Causes and Effects of Childhood Obesity - Research Paper Example

Obesity in Children: Cause and effect Obesity is a widespread condition in Western societies today and especially in the United States and in the younger generations. An obese person is someone who has more body fat than science considers healthy for their particular height, body type, gender and age. As a general rule, people who are 40 to 100 pounds over this determined ideal weight range are considered obese. People who are more than 100 pounds over this weight range are called morbidly obese. Although this is often considered simply an adult problem, children can be just as susceptible to the factors that contribute to obesity as adults, but the problems they experience can be much more detrimental. Obesity is impossible to hide and typically introduces a great deal of public humiliation every time the individual walks out the door. This element alone can cause lifelong severe psychological damage that significantly impacts the individual’s ability to live a happy, fulfilling life. However, the physical cost of being obese are much greater even than this. It is well-known that obesity can dramatically lower life expectancy at every age level. What might not be so well known is that there are at least 300,000 deaths in the United States every year that are the direct result of the person being obese. Even when life doesn’t seem threatened, people who are obese suffer a greater number of illnesses, have earlier onset and more severe problems in their bones and joints and back region and are more lethargic than those who are not. Approaching epidemic proportions, identifying the causes and treatment of obesity is of utmost importance particularly when working with children who have an entire lifetime ahead of them. Heredity significantly influences obesity. People who are genetically predisposed to being obese have a harder time trying to lose weight or to maintain a desired body mass. Children born into overweight families are often overweight even before they have the opportunity to try maintaining a healthy weight. Other contributing factors to the problem of obesity in children can include metabolic and socioeconomic circumstances, diseases, endocrine ailments and medications Metabolism refers to how efficiently a person’s body burns up energy. Metabolic levels and hormonal balances differ widely from one person to another and both factor significantly in controlling weight. “Recent studies show that levels of ghrelin, a peptide hormone known to regulate appetite, and other peptides in the stomach, play a role in triggering hunger and producing a feeling of fullness” (“Overview of Obesity”, 2007). However, overeating, eating fatty foods and spending long periods of time in inactivity may also contribute significantly to obesity. Studies have also shown that there is a connection between substandard economic circumstances and the rates of obesity in children. The food available to lower income populations usually has a higher level of empty calories, meaning it is poor in nutritional value but high in fat and corn syrup. Children growing up in low income homes don’t always have the option to eat well and frequently find themselves eating as a source of emotional comfort. Lifestyle preferences such as a being a ‘couch potato’ and overeating on a regular basis, not surprisingly, contribute to weight gain. “Eating a diet in which a high percentage of calories come from sugary, high-fat, refined foods promotes weight gain” (“Overview of Obesity”, 2007). Fast food consumption and lack of exercise are the major controllable factors in obesity of adults. For children, the main factor outside genetics is inactivity while their adult caretakers provide them with fast food as the inexpensive and quick alternative to cooking meals. Inordinate amounts of time spent on the computer, watching television and playing video games leads to higher rates of obesity. “Over nine million children between the ages of six and 19 are overweight” (“Overview of Obesity”, 2007). Another common factor among children who are overweight is their choice of connection to the world, which is usually through the television. Watching television will make you fat and children are the most at risk. T.V. commercials promote junk foods to an already hypnotized audience. Commercials promoting foods often misrepresent their products to impressionable children, as well as adults, regarding the product’s nutritional values, or lack of. (Byrd-Bredbenner & Grasso, 2000). There remains a strong association between obesity, regardless of age, and the amount of time spent watching television. The wide-spread problem known as the ‘couch-potato’ syndrome, is considered to be the result of consuming large amounts of snack foods which are high in calories and fat content while watching television. Essentially, it’s the result when enticement meets boredom and inactivity. As children watch their favorite shows, they are attracted by ‘junk food’ then proceed to the kitchen, an endless cycle enabling what has become an epidemic of obese children. Instead of playing outside and burning up calories, children are content to sit and snack. The ‘couch potato’ syndrome is curable however. Studies have shown what anyone with common sense already knows, obese children lose weight when they are allowed to spend less time in front of the television (Miller, 1999). The situation isn’t helped when this same junk food is found in the school cafeteria or snack vending machines. As a result of this commercial ‘innovation’, the rate of obesity among youths is more than twice what it was just two decades ago. “Every day, nearly one-third of U.S. children aged 4 to 19 eat fast food, which likely packs on about six extra pounds per child per year and increases the risk of obesity” (Holguin, 2003). Some schools are attempting to wean its kids off junk foods by removing candy and soda machines in addition to providing meals that nourish the body not just satisfy the appetite. However, this is the exception, not the rule. Junk foods remain in the majority of schools for economic reasons. Parents are allowing their school systems to choose financial considerations ahead of the children’s health. “The students may be junk food junkies, but the schools are hooked, too, increasingly dependent on the revenue that soda and candy machines bring in each year” (Nakamura, 2001). Obesity has been linked with at least 30 adverse health conditions. Arthritis of the knees, back, hips and hands are common ailments of the obese, affecting people at younger and younger ages as a result of long-term abuse of their systems. Breast cancer is twice as prevalent among obese women and men as compared to those of comparable gender that maintain a relatively stable weight as an adult. The obese also have a higher risk of contracting other cancers such as colorectal, esophageal, gastric and endometrial. The risk of cardiovascular disease is greater because obesity has a direct correlation with high cholesterol levels which blocks the arteries of the heart (“Health Effects”, 2002). In addition, the veins of the obese are more constricted which slows oxygen to the tissues of the body and prompts complaints of breathing problems, sleepiness and general fatigue. As expected, this has an impact on the child’s growth rate and ability to develop normally. Obesity heightens the risk of stroke and hypertension by a significant amount. More than 75 percent of people who suffer from hypertension are obese. Up to 90 percent of people with diabetes (type two) are either overweight or obese, a startling statistic. Next to alcohol abuse, obesity is the leading cause of liver disease (acute hepatitis and cirrhosis), gallbladder disease and pancreatitis. The obese are three times more likely to develop gall stones and are more susceptible to infection and pneumonia. These and many other maladies including problems with pregnancy and childbirth are also associated with obesity (“Health Effects”, 2002). Explaining how being overweight can affect a child in a variety of ways is the main subject of a book by Sylvia Rimm (2004). Obesity in children will affect their self-esteem, self-confidence, relationships with peers and their acceptance of self. The impact this has on their academic careers as they evaluate themselves and as teachers evaluate them based on preconceived notions of the “fat and lazy” variety serves to limit the child’s intellectual abilities and accomplishments based on false self-appraisal. Within her book, Rimm explores why these children’s interests are typically much different from the interests of average weight children, the reasons why sexual maturity might come earlier and the family conditions that typically contribute to an overweight condition in children and serve to keep them in that condition. Throughout the book, Rimm paints a grim picture for the success of overweight child in attempting to overcome these hurdles to achieve a healthy lifestyle. This cycle sees the child increasingly gaining weight as a result of the emotional turmoil that occurs as other children begin to make fun of them or as they perceive themselves not being able to keep up with other children on the sports field. They begin seeing themselves as somehow less than average weight children in every way. Many adults reinforce these beliefs with the idea that an overweight child must be lazy and not as bright as other children. Perceiving these impressions of others, these children retreat to food as comfort while still shunning physical activity that further contributes to the weight problem. Obesity is the precursor of many significant health risks, yet there is no obesity panacea. Diet, exercise, behavior modification, medication and surgery have all had successes and failures in the treatment of obesity to varying degrees. The general consensus is tilting steadily toward surgery as the best option for obesity in adults, but there is no similar ‘simple’ cure available for children. Medications, exercise or dieting alone has proven successful in producing long-term weight reduction for less than 10 percent of the morbidly obese. “Surgery is the only proven method to allow the severely and morbidly obese person to reach normal weight and maintain it” (“Health Effects”, 2002). A 2000 study indicated that gastric bypass surgery reduced not only weight for patients but instances of diabetes and hypertension within the study group as well (Sjostrom, 1999). Gastric bypass surgery is more common but the newer and less invasive Lap-Band method is growing in popularity. The latest and least invasive type being developed is performed via the mouth (“Health Effects”, 2002). Solutions for children generally focus more upon the process of gentle behavior modification. Throughout her book, Rimm (2004) includes success stories of adults who overcame adolescent overweight to achieve happy, successful, healthy adulthoods as well as stories of parents who have successfully aided their overweight children to face the abuse of the world around them. Rimm includes helpful tips and suggestions on how teachers, parents, friends and, most importantly, the overweight child herself can help to both overcome the taunts and discrimination to find enjoyable forms of physical activity and discover healthier ways of eating that will lead to a satisfying and healthier lifestyle. The message of the book is as a tool of empowerment, giving these children and those who love them the courage, strength and direction to achieving a happier future. On the surface, obesity seems to be caused by poor lifestyle choices alone but for most, the choices they make are rooted at least somewhat within their biological make-up and economic social positioning. The cause of obesity was discovered through scientific means and seemingly, the cure will be as well. Obesity is responsible for the poor health of millions and the deaths of hundreds of thousands every year while costing taxpayers billions. The most viable way to stem this tragic and widespread condition is to identify it in the young and work with behavioral modification therapy as a means of achieving and maintaining a more healthy weight through a greater self-acceptance and self-value. Works Cited Byrd-Bredbenner C & Grasso D. “Commercials During 1992 and 1998.” Journal of School Health. Vol. 70, (2000), pp. 61-65. “Health Effects of Obesity.” AOA Fact Sheets. American Obesity Association, 2002. Holguin, Jaime. “Fast Food Linked To Child Obesity” CBS News (January 5, 2003) July 8, 2009 Miller, Daphne. “Television’s Effects on Kids: It Can be Harmful!” CNN. (August 20, 1999). July 8, 2009 Nakamura, David. “US Schools Hooked on Junk Food Proceeds” (February 27, 2001) Common Dreams.org July 8, 2009 “Overview of Obesity.” Cardiovascular Diseases. (January 22, 2007). University of Virginia Health System. July 8, 2009 Rimm, Sylvia. Rescuing the Emotional Lives of Overweight Children. New York: St Martin’s Press, 2004. Sjostrom, C.D., et al. “Reduction in incidence of diabetes, hypertension and lipid disturbances after intentional weight loss induced by bariatric surgery: the SOS Intervention Study.” Obesity Research. Vol. 7, N. 5, (1999), pp. 477-484. Read More