OBESITY AMONG AMERICAN CHILDREN. Research Paper Assignment (Research Paper Sample)

OBESITY AMONG AMERICAN CHILDREN
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OBESITY AMONG AMERICAN CHILDREN
A report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) outlined an overall improvement in the health of American children from 2000 to 2015. It acknowledged a decline in deaths caused by curable diseases and health conditions. However, it noted the ever increasing trends of obesity and warned that this placed American children at risk of numerous health challenges in the future (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016). Similar concerns by Stanhope and Lancaster (2016, 651) indicated that the prevalence of obesity among school going children in the United States had more than doubled between 1980 and 2012. For children between six and eleven years, this number had risen consistently from 7% to 18% of the population. Correspondingly, an increase from 5% to 21% was realized in the population of adolescents between ages twelve and nineteen. These left approximately 30% of all American children obese or overweight. Considering the health implications, financial costs, and psychological effects associated with obesity, many institutions and scholars attempt to generate sustainable solutions to this challenge. This can be achieved through a proper understanding of the causes, health risks, effects, and solutions for childhood obesity in the American population.
According to the Harvard School of Public Health (2012, 1), the leading causes of obesity among American children include medical conditions, genetics, psychological factors, poor diet, sedentary trends, environmental influence, poor trends of sleep, and socioeconomic factors. Of these, the last five can be controlled and managed by adjusting children’s lifestyles and engaging them in physically healthy activities.