Child Obesity Essay Example for Free

Child Obesity Essay America has it’s share of problems just like any other country throughout the world, but there is one issue in particular that has been a growing trend for years in America. Today’s topic of issue is child obesity, this is a huge problem in America and it seems to continue to grow in numbers. Child obesity is the highlight of my research, but due to lack of time there will only be an explanation of just one of the many issues with child obesity in America. So the question that the researcher has decided to research is: How does child obesity occur in America? After doing a lot of research, the author figured out that there are so many reasons that cause child obesity. Being obese has many risks associated with it like: diabetes, high blood pressure, trouble breathing, trouble with sleep and increased chance of heart disease. These risks stress the importance of preventing or managing child obesity. As we all know child obesity is very serious problem in America but like most problems there are ways that could either prevent child obesity or managed the child’s weight if they are already overweight. The author of this research topic decided to do a descriptive research to gather information for his topic. He basically collected data that was useful to answer the question for this topic from various reliable websites/sources. There are different issues that causes child obesity or obesity in general, like: some parents spoil their child and feed them anything the child wants with no limitations, some parents do not watch what their children eat, also parents just let their kids sit around and play videos games instead of making them go out to run around and play and some children cannot help it because obesity runs in their family. However, the author wanted to focus the attention of his audience on the question: How does child obesity in America occur and how can it be prevented or managed? Now according to American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, â€Å"the causes of obesity are complex and include genetic, biological, behavioral and cultural factors† (American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, 2010). The Mayo Clinic considered child obesity â€Å"particularly troubling because the extra pounds often start children on the path to health problems that were once confined to adults, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol† (The Mayo Clinic, 1998-2011). The author believes those extra pounds come from the person eating more calories than their body actually burns. Obesity in childhood can be caused by things like: â€Å"poor eating habits, overeating, lack of exercise, family history of obesity, stressful life experiences, low self esteem or depression† (American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, 2010). But those are only a few of the ways that could cause child obesity leading up to their adulthood. Just because a child is carrying a few extra pounds does not mean he/she is overweight or obese, some people have larger body frames than others† (The Mayo Clinic, 1998-2011). Not all children even adults are obese by the looks of their outer appearance; it could very well because they larger than normal body frames or as a lot people like to call it â€Å"big-boned†. If a parent is worried about whether their child is overweight or not, they could always visit their doctor who will measure their child’s body mass index (BMI) and compare the stats to other children of the same sex and age range. The Mayo Clinic says â€Å"Although there are some genetic and hormonal causes of childhood obesity, most of the time its caused by kids eating too much and exercising too little† (The Mayo Clinic, 1998-2011). According to American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry obesity in childhood can be caused by things like: â€Å"poor eating habits, overeating, lack of exercise, family history of obesity, stressful life experiences, low self esteem or depression† (American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, 2010). If parents would take more control of what and how much their children eat, that would alleviate some of the causes of their becoming overweight. Being aware of what their children eat is important for their child’s health because one of the main causes for child obesity, parents not being aware. The author obviously is not saying to starve or deny the children food, but do not feed the child too much to the point where it is effecting the child’s weight and overall health. Parents that do such things are harming their kids and either they are in denial about it or they do not realize it. lso parents should not let their children become â€Å"couch potatoes† laying in front of the television playing video games all day, they should have them go outside to play and run around, it helps with their child’s overall health, but even that has limitation due to safety issues that has developed over the years. The author also suggested the parents should keep thei r children active by signing them up for recreational sports such as basketball, baseball, and soccer or flag football. Obesity could also be part of that child’s family history, that is something the child cannot help but they can manage their weight so it become out of hand and become heavier than they have to be. Also they should not use their family history as an excuse to eat unhealthy or overeat. Even though they may be overweight due to family history, they could still manage their weight. People can help the issue of over feeding their child versus a child that cannot help their weight because of it running in their family. The author suggests the parents should be more specific on how much they will give their child to eat at certain time of the day, basically having a set schedule for breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner. His reason for suggesting this is because a person who actually has control over their weight can control what they eat and when they eat and since we are speaking on child obesity, it is the parent’s responsibility to control that. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says â€Å"Obese youth are more likely to have risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure. In a population-based sample of 5- to 17-year-olds, 70% of obese youth had at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Children and adolescents who are obese are at greater risk for bone and joint problems, sleep apnea, and social and psychological problems such as stigmatization and poor self-esteem† (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,2011). Having stressful life experiences could also lead to low self esteem which can in turn lead to a person not caring too much about themselves and begin to harm themselves by â€Å"stuffing† themselves with food. We see these type of issues in schools, where children tease others about things in general which lower that child’s self-esteem, that in turn would lead to that child wanting to that child doing many things including eating entirely too much. But besides school there are other instances where people get their confidence lowered by general life experiences, again this happens everyday where the child or people in general would just hide themselves in their houses from the world because they feel no confidence with themselves. They should seek advice from reliable people they can trust and keep themselves around positive people who would give them encouragement to get past their condition and not let it hinder them from doing anything they want. To conclude, I would like to piggyback on a few things. First, child obesity or obesity in general can be managed even if the individual does not have a family history, which should not be an excuse to eat more than a person is supposed to. Today’s main question was: How does child obesity in America occur? Again, according to American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, â€Å"the causes of obesity are complex and include genetic, biological, behavioral and cultural factors† (American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, 2010). Child obesity is can be caused by a number of things, but the author/researcher only used a few of the causes like: â€Å"poor eating habits, overeating, lack of exercise, family history of obesity, stressful life experiences, low self esteem or depression† (American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, 2010). Poor eating habits, overeating and stressful life experiences to a certain extent can be managed in order to either prevent or manage a child’s weight gain and overall health. Also â€Å"Children and adolescents who are obese are at greater risk for bone and joint problems, sleep apnea, and social and psychological problems such as stigmatization and poor self-esteem† (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011). â€Å"Although there are some genetic and hormonal causes of childhood obesity, most of the time its caused by kids eating too much and exercising too little† (The Mayo Clinic, 1998-2011). A lot of this happens because of the children’s parents letting them overeat and not having them exercise and staying active as much as they should. If those parents would just control what their children eat and how much they eat, that part of the cause of obesity can be practically eliminated. Lack of exercise can also be managed, parents should not let their child be a â€Å"couch potato† but have their child go out doors to play and run around with friends because that could help with their child burning off calories that they may have added from eating, it also helps with their overall health.