Childhood obesity in the United States (Research Paper Sample)

Childhood Obesity in the U.S Students Name: Institutional Affiliation: Thesis The major issues to be addressed by this paper include; the definition of child obesity. The Methods the research will employ in acquiring data on childhood obesity. The causes of childhood obesity. The likely symptoms by which parents or guardians can identify that their child is obese and thus taken the recommended action. The health effects of obesity in children both the long-term and short-term effects. The measures that can be undertaken to prevent and treat childhood obesity (Franks et al, 2010).A summary on what I recommend should be done based on the findings of the research I carried out. History Childhood obesity is a medical condition. It affects children and adolescents; this is representative of the age group between 5 to16. Obesity is the accumulation of fatty acids in the child’s body as compared to lean body mass. When a child’s weight is above the recommended weight for that age group or his height; this is when it is compared to a standard weight determined using the body mass index.BMI refers to a mathematical formula used by the center of disease control so as to ascertain the standard weight for each age group. This formula divides the individual’s weight in pounds by the square of his height (Waters et al, 2011). The result is then multiplied by 703, and the result is the BMI. This is then plotted on a chart known as the BMI for age and gender specific growth chart. By this, they can determine an individual as either overweight that refer to increased body weight as compared to height or as obese. Above the 95th percentile on the chart indicates obesity for either gender or age and between 85th to the 95th percentile indicate that an individual is overweight (Yaqubi, 2011). There has been a constant increase in the cases of childhood obesity since the year 1980.The figures indicate that the numbers increased from 7% to!2%in 2012 this is among the children. The Same observation has been made by the adolescents who are obese with their number increasing 5% to 21% in 2012.It sad but a fact that we all have to contend with that more than 33.3% of all children and adolescents were either overweight or obese in the year 2012.The last fifty years have seen the cases of obesity among children more than doubled. It is also sad to note that despite the fact that obesity is very easy to detect it passes the notice of any people; with at least thirty percent of all cases of obesity among adults being attributed to childhood obesity (Yaqubi, 2011).Obesity have become an epidemic and one that needs urgent measures to control. It’s the cause of at least 300000 adult deaths each year and costs the society at least 100 billion dollars each year in the maintenance of obese related conditions. Obesity as a medical condition does not kill by itself rather it creates an environment in which an individual is susceptible to other diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, stroke, diabetes, and dementia. It ranks among the deadliest medical conditions in the world (Waters et al, 2011). The causes of obesity according to the research conducted included; genetics, poor eating habits and patterns, lack of exercise or inactivity, nutrition-related issues, family factors, socio-economic factors, hormonal imbalance and resistance, availability of food, food addiction, aggressive advertising of products for children, lack of proper information, certain prescription drugs and pressures in the family. This is some of the findings discovered in this research that contribute to childhood obesity (Yaqubi, 2011). The first problem leading to obesity is Inactivity. It is a primary cause of obesity is as a result of the various conveniences that have come about as a result of modernization. This includes vehicles for transportation thus no walking to school or to the mall, junk food stores all over thus increasing the temptation of indulging in their intake (Anderson & Butcher, 2006). Televisions, video games, and the computer have replaced physical exercise as the only exercise the children prefer. This is worsened by the fact that there are remote controls meaning a child can do all that he needs from the comfort of his seat. This coupled with the fact that while seated he will probably be enjoying snack results in excess calories in the Childs body. Things have become too easy in America as compared to other countries, and this has impacted the American child heath negatively. Physical exercise has been totally neglected or ranks last in the priority of things to do thus increase in obese cases (Waters et al, 2011). Another major problematic area or cause is a poor choice of foods. We are all familiar that a balanced diet needs to contain proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, roughage, water and minerals but achieving this in the daily consumption routine becomes a bit hard. This has also been worsened by the advent of processed foods that are preferred due to the busy routines in families and their ease in preparation. These processed foods contain salts such as saturated fats, sodium and high fructose com syrup this and many more are harmful to the healthy development of the child. Eating fast foods in restaurants is ideal because preparing an ordinary meal at home is cumbersome and takes a lot of time to cook, thus eating of unbalanced foods is opted for in many American families (Yaqubi, 2011). These fast foods that are a hot favorite with the young generation are high in sodium and fats that in large amount lead to overweight and subsequent obesity. The third problematic area leading to obesity is genetic disposition of a child may also determine whether he will be obese or not. Genetics influences where fats may accumulate in the body and at what rate it is stored in the body. It is a common fact that is a child had obese parents then he is more than likely to become obese. Genetics has also been responsible...