Obesity in School Aged Children - Article Example

 Obesity in School Aged Children Dear Mr/Ms. XX: I am enclosing an article on the increasing trends of obesity amongst school children. The article is intended to promote an awareness of the seriousness of the problem amongst the children as well as amongst the parents and people in general. It would hopefully encourage children to adopt more healthy food habits. It would also motivate the children towards healthy food. I earnestly hope that the article would be published in the newsletter. Sincerely Student name Memorandum To: The editor From: XX Date: 17 November 2010 Subject: Article on the increasing trend of obesity amongst school children This is to inform you that the article is on the prevalent trend of obesity amongst the school children. The article reveals the implications of obesity and its impact on the overall health of the children. The article also highlights the tentative reasons and proposes solution to the problem. Obesity amongst school children Obesity has increasingly become a social problem which has crossed the realm of personal issues that can be resolved individually. In US, the last three decades have revealed that the adult obese population has doubled and obesity in children and adolescent has nearly tripled (HHS News, 2001, ref.1). Increased incidence of obesity and overweight has become a serious concern for the medical fraternity. Various researches have been carried out to identify the reasons so that effective measures and programs can be implemented to arrest the fast growing propensity of overweight and obesity amongst the population, especially children. Obesity and overweight can be generally defined as the state when the body mass index increases disproportionately vis-à-vis standard set by the medical authority. According to HHS definition ‘an overweight adult is defined as one with a BMI between 25 and 29.9, while an obese adult has a BMI of 30 or higher. In children and adolescents, overweight is defined as a sex-and-age specific BMI at or above the 95th percentile, based on revised growth charts by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’ (HHS News, 2001, ref.2). The disturbing rise in obesity and overweight has become a serious problem because of the various reasons that are intrinsically linked with overweight. The most important reason for concern is that it promotes serious health hazards in the form of silent diseases like blood pressure, which may also prove fatal and cause death. According to aacap1 (2008), ‘unhealthy weight gain due to poor diet and lack of exercise is responsible for over 300,000 deaths each year. The annual cost to society for obesity is estimated at nearly $100 billion’. Obesity leads to diseases like heart problems, diabetes etc which, if not diagnosed early and treated, may lead to death. Obese people are also prone to socio-psychological problems like depression which has now become a major issue amongst children and must be addressed urgently. Apart from health hazards, the overweight and obese children often become the target of ridicule in the school which leads to low self esteem and damages their overall personal growth as a confident individual. The obese children also find it harder to participate in outdoor activities and sports that further add to their anguish and lack of confidence. It may lead to depression and suicidal tendencies. Obesity amongst children therefore becomes highly detrimental to the personal growth of children as confident individual and adversely impacts their personality. It promotes introvert nature amongst the obese children who become increasingly more involved in indoor activities like watching television and playing computer games. This further compounds their problem of gaining more weight and in effect, inviting more diseases. Thus there is urgent need to address this problem as a social issue. There are many reasons attributed to obesity amongst children. Poor eating habits, lack of exercise, family history, overeating etc are important factors for obesity. The eating patterns are observed to be one of the main causes for the new lifestyle diseases which are becoming a norm amongst the present generation. The increasing trend of eating fast food and aerated drinks are the main reasons that children and adolescents become overweight. Fast foods are high on calories and low on nourishment. They are addictive and harmful for children’s overall health and general welfare. These are also easily available in school cafeteria and fast food joints. It therefore, would be advisable that such places especially like school cafeteria and fast food joints near the schools, sell items that promote healthy eating and must desist from selling items that are hazardous to the health of the children. It is important that initiatives must be taken by the school authorities, state and the community at large so that we can safeguard the health of our children. The advancing technology and advent of television, computer, internet etc. promote sedentary lifestyle which is very damaging for the mental and physical growth of the children. Children, irrespective of the state of their health, must be motivated to participate in outdoor activities and take active interest in sports that involves lots of physical activities. The parents must exercise strict discipline and control over excessive television watching, computer games or other such activities which lack physical exercise and promote obesity. It is also suggested that children and adolescents are periodically exposed to in house counseling by the school or the health authorities regarding advantages of good food habits and healthy disposition. A healthy life leads to prosperity and happiness, promoting socio-economic development of the society. Good food habits must also be encouraged at home so that children inculcate food habits that are good for them and avoid indulging in food that is rich in calories but lacks nourishment. It is suggested that children and adults who are overweight or obese must be encouraged to take up exercise and physical activities. They should also be persuaded to change their eating habits for sustainable good health rather than undergoing crash diet or excessive fitness regime schedule of the slimming centers or such places. The suggested solutions are designed to promote measures that inculcate healthy habits for a healthy and prosperous life. Preventive measures not only help the person to maintain healthy lifestyle but they also save considerable financial loss that might have incurred in medical and food expenses. (words: 1050) Reference Aacap. (May 2008) Obesity in Children and Teens. Retrieved from: HHS News. (Dec. 13, 2001). Overweight and obesity threaten U.S. health gains. Retrieved from: Read More