Childhood Obesity (Essay Sample)

Child hood obesity
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26 September 2014
Child hood obesity
Childhood obesity has become a global issue. This has been a problem of many countries around the world such as Australia and Britain (State Government of Victoria 2014). The issue has been a challenge due to the problems it causes to the healthcare sector. In fact, the increasing number of obese children means that the healthcare will be constrained in taking care of the burgeoning number of obese children. Several factors have been highlighted as leading to rise of obesity in children. Moreover, obesity in children has negative consequences to the child. A reflection on statistics, causes, and effects of obesity in children helps in devising ways to reduce it in the society.
The statistics of the number of obese children around the world is shocking. This is because the trend is on the rise in different countries. The United Kingdom is one of the countries with a significant number of obese children. The children between 2 and 19 years are challenged significantly by the problem in the United Kingdom (Kellow 2014). The most worrying thing is that number is expected to increase in the future. The issue has also weighed heavily to the economy. It costs the country over two billion pounds a year to cater for the obese children (Kellow 2014). The other worrying trend is the increasing number of parents not concerned of their children getting obese. This is because parents have began getting used to seeing overweight kids and hence fails to recognize their own children as being obese (Kellow 2014).
There are several reasons for the rise of obesity in children. One of such factors has been the change in food choices. An increasing number of children have been feeding on food with excess fat and sugar instead of healthier foods (State Government of Victoria 2014). This has been due to easy access to cheap and marketing of such foods. Secondly, there has been increasing change of lifestyle in the country. People lifestyle and jobs have made them become dormant and hence less active as compared to the past. There has also been an increase in luxurious activities such as television watching, video games, and access to the internet (NHS 2014). The children while sitting carry out these activities. On the other hand, children have fewer hours to walk. This is because they are driven from and to schools and hence less time for physical activities (NHS 2014).
Obesity in children leads to a negative impact on children. The rise of obesity in children leads to different health problems. Some of the health problems include heart disease, diabetes, and asthma (Letsmove n.d.). The obese children may also get weight related health problems as an immediate consequence (Letsmove n.d.). Such children have also been shown to have a higher risk to cardiovascular diseases (Letsmove n.d.). The children are also most likely to get obese as they age (Letsmove n.d.).
There are also social and psychological problems. Obese children are likely to be the target of social discrimination (Letsmove n.d.). Such form of stigmatization may lead to psychological stress and hence cause of low esteem in children (Letsmove n.d.). This may act as a deterrent to excellent academic per...