Childhood Obesity- Amanda Robinson

In recent years, child obesity rates have skyrocketed in developing countries at alarming rates. The United States is one of the main victims of this statistic. Between the mid-1970s and the mid-2000s the percentage of overweight children ages two to five years increased from 5% to 13.9% and for children ages six to eleven years from 6.5% to 18.8%. Furthermore, overweight and obesity in teens increased from 5% to 17.4%. In 2007, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that 1.6 billion people over the age of fifteen were overweight and at least 400 million were obese.

Television, video games, and computers have replaced outside physical activity in the lives of most kids. While taking part in these activities, a child will tend to snack on food that is usually unhealthy. In addition, fewer children are walking to schools or riding their bikes. There is less recess time for children and fear of crime prevents outside play. Highly-processed, high-calorie meals and fast foods have replaced home made hearty meals. Instead of family meals, children are now snacking on foods such as cookies, chips, and sodas. Less than twenty percent of American children obtain the recommended serving of fruits and vegetables per day.

With obesity comes the possibility of serious health conditions it may cause. Although most are not likely to happen as early as childhood, they do develop rapidly in adulthood and may become more fatal. Some of the most common problems are type II diabetes, heart disease, bone and joint problems, etc.

Parents can play a big role in their child’s life by instilling correct and healthy habits. Serving healthy foods, methods like baking or broiling, eliminating junk foods, and eating meals together as a family can help children find an ideal weight.

This entry was posted on 9. December 2011 at 02:53 and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.