Children Obesity Essay Sample
Childhood obesity essays are commonly assigned to medical and nursing college students to encourage them to think about effective ways of combating the emerging public-health crisis. Use this informative, facts-based essay sample to craft your own paper about the problem of obesity among children.
Childhood Obesity Essay Introduction
Long are gone the days when American parents worried about the undernourishment of their children. Over the past several decades, another problem has come into public focus. Nowadays, parents and medical professionals alike are disturbed by the high prevalence rates of obesity among children and serious complications of the condition. Given that approximately 30% of children in America are affected by obesity, there is a pressing need to focus public health initiatives on mitigating the harmful influence of the obesogenic environment. The aim of this paper is to explore the issue of childhood obesity, its epidemiology, and effects. The paper will also outline several promising solutions for halting uncontrolled weight gain and promoting long-term reductions in children’s body mass index (BMI).
Essays on Childhood Obesity: The Body
The definitions of childhood obesity vary greatly between epidemiological studies. However, the majority of recently published articles about the condition defines it as abnormal weight gain in children. A child is considered obese when their BMI is greater than 95 percent. According to recent statistics from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), approximately 5% of American children are severely obese, which means that their BMI is higher or equal to 99%. Clearly, the current cultural inertia regarding the obesogenic environment should be overcome lest more children become affected by the condition. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has to act and act swiftly. By drafting a comprehensive policy proposal and implementing it across four action areas – socioeconomic, physical, behavioral, and clinical – it is possible to avert the looming crisis.
Causes of Child Obesity
Causes of childhood and toddler obesity are as multifarious as they are pernicious. Fortunately, the efforts to understand the reasons for the nutritional issue have been increasingly successful. There appear to be many factors closely correlated with the incidence of the condition among American children. It goes beyond the scope of this essay to discuss even the third of them, but it is relevant to mention the main ones.
There is sufficient clinical evidence to demonstrate the link between imbalances in energy intake and expenditure. In other words, immoderate dietary intake preferences and low physical activity levels are considerable risk factors in developing the disease. Perhaps, even more concerning is a recent research pointing to the connection between race/ethnicity and childhood obesity. African American and Hispanic children are much likely to suffer from the condition than children of Whites: 23.7%, 21.4%, and 16.1%, respectively. This is likely owing to the high prevalence of obesity-related risk factors such as hyperlipidemia and high-density lipoprotein among African Americans and Hispanics. Similar observations have been made about poor diet habits.
There is a wealth of data suggesting that the prevalence of obesity is higher among families from lower-income neighborhoods. Lack of healthy food and exposure to sugary beverages and “junk food,” which is common in low-income families, is key to developing harmful dietary preferences. Parental feeding habits also contribute to the children’s desire for unhealthy food. Another factor exacerbating the problem of obesity in lower-income neighborhoods is the shortage of well-lit and safe walking routes. As a result, children living in such areas do not have enough opportunities to be physically active.
To overcome the obesity epidemic and lower the number of severely overweight children, the US health protection agencies should develop comprehensive intervention and treatment approaches. To prevent children from gaining weight uncontrollably, there is a need for lifestyle modifications implemented across the country. Dietary restrictions, as the cornerstone of obesity treatment, should be integral to school food offerings. Furthermore, nutritional lessons must enter school curriculums to boost children’s enthusiasm for healthier foods. Finally, the country’s schools should aim to promote active recess time.
Childhood Obesity Conclusion
Childhood obesity is extremely prevalent in the US and developed countries around the world. At the highest risk for obesity are children from lower-income families who have the lowest access to healthcare. Therefore, this essay argued that coordinated governmental interventions might be a promising option for combating the dangerous health condition.
