Problem: Childhood Obesity in America

As you’ve probably heard, more children are becoming overweight today in America than ever before. Experts are calling this an “obesity epidemic.” To first understand childhood obesity we must ask ourselves what is obesity?

Obesity is a diet-related chronic disease involving excessive body fat that increases the risk of health problems. Many doctors have expressed obesity has an increasing problem in today’s youth as obesity can lead to many health issues such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and strokes these are serious health condition that can lead to death.

The graph above shows the correlation between obesity and type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes can lead to blindness, nerve damage, and kidney disease.

Obesity can also lead to coronary heart disease, stroke, and high blood pressure furthermore increasing the health ramifications of obesity. Now childhood obesity is defined by the center of disease and control (CDC) as a diagnosis for any child same sex and age with a Body Mass Index at or above the 95th percentile. Not only those obesity affect kids physical but also mentally and emotionally with the constant feeling of insecurities and non-stop barrage of bullying by their peers because of their weight will take a toll on these young kids lives. Still many people will ignore the fact and reality that obesity is a real health threat that can kill and harm anyone that has this horrid disorder especially the kids who have to live with it everyday.

Throughout the years obesity has continued its meteoric rise into the lives of the youth in America. How does a nation let this happen? How do people let this happen to the future of our nation? How Do parents let this happen to the next generation? Kids whole life in shambles and on the brink of death. This must come to a halt and fast. Obesity is a fast-growing health and social pandemic among the youth,young adults, and kids of tomorrow due to careless eating habits and inadequate exercise.

What goes into the body is a very important. The body is like a car that needs to be maintained and taken care of. To keep a car going you have to get the oil change and put premium oil in the car. Same with the body to keep it functioning at its utmost perfection healthy nutrition is key. The problem with most obese kids in America is that they do not know the dangers of what they are putting in their bodies. Over the past decade over consumption of fast foods has risen and this has highly affected obesity rates. The Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported ” Fast foods are eleven percent of American diets”.

So many homes in America are spending money on foods that could kill them and their children. An average man needs 2500 calories to maintain normal body weight but one meal from Burger King contains 2000 calories alone. So eating a meal from Burger King twice a day puts the body two times over the normal calorie intake. All that fat stores in the body and leads to obesity. A kid eating fast foods throughout their lifetime will surely lead to weight related health issues later in life.

So instead of spending thousands of dollars yearly on foods that are nothing but harmful to the body households should consider fresh homemade foods. In this day and age there are plenty of websites and resources that shows how to obtain cheap healthy ingredients and healthy recipes.

Therefore many will argue that it is the parents fault for the increase of obesity in children in modern society with parents knowing fast foods is unhealthy. The kNOw Youth Media stated: Childhood obesity is a serious issue, but fast food restaurants are unfairly blamed for the problem. The real responsibility lies with parents, whose job it is to keep their children safe and healthy.

Parents need to set a good example about food and exercise in order to create healthy habits in their children, but the first step is that parents need to start thinking of obesity as a dangerous condition that can lead to serious health problems or even be life threatening.( Quoted in Parents Are Responsible for What Children Eat, Not Restaurants) Yes, it is a parent’s job to make sure their child is healthy and maintains a proper diet for healthy living but there is so much more to it.

For example an average home cooked meal only contains half the calories of meal from a fast food restaurant. So why do parents not just cook at home? Well cooking requires ingredients and good quality ingredients can be expensive. The price of a couple of a couple of chicken breast is the same has two buckets of KFC fried chicken. So lower income families cannot afford such luxuries. The government does provide food stamps but it is very limited. So has has a society there should be methods on how parents can be better informed on the nutrition for their kids and ways to better cook in the house on limited budgets. This will help the parents and kids reduce childhood obesity in America.

Furthermore, Exercise is also an essential part of maintaining the body healthy and reducing childhood obesity. A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported: Twenty minutes of physical activity per day over three months can reduce the risk of obesity in children,But 40 minutes of physical activity per day over three months is even better for children, the study also found, reducing more total body fat and the risk of developing obesity-related diseases like Type 2 diabetes and plaque buildup in the arteries.(Quoted in Children’s Health; “Exercise Dose and Diabetes Risk in Overweight and Obese Children”).

A few minutes outside can make a big difference, yet more kids are being more and more inactive. In modern society technology has consumed the time and lives of children. Instead of going outside for twenty minutes kids stay at home and watch tv, play games, or on their devices. A little jog outside, a game tag, hide and seek, throwing the football, even just a little walk can go long way for the health of kids. The graph above identifies how at the rise of technology the obesity rate has increased among the youth. Before the invention of televisions and video games kids used to have to go outside to entertain themselves.

These kids were unknowingly helping their own lives in becoming safe from weight related diseases and obesity. Yet, kids in this new century know the advantages of exercise and disadvantages of inactivity.Parents and the youth themselves should Turn off the television and video games it will do no harm but instead help lead a healthy life. Daily exercise can also offset genetic obesity. Therefore kids should go do what kids are suppose to do. Get up and go play.

In conclusion, Obesity is a serious health condition for the youth that must be addressed. Obese is a result of dietary issues and lack of activity. America is one of the most powerful nations in the world and should be taking care of the next generation of the country. For every problem there is a solution. Society must come together to find a solution for this unfortunate problem that the youth of America is facing. Society needs to band together to provide the kids of tomorrow a chance to live a healthier life and maintain that healthy lifestyle.

Childhood obesity is a horrid problem that kids across America must go through but working together has a nation will exterminate childhood obesity.

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