Analysis Childhood Obesity (Essay Sample)

Analysis Childhood obesity
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Childhood obesity is a growing problem in the US, and since the 1970’s there has been recognition that the epidemic could become unmanageable if no action is undertaken, and there are numerous factors that have worsened the problem. It is noteworthy that nowadays children are less active and they tend to spend too much time in front of the Television and computers. At the same time, fewer of them engage in physical activities as the government has scaled back on funding programs. Another issue pertaining to child obesity is that there are fewer health options being offered to children. Healthy foods are typically more expensive, while unhealthy foods are marketed to children more often than healthy foods. Additionally, there are more fast food restaurants stocking unhealthy foods making it easier for children to have access to these foods.
Education on childhood obesity is an important aspect to improving the health outcomes of children. One of the issues to be taken into account is that the diet intake of children affects their weight. As such, there is a need to reduce the consumption of unhealthy foods including soft drinks and sugary beverages. Through sensitizing parents, teachers and children on the need to substitute carbonated drinks and junk foods, then there is likely to be change in eating habits. However, there is recognition that children have become accustomed to unhealthy foods, and incremental changes should be implemented over time as there is bound to be resistance to these changes.
There are various factors that have caused the obesity epidemic to escalate in the U.S. in view of this, and President Obama constituted a task force to tackle childhood obesity. Equally, Michelle Obama launched the “Let’s Move” campaign with the goal of reducing and eliminating childhood obesity within a generation (CQ researcher, 2010). There is also recognition that in order to reduce child obesity, there ought to be policies to improve healthier eating. In most cases, unhealthy food is common in poor neighborhoods, and even educating residents may not be effective towards improving the dietary intake of such residents. Since fast food marketing targeting children is common, and the sensitizing parents and teachers to encourage better food choices is vital to providing positive role modeling.
The need to improve children’s eating habits and encouraging physical activities, while also increasing medical checkups are some of the identified aspects of the Michelle “Let’s Move” campaign. However, for this intuitive to be a success, there is a need for cooperation from food producers, as food makers promised to reduce the amount of fat, salt and sugar in food marketed to children (Stolberg, 2010). In undertaking the initiative, Michelle Obama recognized that it was not easy to deal with the obesity problem, but sustained efforts would bring positive charges over time. ...