does childhood obesity lead to physical effects on children, but being obese also leads to psychological effects.  In one study, severely obese children recorded their quality of life with scores as low as children undergoing chemotherapy for cancer. Just like social discrimination and low self-esteem can lead to weight gain, weight gain can lead to social discrimination and low self-esteem.  Bullying by other children is very common and children may often undergo social stigmatization by both children and adults. (http://www.obesity.org/information/childhood_overweight.asp)             Childhood obesity has become such a prevalent issue in the United States and many people are working on combating the problem, including the First Lady Michelle Obama.  On February 9th, 2010, Michelle released a program that is aimed at ending the American plague of childhood obesity.  The campaign called “Lets Move” calls for four pillars: getting parents more informed about nutrition and exercise, improving the quality of food in schools, making healthy foods more affordable, and focusing more on physical education.  As you can see, this program calls for more than one action, which is essential since obesity doesn’t have one primary cause.  On the front lines in the war against childhood obesity are the nation’s schools.  As previously stated, environmental factors greatly contribute to childhood obesity.  Since young people aged five to seventeen years are enrolled in schools and because they spend a majority of their time at school, tackling the problem of food and physical activity in school is vital. (http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/weightloss/2010-02-09-1Afirstlady09_CV_N.htm)                 The amount of children in the United States that are overweight is extremely alarming because of the gravity of the situation.  Obesity leads to many health risks, including Type II diabetes, asthma, sleep apnea, orthopedic problems, liver disease and hypertension. In order to help this epidemic, it is essential to understand the causes.  Although genetics plays a role in obesity, many of the causes are preventable and treatable.  It is imperative to increase physical activity, decrease the amount of sedentary behavior, and maintain good eating habits.                 http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/childhood-obesity/DS00698 http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/child_obesity/    http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/obesity/    http://www.rwjf.org/childhoodobesity/    http://www.obesity.org/information/childhood_overweight.asp   http://www.aces.edu/dept/extcomm/newspaper/child-obesity.html http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/obesityinchildren.html     http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php'tax_level=1&info_center=4&tax_subject=271 http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/publichealth/healthpromotion/obesity/ http://www.nutrition.gov/nal_display/index.php'info_center=11&tax_level=1   http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publichealth/Healthimprovement/Obesity/DH_6585