Causes and Effects of Childhood Obesity (Essay Sample)

Childhood obesity
Name
Institution
Childhood Obesity
The issue of childhood obesity is one of the biggest public health challenges in the 21st century. The issue has grown to become a global problem because its preference keeps on increasing at an alarming rate. The problem, however, can be controlled with proper healthy eating habits.
Causes of Childhood Obesity
Childhood obesity is caused by eating too much calories without enough physical activities. Children who feed on chunk food or food that is less healthy and they perform less physical activity are likely to become obese. Their bodies store extra calories in fat cells to be used as a source of energy later. If children continue with such behavior for a long time, their bodies do not use the stored energy, and the child may develop obesity. Obesity is mostly influenced by the person’s lifestyle, habits, genetics, environment and also some medical conditions. Children’s eating habits are influenced by various factors, which, when not watched well lead to poor eating habits resulting in obesity. For instance, children are tempted to feed on sugary drinks and less healthy foods when they are in school because they have access to the foods throughout the day. The school canteens, vending machines, school parties, and sporting events are among the factors that compel children to feed on sugary drinks and unhealthy foods that result in obesity (CDC, 2013).
Advertising of the less healthy foods through media affects the children’s ability to choose healthy foods. Another possible cause of obesity is lack of daily physical activity in schools. Most schools fail to implement the recommendations of at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day. This result in children feeding on high energy foods without using the energy through the exercises. In addition, some communities are built in places that make it difficult for children to be physically fit. For instance, some communities do not have safe routes for walking, bike riding, or playing (Larson, Story, Nelson, 2009). Lastly, lack of breastfeeding support also is believed to be the cause of