Contributing Factors of Childhood Obesity - Research Paper Example

Contributing factors of childhood obesity Contributing factors of childhood obesity Childhood obesity is a big problem in most of the countries at present. Obese children cannot move or play like the normal children and the inability to take part normal childhood activities may create depression or inferiority in the minds of such children. Obese children may experience lack of self esteem and improper emotional development because of their inability in leading a normal life just like other children. In the final research, I would like to research the connection between self esteem development and obesity among children. Moreover, I would like to include topics like the life expectancy rates of obese children in the final research. I would like to conduct some interviews and surveys with the obese children in order to collect primary data. Direct interviews will help me to collect and analyze the qualitative data. Secondary data would be collected from the published research studies conducted earlier in this field. In order to collect secondary data, internet, newspaper articles, magazines, books etc will be used extensively. Initial observations and analysis proved that lack of physical activities, increased time spending in front of the computers and television, changing life styles and food habits, genetic reasons, sedentary behaviors etc as the major reasons for childhood obesity. The life expectancies of the obese children are expected to be less compared to the normal children. Childhood obesity can create serious problems for a country in building a healthy future generation. Healthy children are always an asset to the nation building process of country and they shape the future of a nation. Excessive body weight can cause various diseases such as cardio vascular diseases, diabetes, certain types of cancer, and osteoarthritis. The study about childhood obesity is very much important under the above circumstances. Childhood Obesity Overweight and obesity are defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health. A crude population measure of obesity is the body mass index (BMI), a person’s weight (in kilograms) divided by the square of his or her height (in meters). A person with a BMI of 30 or more is generally considered obese. A person with a BMI equal to or more than 25 is considered overweight (Obesity, 2010) BMI≥30 is generally considered as the symbol of obesity. Earlier obesity was common among the adults or the aged people alone. The percentage of obesity among children was very small. However, children seem to be outclassed the adults or aged people now as far as obesity is concerned. There are many reasons; physical and psychological, cited for childhood obesity. However, medical experts are unanimous in their opinion about the role of excessive calorie consumption and lack of physical activities in contributing childhood obesity. Eating disorders are common among children. In some cases, genetic factors contribute heavily to the overeating nature of the children. While spending time in front of the computers or television, children have a habit of taking snacks or other food items, most of them would be enriched with fatty contents. Earlier, children reached their schools either by walking or with the help of bicycles. Both walking and cycling helped children to maintain good physical and mental health. On the other hand, the current children go to school on school buses or their own vehicles which reduced the chances of any kind of physical activities. Researchers were able to conclude that eating behaviors of children are the most important factor in contributing obesity. Exposure and accessibility of food (providing the food and eating environment), modeling of eating behaviors, providing food that leads to positive or negative physiologic consequences, and the feeding practices utilized etc are some of the major factors which contributes to the childhood obesity (Development of Eating Behaviors in Children, 2003) Strauss (2000) has conducted a, extensive study in order to know the relationships between childhood obesity and self esteem. 1520 children of 9 to 10 years of age were studied. Self-esteem was measured using Self-Perception Profile for Children. He has concluded that “obese children with decreasing levels of self-esteem demonstrate significantly higher rates of sadness, loneliness, and nervousness and are more likely to engage in high-risk behaviors such as smoking or consuming alcohol (Strauss, 2000). The article, Low Self-Esteem and Obesity in Child also points towards the relationship between low self esteem and childhood obesity. This article has mentioned a study in which the relationship between obesity and self-esteem was examined cross-sectionally over three years using a sample of 1278 adolescents in grades 7 to 9. The above study concluded the existence of an inverse association between physical appearances, self-esteem and body mass index in both males and females. In other words, as weight increases, self-esteem decreases. “Although childhood obesity may have detrimental consequences for childhood self-esteem, the prevalence and magnitude of this problem is controversial. In addition, the social and emotional effects of decreased self-esteem in obese children are unknown” (Strauss, 2000). “Some researchers have hypothesized that self-esteem is a global, one-dimensional construct that refers to a persons overall sense of self-worth or self-concept” (Measurement of Self-Esteem, 1994). The relationship between self esteem development and obesity among children has been proved beyond doubt by many researchers. However, the magnitude of this problem is still controversial. Some people argue that only small relationships are there between obesity and self esteem development whereas others have opposite opinions. Parents have a major role in making their children obese. Children in good physical health condition are always a satisfying sight for the parents. In order to make the children healthy, parents often encourage them to over eat and ask them to reduce their physical activities. Because of such advices from the parents, children try to eat as much as possible and then spend time in front of the television sets or computer. Parents should take the initiative to teach their children good eating habits at home and outside. Moreover they should encourage their children more for the participation in physical activities. These basic principles need to be observed strictly at home in order to make the children free from overweight problems. Children of obese parents will become obese most probably. In other words, heredity plays an important role in the making of obese children. Obese parents should take more care in the food habits of their children in order to control the childhood obesity. “Not only parental obesity but also increases in parental BMIs were likely to be associated with development of obesity in children” (Suka et al, 2002). Strauss & Knight (1999) have also pointed out the role of heredity in the making of obese children. They argued that “children with obese mothers have significantly elevated risks of developing obesity” (Strauss & Knight, 1999). Robinson et al (2001) have pointed out that “parents who impose control over their childrens eating may interfere with their childrens ability to regulate intake, potentially resulting in overweight” (Robinson et al, 2001). Moreover, Psychol (2007) also expressed similar opinions. In his opinion, “parents use of control strategies in an effort to manage their childrens weight that may have an unintentional, negative impacts on developing self-esteem” (Psychol  2007). Childhood obesity cannot be tackled effectively by the efforts of parents alone. Parents have certain limits in controlling the food habits of the children. Many of the children are currently taking food from outside and parents cannot implement much control on that. Children who denied their favorite foods at home may take it in more quantities from the restaurants. For example, if parents put some control over eating ice creams at home, children will definitely purchase it from shops without informing the parents about it. Apart from the roles of parents, other issues like genetic predisposition and socioeconomic status can also play a vital role in making the children obese. Society is caring less for the needs of the children now. Inadequate number of play grounds and the exaggerated belief about the importance of computers and internet in shaping the future of children are other factors which contribute for childhood obesity. Even in school curriculum, the importance of physical workouts has been reduced because of the intrusion of knowledge explosion. Spending time in the grounds is considered as a waste by many of the school authorities. In their opinion, the time allowed for the drill periods can be better utilized for learning something else which will be useful in the future. Such attitudes of the society or the school authorities are actually making the children obese and destroying their future. Children spend a substantial period of their time in schools and hence the tackling of childhood obesity may not be effective without the cooperation from the school authorities. Physical education should be made compulsory in schools. Many people are of the opinion that neither government nor schools can do enough to reduce childhood obesity. Such people believe that the responsibility for combating childhood obesity falls solely on the parents. It should be remembered that in some countries, the morbidly obese children were taken away from the parents and criminal cases were charged against them for not giving enough attention to their children and their food habits. Even if the schools and the government try to tackle the childhood obesity problem, they have their own limitations in tackling this problem without proper cooperation from the parents. The misconceptions of the parents about the appearance or the physical health of their children should be changed. Parents should remember that overweight is no longer a status symbol, but a reflection of bad health of children and lower concern of parents about their children Before a child acquiring his adulthood, the responsibility of shaping the physical and mental development rests mostly on the parents. It is not necessary that the physical workout session in schools may bring the desired result if the children take too much fatty foods from their home. Media can influence the life styles of the children immensely. Children may not have any role models during their childhood. Media advertisements can influence children in making unhealthy choices. The glorification of stronger persons or the misleading advertisements about muscle boosting medicines or food items can encourage children to use such items without proper evaluation. Children are constantly influenced by cool character merchandising which are often stronger then the healthy eating messages.  Food product sellers often include commercials in between the television programs which attract children. They know very well that children can be exploited easily because of their inability in segregating the good and evil. The dangers associated with the fatty and sweetly foods are unknown to the children and hence they can be victimized easily. Conclusions People often blame the parents, government, media, society and schools for childhood obesity. Some people believe that parents have the major role in preventing childhood obesity by controlling the eating styles of their children whereas some others argue that the government and the society have the major roles on preventing childhood obesity by providing necessary facilities to increase the physical activities of children. In any case, it is better to accept the fact that both the parents and the society have equal responsibilities in preventing childhood obesity. Children of obese parents may naturally become obese and if the parents try to put many restrictions upon the eating habits of their children, children may develop emotional problems. In any case, it is a fact that childhood obesity may create lot of health problems and the life expectancy of such children could be reduced. Lack of self esteem among obese children is another controversial subject. Many people are of the opinion that the inability to participate in childhood activities just like the normal children, may result in the improper development of self esteem among obese children. In short, combating childhood obesity is not a battle that can be fought alone; it requires the cooperation of many parties including the parents of the children, the government, and the society when we consider the negative consequences associated with childhood obesity. References 1. Development of Eating Behaviors in Children. (2003) Retrieved from http://cme.medscape.com/viewarticle/449670_3 2. Low Self-Esteem and Obesity in Child, (2007) Retrieved from http://www.worldfitness.org/obesity-and-self-esteem.html 3. Measurement of Self-Esteem (1994). Retrieved from http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/575000_2 4. Obesity (2010). WHO. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/topics/obesity/en/ 5. Psychol, P. J.(2007). Self Esteem in Overweight Children. Retrieved from http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/575000_3 6. Robinson, T N,. Kiernan, M., Matheson, D M. and Hayde, F K. (2001) Is Parental Control over Childrens Eating Associated with Childhood Obesity? Retrieved from http://www.nature.com/oby/journal/v9/n5/abs/oby200138a.html 7. Strauss R.S., MD (2000) American Academy of Pediatrics, Childhood Obesity and Self-Esteem PEDIATRICS Vol. 105 No. 1 January 2000, Retrieved from http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/105/1/e15 8. Suka, M., Sugimori, Hi., Yoshida, K., Sekine, M., Yamagami, T  and  Kagamimori, S. (2002). Parental Influence on the Development of Obesity in 9-Year-old Japanese Children: The Toyama birth cohort study. Retrieved from http://www.springerlink.com/content/a324512716n5726m/ 9. Strauss, R. S., MD and Knight, J., MD.(1999) Influence of the Home Environment on the Development of Obesity in Children. Retrieved from http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/103/6/e85 Read More