Childhood Obesity Essays Example

Introduction

Today’s young children spend many hours in deskbound activities and they usually prefer to eat unhealthy food rather than eating fresh fruits and vegetables. The unhealthy food intake and poor exercise can result in unhealthy body system that can cause obesity. Childhood obesity is a common or a serious issue that affects the children and adolescents worldwide. It indicates that there is a higher rate of obesity among children of all ages compared to the generation of children years ago. In 2004, the institute of Medicine Committee on Prevention of Obesity in Children and Youth reported that about nine million children in America with ages six years old and above are obese. Childhood obesity affects the minority youth population disproportionately. According to the Epidemiology and Public Health Section of the Royal Society of Medicine or RSM conference associated with the Pediatric Section that, over the past twelve years, the childhood obesity rates have increased by three- to fourfold. In addition, the conference highlighted the initiatives important to reduce and reverse the trends of childhood obesity. In 2010, a survey conducted by the National Health and Nutrition Examination shows that twenty-one to twenty-three percent of the African American and Hispanic adolescent of ages twelve to nineteen years old are overweight than the non-Hispanic White adolescent with fourteen percent rate. In the Hispanic children of ages eleven, twenty-two percent are overweight compared to the twenty percent African American children and fourteen percent non-Hispanic children. Childhood Obesity is a result of significantly less energy spent by children on a daily basis and the family’s unhealthy dietary and exercise patterns. The issue in childhood obesity is a serious threat to the health of our country; health and physical education specialists should focus their attention on strategies and solutions for reducing the occurrence of obesity in children, and parents should regulate the amount of food their children eat.

The Problem

Children’s conditions on obesity are due to the family’s unhealthy dietary and exercise patterns. Childhood obesity is a medical condition common affecting the health of the children and adolescents . As calculated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC, obesity occurs when the body mass index or BMI of a child of is equivalent to or greater than a 95th percentile. Obesity among children cannot be reduced if there is no improvement of the diet and exercise habits of the whole family. Most children are exposed to fast food advertisements that inevitably influence the food choices they eat. In the advertisement, many of the food contain high in sugar, fat, and calories. In addition, children are the heaviest consumers of carbonated beverages and drink sodas more frequently. Obesity cannot be treated and prevented if there is no cooperation from the parents or guardians to protect the health of their children today. The extra pounds gained by children are a serious condition, which can start to health issues.
Childhood obesity is also the result of less energy spent by children on a daily basis that can cause poor self-esteem and depression. Children in this present generation spend most of their time on deskbound activities such as playing online games, internet, and watching favorite movies on televisions. The children spending their time on these types of activities replaced the active activities and the poor physical activities lead to some social and health-related issues. Obese children are often subjected to ridicule by their classmates at school. The torment experienced by obese children affects the personality and confidence; children tend to stay away from peers because they are preoccupied with their body image, especially girls.
The obesity among children can cause serious diseases leading to death. There are immediate effects and long-term effects on the health of the children. The immediate health effects of the obese children are at high risk of high blood pressure, pre-diabetes, bone and joint illness, and psychological and social issues. While the long-term health effects are most likely, become obese as adults and at risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. The negative effects of obesity can lead to severe complications and even death.

The Solution

Responsible parenting and public awareness can help reduce or prevent childhood obesity as a serious threat to the health of the children all over the world. For the parents, they should regulate the amount of food their children eat. For the health and physical education specialists, they should give more attention to the strategies to reduce the prevalence of obesity among children.
A balanced life between the environment and the person allows some people to decide to have an active and healthier life. Proper guidance in the healthy food intake and proper exercise is the responsibility of the parents for their children to have healthy body system.
The health and physical education specialists should give more attention to the strategies to reduce the prevalence of obesity among children through the awareness program of the childhood obesity. Dr. Fiona Adshead, Deputy Chief Medical Officer of Department of Health or DH for England provided the quality presentation entitled, “Childhood Obesity Delivering the Strategies” during the one-day conference. The agenda of the Dr. Adshead’s presentation is associated with the participation of Department of Education and Skills, and Department for Culture Media and Sports in highlighting the need for different government agencies to participate in the childhood obesity issue.
The DH is involved in every goal set by the current Public Service Agreement or PSA with its key themes to reduce the prevalence of childhood obesity. The key themes are (1) change in attitudes towards a balanced life; (2) help children be active in school or at home and eat healthy food regularly; (3) target interventions locally; (4) raise the awareness on childhood obesity; (5) work together with the local partners consistently; and (6) help the public develop more knowledge. In the perspective of the key themes provided by the PSA, the lives of the children are greatly influenced by different factors necessary to reduce the obesity levels. In addition, the DH is part of the program on social marketing or SMP; a ten years program that encourages children of ages two to ten years to have lifestyles that are more active and follow the guidelines for eating healthier food. The main objective of the program is to reach out parents and specialists to develop overall preventative strategies on childhood obesity for the entire community.

The Rebuttal

The lack of awareness about childhood obesity is a great danger of the future generation. In the local socioeconomic environment, there are deep disparities to accessing the healthy food and recommended activity, financially and physically. The disparities may contribute to the epidemic of childhood obesity, particularly, the minority groups with higher rates of obesity than the entire population. Even the people are committed; the problem is both not organized and not sustained. The effort to address the childhood obesity is not directed at the right age group. There is no focus on the commitment and interest of the very youngest children and families. David McCarron, Executive Director of Shaping America’s Youth or SAY said that, they conducted national survey of programs for physical activity and nutrition in children to obtain clear status of the issue on childhood obesity. The failure to determine the real barriers that caused the problem may disconnect the objectives of the program. McCarron added that the organization should hear the local feedbacks from the families in the community, and not just to teach the people something to follow some guidelines.
In the United States, the childhood obesity has grown to become an epidemic. There is nothing or single strategy or solution that can prevent the disease. The inactive lifestyles of the American schoolchildren have reached the alarming stage. If there is no greater attention or focus and preventive measures, the highest obesity rates will continuously increase.

Conclusion

Most of the school-aged children spent the majority their time in school expose with unhealthy food. At home, most children spent playing online games, internet, and watching television. However, parents, school leaders, and health specialists can support the children and are strong advocates for fighting childhood obesity. The physical education program in school is one of the best things to do along with the health educators. The specialists can lead all the children to succeed in the decision-making necessary to create progress in fighting the epidemic on obesity. Every parent should work cohesively for the best interest for his or her children. A thorough examination and analysis are necessary that every strategy or solution is useful tools for a healthy future. Healthy body and physically active are significant to the schoolchildren to promote a balanced life. A daily or regular physical activity can lead to a high quality of life for every child. In addition, parents are the role models for an active decision that demonstrates care, concern, and love for the well-being of their children. Throughout the world, physical education programs should be a proactive approach to assist the children suffering from obesity associated with proper diet, physical fitness, counseling, and proper nutrition. Every person can contribute positive ways to assisting the children to try hard and reach the lifetime health objectives for a better generation.

Works Cited

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