Why is Child Obesity on the Rise - Research Paper Example

Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 Why is child obesity on the rise? 1.0 Introduction Child obesity is a medical condition that affects children. According to Caspar (2010), obesity is a medical condition where a child’s body mass index (BMI) is 30kg/m2 and above. It is characterized by excessive body fats which poses great health and economic risks. BMI is a measurement that compares a person’s weight and height. Children suffering from obesity experience medical and psychological effects. Children suffering from obesity are more likely to suffer from type II diabetes, heart diseases, sleep apnea, pancreatic complications, asthma and liver problems. Obese children may suffer from depression, low self esteem and emotional eating. Medical and psychological problems may interfere with academic progress as well as successful transition of children from childhood to adulthood. Furthermore, parents or guardians of obese children spent a lot of money to treat illness associated with obesity. It is because of the above reasons that World Health Organization has declared obesity as a public health global epidemic that must be contained. The number of children suffering from obesity in Central Valley of California is increasing. According to the research conducted by The Central Valley Health Policy Institute at California State University, obesity in the valley is higher than average obesity rates in the whole of California. The prevalence rate of children suffering from obesity in Central valley has more than tripled in the recent times. According to Rivera (2005), Central Valley has the highest percentage of overweight children at 42 percent. Increased rates of obesity in the Central Valley is attributed to higher levels of poverty, limited access to healthy food and reduced opportunities for physical activities. There are various interventions that have been made by schools, department of health and community based organization to reduce the incidence of obesity in children. The interventions include increased provision of vegetables and fruits as well as increased physical activities in children among others. These interventions must be increased in scope and intensity to be more effective to reduce psychological, medical and economic challenges that will interfere with children, parents and community at large. 2.0 Historical Context World Health Organization claimed that obesity is leading cause of preventable death as well as disability globally. Obesity is also linked with increasing number of chronic diseases. Obesity was rare before twentieth century. World Health organization recognized obesity as a global epidemic in 1997. In 2005, World Health Organization estimated that about four hundred million adults were obese. This is about 9.8 percent of the global adult population. Obesity rates increases as people get older. Obesity rates are severe with people above fifty years in the United States, Canada and Australia. However, more children are diagnosed with obesity each passing day. Obesity is a medical condition where a child accumulates excess fats in the body. Obese children are overweight with body mass index above 30. According to WHO (2004), Body Mass Index (BMI) indicate weather a person is underweight, normal weight, overweight or obese. A child is underweight if BMI is less than 18.50, normal weight BMI is between 18.50 - 24.99, overweight BMI is 25.00 - 29.99 and obese children have BMI of 30.00 and above (refer to table 1). Obesity is a serious health issue because it causes untold suffering to the children and increases the cost of treatment. Ogden et al (20101) revealed that preschool children between two and five years suffering from obesity increased from 5 percent to 10.4 percent from 1980 to 2008. Children between six and eleven years suffering from obesity increased from 6.5 percent to 19.6 percent while children between twelve and nineteen years suffering from obesity increased from 5 percent to 18.1 percent from 1980 to 2008. Central valley in California is experiencing alarming rates of obesity in children. It is estimated that they are over 344,782,001people suffering from obesity in the world today (Worldometers n.d.). This is worrying and practical steps need to be taken to reduce the number of people suffering from obesity because it is not desirable. Obesity causes the highest number preventable deaths in the world. It is a serious public health problem in the twenty first century. Obesity is one of the most costly single ailments that cause people suffering from it to spend millions of dollars to treat and manage it. The proportion of healthcare cost attributed to obesity cost is high. Californians alone who suffer from obesity pay an estimated $7.7 billion annually to treat and manage obesity. In addition, children suffering from obesity suffer psychologically and physically. Some children who are obese are victim of ridicule from their peers and other members of the society. Consequently, they will suffer from low self esteem which if not checked may cause depression. Hills and King (2007, P 80) claimed that obese children experience higher incidence of bullying, teasing and eating disorders as compared with non obese children in school. Obese children cannot enjoy physical activity appropriately because they get tired faster and they may have difficulty in breathing during physical involving activities. Such children are clumsy and cannot participate in a wide range of sports thus make them unable to maximize there sports talents. Increasing rates of obesity incidences is alarming in Central Valley is alarming. More children are becoming obese. Increase in obesity incidences among the people of the valley imply that they will be more medical challenges associated with obesity. This will strain resources of both the community and department of health. Experts revealed that children gain more weight during summer than any other period in the year. During summer, children do not have a structured way of having their meals or engaging in physical activity. Therefore, summer should be the time when children should be involved in more physical activities. There are various steps that have been taken to reduce obesity in the Central Valley. Main treatment of obesity includes dieting and physical exercise. Diet programs may help obese people to reduce body weight in the short term. However, it may be extremely difficult for some people to maintain because it requires exercise and lower calorie diet which may be hard to sustain. Medication has also been used to treat obesity. Obesity-related hospitalization costs nearly doubled between 1999 and 2005. A drug such as orlistat is available and has been approved for long-term use. However, the use of the drug has been associated with increased rates of gastrointestinal side effects. Lastly, surgery has been used to treat obesity. Bariatric surgery has been found to be the most effective treatment There are many causes of obesity. They are caused by food rich in calories, inheritance, medication, illness insufficient sleep, environmental, pollution and sedentary lifestyle Physical and mental illness and some medicines used to treat certain diseases increase the risk of obesity. People who take excess calories and do little physical activities are more likely to suffer from obesity. Hypothyroididism, Cushing syndrome, growth hormone deficiency, eating disorders, increase the chances of getting obese. The risk of obesity is higher in patient suffering from psychiatric disorders as compared with those without psychiatric disorders. Medication such as insulin, sulfonylureas, steroids, antidepressants, some anticonvulsant and some forms of hormonal contraception are examples that can cause obesity. There is a strong correlation between social class and obesity. In developing world, children and adult in the higher social class had greater rates of obesity. However, women if higher social class in developed countries were identified with lower rates of obesity. In the developed countries, the wealthy are able to afford more nutritious foods, have more access to physical access and greater social responsibility to remain slim. The people with high level of stress and perceived lower social class have higher chances of becoming obese. Smoking is also a social determinant that causes obesity. People who quit smoking are likely to be become obese than people who were not smoking. In the United States of America, obesity has been identified to correlate with the number of children. For example, the risk of men of becoming obese increases by 4 percent per every child while that of women increase by 7 percent per every child. This is explained by their reduced physical activity as dependent children make them stay at home. Malnutrition at early stages in life has been found to increase rates of obesity in developing countries. This is because endocrine changes occurring at such periods promote storage of fat as more calories are made available. 3.0 Analysis of the problem Cases of obesity are increasing. Compared to early 1980s, the number of people suffering from obesity has increased more than three times. According to Collins (2007), there are about 43 million who are obese in the United States. Of the total American population, 78 percent Americans do not get adequate physical activity while 25 percent are completely sedentary. Obesity contributes to 80 percent of type II diabetes and 26 percent of the people with high blood pressure are obese. However, 85 percent of the children diagnosed with type II diabetes are obese. The average per capita energy consumption increased around the world from 1961 to 2009. This varies across regions, ethnicities and countries. The average amount of calories available per person has increased dramatically. United States had the highest energy consumption rate of 3, 654 calories per person in 1996. It is a fact that obesity rates in the United States of America increased from 14 Percent to 30.9 percent from 1971 to 2000 respectively. The increase was in tandem with increase in calorie intake per person. Consumption of sweetened drinks account for about 25 percent of the calories eaten by a person daily and there is more reliance of energy dense and large portion meals in the United States. In the United States food stuffs such as corn, soy, wheat, and rice were subsidized through United States Farm Bill. This made processing of food from the above products cheaper and more affordable compared to vegetable and fruits. Most children suffering from obesity in the Central Valley of California comes from low income populations who are rural communities and communities of color. This is because they have limited access to healthy foods and inadequate environment that promote physical activities. NPR (2009) many fruits and vegetable consumed in the United States are produced in the Central Valley in California. However the place is among the poorest areas in the country and is characterized by high rates of malnutrition, little access to fresh fruits and vegetables as well as high levels of obesity. Environmental conditions have contributed much to increased rates of obesity in the central valley because of the following reasons. There are no side walks, no streetlights and there is a pack of wild dogs roaming within the valley. Wild dogs discourage parents from allowing their children to go and play outside. There is also constant gang violence and drugs that hinder people from increasing their physical activities. In addition, Central Valley lacks access to healthy food stores. Another reason that may point out increase in obesity rates in the Central Valley could be explained by thrifty gene hypothesis, which stipulates that people are adapted to the environment differently. During times of abundance the body store energy inform of fat to be used during periods of starvations to enable people survive famine. This tendency to store fat is maladaptive in communities with stable food suppliers. Most communities in the central valley are poor and could have developed obesity as a means to adapt to their environment. Children can inherit or acquire obesity. In most cases, it is acquired when a person consumes more calories than it can be burned through exercise or other physical activities. Family pressures and sicknesses can also cause obesity (Chidren Now n.d.). Other cause of obesity include insufficient sleep, environmental pollution, decrease in ambient temperature variability, decreased rates of smoking (smoking depressed appetite), increased use of medication than cause weight gain (typical antipsychotics), changes in demographics ( increase in ethic and age group that is heavier), pregnancy at later age, natural selection for Higher BMI and assertive mating. There are very few cases that link obesity to inheritance. Unhealthy eating habits and lack of adequate physical activity contribute largely to obesity. Sedentary lifestyle also contributes to higher rates of obesity in children. There has been a shift towards less physically demanding activities and most children in the central Valley do not get sufficient physical exercise. Children are walking less to school and there is insufficient physical education. The number of time spent on viewing the television and surfing the internet has increased the incidences of obesity. There is a strong correlation between increased media exposure and increased obesity in children according to meta- analysis results. Increased reliance on motor vehicles and lifts in contribute to obesity in the society level. Economics and human cost of obesity is enormous. There is no doubt that obesity affects the life of children negatively. Obesity results in deep social, physical and economic costs for the society. It is expected that obese children will become obese adults who are likely to lead shorter life. Shoko (2010) claims that negative effects of obesity are debilitating. Obese children are more likely to develop type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, asthma and sleep apnea as compared to non obese children. In addition, obesity increases breathing difficulties when one is sleeping, causes kidney diseases, gout, and some type of cancer, chronic back problems and osteoarthritis. Chronic obesity causes discomfort and erodes quality of life. Obese children carry their heavy bodies around and rarely perform normal tasks. Children with obesity experience heavy stigmatization in the communities in which they live and schools they attend. Stigmatization is characterized by discrimination, bullying and negative stereotyping. Psychological challenges do not allow children to develop normally and may hinder their progress. Obesity related illness is very expensive to treat. In fact, it is estimated that people in the United States spend between $40 billion and $100 billion annually on obesity related cases. It was established that medical costs attributed to obesity in the United States was 9.1 percents ($78.5 billion) of all medical expenditures in 2009. Hospital costs associated with childhood obesity increased from $ 35 million to $ 127 million from 1979 to 1999 in the United States. Californians spend about $7.7 billion annually to treat and manage obesity. Lang (2010) and Mckay (2010) revealed that the cost of treating obesity is $ 168 billion which is 16.5 percent of the country’s total medical costs. It is estimated that obesity related illness cost an obese person between $1,400 -$ 2,800 annually. The cost of treating obesity and related illnesses are increasing each year. Obesity can lead to social stigmatization- it has been established that obese person have higher rates of absenteeism in the classroom as compared to non- obese people. They also take more disability leave. Consequently they increase the cost for schools and their parents and decrease school activities. 4.0 Review of Current problem-solving efforts There are a number of steps that have been taken to reduce the problem of obesity in the Central Valley. Most of the steps taken by schools and various organizations include providing conducive environment to enable the people of Central Valley access healthy foods and engage in active living. The institutions that are working hard to reduce obesity in the valley include the Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program (CCROPP), the Central Valley Health and Nutrition Collaborative, Central Valley Region Network, the University of California Cooperative Extension, Fresno County (UCCE), schools, Hospitals and department of health. The schools in the Central Valley are taking practical steps to help combat obesity in their children. They provide conducive environment where children can easily access healthy foods and infrastructure that promote physical activities. Apart from schools, department of health work together with community based organizations to help reduced the incidences of obesity in the Central Valley. CCROPP has been instrumental specifically in advocating for better nutrition, safe neighborhood and active living. It advocates for active living and promote access to cereals, fruits and vegetables to all residents in California. The Central Valley Health and Nutrition Collaborative has also been vocal in promoting healthy eating habits and increased physical engagements among the children in the Central Valley. According to harvesting Health (2011), the Central Valley Health and Nutrition Collaborative launched a nutrition education program called Prescription for Health Initiative. Prescriptions for Health Initiative provide families with written prescription on the quantities and type of meals to be taken at a given period of time as well as the level of physical activity that children should engage in. For example, the health program prescribes the number of vegetables and fruit servings and the number of glasses of water that the children should consume per day. The health program encourages children to increase physical activity by over one hour and reduce the number of hour used to watch television and play video games. In addition, the Central Valley Health and Nutrition Collaborative encourage residents of the Central Valley to join Coordinated School Health, Worksite Nutrition Wellness, Health Eating, Eat Energize Excel or Community Nutrition Action Teams. This is because they want the residents to own up the activities meant to assist them to reduce obesity incidences in their environment. The Central Valley Region Network is another organization that works with community based organizations in the Central Valley of California to reduce obesity. The Central Valley Region Network obtains its funds from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Mosqueda (n.d) said that the Central Valley Nutrition Network provides provide trainings, coordination and communications support to all Network-funded projects in the region. It helps community and opinion leaders come together to coordinate local efforts to promote health eating, increased physical activity and increased access to healthy foods through best practices advocacy and positive environmental changes. Muro (2010) said that the Central Valley Region Network and Central Valley Health and nutrition Collaborative provide mini-grants to support community-based projects that address the goals of the Central Valley Network. The grants available for reducing obesity to individuals and community-based organization range from $500 to $4,999.99. The amount requested depends on the scope of the proposed project. Some of the activities that are funded include capacity building and advocacy that will increase amount of vegetables and fruits consumed by the residents of the Central Valley. The two institution fund direct education that increases the quantity of fruits and vegetables taken by residents of the valley, leadership training that strengthens and empowers food stamp and programs that promote higher levels of physical engagement among children and adults in the Valley. It also provides small grants to individuals and community-based organizations that advocate for environmental changes that will promote healthy eating and increase active leaving. The University of California Cooperative Extension, Fresno County is another institution that is instrumental in reducing the number of obesity cases in the Central Valley. The university provides training and conduct research on various issues on obesity. Once the research is conducted, the information is dispatched to relevant individuals, schools and organizations for implementation. Hospitals have been instrumental in treating people with obesity and related complications. Through hospitals, physical exercise, good diet , surgery and medication has been provided. Doctors in hospitals have prescribed anti-obesity drugs that are taken to reduce appetite or inhibit fat absorption. Thus reduce obesity cases. In addition, doctors have placed intragastric balloon into patients’ stomach to reduce stomach volume of bowel length. Long term weight loss and decreased overall mortality has been associated with surgery. However, Bariatric surgery is not popular because it is expensive and is accompanied by complication risks. Some of the interventions that have been used to curb obesity in the valley focused mainly on individual and behavioral change. Environment has been identified as a single element that is most influential to individual eating habits and physical participation Waters et al (2010). Most of the programs undertaken has paid off and is evident in the reduction of the amount of costs spent in treating obesity related illnesses. In addition, more obese people are living longer. There have bee more knowledge concerning better and healthy eating as well as the benefits of increasing physical involvement. The rate at which children are getting obese has been slightly reduced as more children live active lives. 5.0 Summary / Possible solutions and specific recommendations Central Valley of California just like any other part of the world is facing serious threat of childhood obesity. There are various concrete steps that have been taken to alleviate the pandemic. However, most of the actions taken have been short term and may not be useful in the long term. Safety record in the valley is poor, physical activities are minimum and people lack adequate healthy food. The Central Valley Region Network in partnership with individuals and community-based organizations must advocate for Agricultural Policy change that will enable residents of the valley access adequate fresh fruits and vegetables as well as whole grain cereals. Violent gangs and graffiti roaming free in the Central Valley must be removed. This violent gang is a security risk and compromises the safety of the people in the Central Valley. Therefore, it is important to ensure that government agencies and groups take concrete steps to reduce crime in their place. Eliminating gangs will enable parents to permit their children play more often in public places. Illicit Drugs supply into the valley must be stopped. The source of drugs must be identified so that it will be possible to cut illicit drug supply to the valley. More campaigns against drug abuse must be made to encourage drug users abandon their habits and turn themselves to drug rehabilitation centres. Pack of wild dogs roaming free in the Central Valley must be eliminated or contained. Social and recreational amenities must be upgraded in the Central Valley to enable children and adult population increases their physical activities. Increase consumption of food with fiber and reduce consumption of fatty and sugary foods There is need to carry out extensive promotional campaign that explains the dangers of not eating healthy foods and not having adequate physical activities. This will help to induce action among residents of the Central Valley. According to Poskitt and Edmunds (2008, p. 168), to reduce the incidences of obesity in children, it is important to ensure that meals and snacks are eaten within the family. This means that children should be eating food cooked at home whose diet is made up of whole foods, fruits and vegetables. The meals prepared from home should be free from unnecessary fats and sugars. Avoid salt or sugars on the table at all cost. Parents and guardians should encourage more physical activities around the home and garden when children are still very young and able to adapt to that lifestyle. Children should also be taught to do simple actions in the home such as bed making and room tidying. It may be necessary to introduce sanctions to people who are working with obesity and fail to take concrete steps to reduce or manage their obesity. In the Alabama State, Employees Insurance Board approved a plan to charge obese (above BMI of 35kg/m2) people $25 monthly if they do not take measure to reduce weight and improve their health as from January 2010. Obese people are less likely to be employed or promoted in the work place. Obese people are also paid less as compared to people who are not obese. Provide opportunities for all residence of the central valley to participate in making decisions that will help them adapt better eating habits and be more active. This can be done by creating forums that enable neighbors to meet each other. For example, encourage interaction of farmers at the markets and promote creation of more recreational facilities in the community urban centres. 6.0 Bibliography Caspar, I. (2010). Issues and Solutions for Obesity - The Global Health Phenomenon. Retrieved from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/issues-and-solutions-for-obesity-the-global-health-phenomenon.html Children Now (n.d.). Childhood obesity remains an unprecedented public health crisis. Retrieved from http://www.childrennow.org/index.php/learn/obesity/ Collins, A. (2007). Obesity Statistics. Retrieved from http://www.annecollins.com/obesity/statistics-obesity.htm Harvesting Health. (2010). Schools play huge role in children’s’ health. Retrieved from http://blogs.vidaenelvalle.com/health/2010/06/25/schools-play-huge-role-in-childrens-health/ Hills, A. P. & King, N. A. (2007). Children, obesity and exercise: prevention, treatment and management of childhood and adolescent obesity. New York: Taylor & Francis. Lang, S. (2010). Study: Medical cost of obesity soars. Retrieved from http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-10-medical-obesity-soars.html Mckay, B. (2009). Cost of Treating Obesity Soars. Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204563304574314794089897258.html Mosqueda, N. (n. d.). Central Valley Region Nutrition Network. Retrieved from http://www.thecmafoundation.org/projects/TrainingMaterials/Nichole%20Mosqueda%20Final%20Central%20Valley%20Nutrition%20Network%20Presentation.pdf Muro, B. (2010). Network for a Healthy California—Central Valley Region. Retrieved from http://www.cvhnc.org/pdfs/CVMini_Grant_Application_10_11.pdf NPR (2009). Central Valley Disconnect: Rich Land, Poor Nutrition. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106061080 Ogden, C., Carroll, M., Division of Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. (2010). Prevalence of Obesity among Children and Adolescents: United States, Trends 1963-1965 Through 2007-2008. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/obesity_child_07_08/obesity_child_07_08.htm Ogden, L. C., Lamb, M. M., Carroll, D. M. & Flegal, K. M. (2010). Obesity and Socioeconomic Status in Children and Adolescents: United States, 2005-2008 Number. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db51.htm Poskitt, E. & Edmunds, L. (2008). Management of Childhood Obesity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Rivera, C. (2005, September 8). Childhood Obesity off the Scale in California. LATimes. Retrieved from http://aznews.us/childhood_obesity_off_the_scale_in_california.htm Shoko, A. (2010).The Burdens Of Obesity. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Burdens-Of-Obesity&id=5417354 Waters, E., Seidell, J. & Swinburn, B. (2010). Preventing Childhood Obesity: Evidence Policy and Practice. New York: John Wiley and Sons. WHO1 (2004). Obesity and Overweight. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/hpr/NPH/docs/gs_obesity.pdf Worldometers (n.d.) Obesity in the world - definitions, sources and method. Retrieved from http://www.worldometers.info/obesity/. 7.0 Appendices Table 1: Classification of underweight, overweight and obesity Classification BMI (kg/m2) Underweight Read More