Living in a Fast Food Nation - Research Paper Example

Around 9 million school children in the age group of above six years to fifteen years have been classified as obese in the USA, as seen in many statistical reports. (Paxson, Christina) Obesity among school children may be attributed to poor quality of life in school, as the children do not give enough attention to a healthy life. Obesity is a very alarming public health issue and this paper aims to understand the causes for concern with an attempt to provide an insight into why it needs immediate attention.

Most children all around the world spend most of their time in school, and therefore, it is pertinent for the school’s administration and authorities to understand the problem of obesity and address the issues, as fast as possible, in order to reduce the complexities which comes along with obesity in old age. According to research by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania of health figures, “About 16 percent of urban students qualified as obese, according to the study, which is in line with national average for children ages 6-19.

In rural school districts, however, 20 percent of students were considered obese. More alarmingly, researchers found that during the years of the survey, between 1999 and 2001, the number of obese students in rural school districts rose about 5 percent, more than twice the rate of their urban counterparts” (Paxson, Christina). . (Barness LA, Opitz JM, Gilbert-Barness E). The main problem related to this is that once a child has obesity, his or her life expectancy also tends to go down about six or seven years.

Obesity causes high blood pressure, as well as high blood cholesterol levels, and tends to worsen the health of an individual. A child may also be prone to breathing problems, and this reduces his ability to be able to carry out any physical activity whatsoever. More and more children are now prone to obesity and the problem never ceases to go down with time. Parents are getting tense and worried for their children, and are looking for solutions which could cater to this problem in the most effective and efficient manner.

Thus, schools need to foster an exercise module which incorporates physical fitness among the students of the school inside the school premises at regular intervals and throughout the week, so that the students do not fall prone to ill health during their academic calendar. It has become imperative for teachers as well as parents to make physical exercise a must in schools for children since they spend most of their childhood and adolescence in these institutions. The need is to have a basic mechanism which shall allow children to take part in physical training drills and play sports on a regular basis, thus compensating for the fatty foods and low quality food they consume in schools, which is freely available.

Children should be made to walk everyday and have a period dedicated simply to physical exercises in order to keep fit. Obesity leads to physical inactivity which in turn means that there are lesser people available to get jobs done in a fast and efficient