Childhood Obesity Issues - Research Paper Example

Childhood Obesity Number’ Introduction Childhood obesity refers to a condition characterized by inordinate body fat, which negatively impacts the health and wellbeing of a child. Overweight in American children is a grave, rising epidemic that spares no race, ethnicity, social status, family and neighborhood. Obesity rates increased three-fold in the country since the 1980s, a trajectory that points to the fact that American children may, for the first time in history, face the risk of lower life expectancy than the older generation. Due to the problem, the country spends $150 billion annually to control obesity-related health conditions, with budgets for childhood health care and welfare arguably being on the rise. This paper examines the prevalence, impacts and prevention of childhood obesity in the United States. Literature review The rate of childhood obesity in the United States remains high and is characterized by the rise in the consumption of fast foods in the country (Dietz, 2004). Overall, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says obesity affects the nation’s younger population, with 17 percent of persons aged 2 to 19 years being affected by the condition consistently for a decade now. However, there has been a substantial drop in the number of obese children in early childhood from 13.9 percent in 2004 to 8.4 percent in 2012, arguably due to the limited impact of unhealthy diet on the population segment. The percentage of obese children in the United States translates to 12.5 million (Ogden, Carroll, Kit, & Flegal, 2014; Jiang, & Foster, 2013). In the younger population aged below 20 years of age, obesity is normally construed as a body mass index (BMI) at or more than the 95th percentile of the charts created by the CDC for defining BMI versus growth (Jiang, & Foster, 2013). The limits of the scales are normally hit by pre-school children from high-income backgrounds. By contrast, the CDC registered a tremendous decline in cases of obesity and adverse overweight conditions among the American poor, preschool-aged children for the first time around 2011. Freedman, Wang and Thornton (2009) noted that from 2003 through 2010, the pervasiveness of obesity reduced slightly by 0.3 percentage points to 14.9%. Correspondingly, the prevalence of extreme overweight cases declined by 0.15 to 2.07%; even though, these pointers symbolize positive improvement of childhood health, the impacts are too insignificant to bank on (Jiang, & Foster, 2013). From 1998 through 2003, the incidence of obesity soared from 13% to 15%, and the pervasiveness of extreme overweight cases rose from 1.75% to 2.22%. According to Li, Ford, Zhao and Mokdad (2009), extreme obesity drastically dropped among all communities groups, but American Indians or Alaskan aboriginals. The CDC indicates that the highest drop was registered among two-year old children from the Asian/Pacific Islander community. Causes Childhood obesity has several risk factors which can either trigger the condition singly or conspire with others. When several factors are attributed to obesity in children, the condition becomes worse to prevent and or manage. The highest risk factor for childhood obesity is parental obesity because it may be passed to the offspring. The condition may be mirrored in the lineage and genetics. Ogden, Carroll, Kit and Flegal (2014) said other factors may stem from psychological issues and the body type of the child in question. According to Ogden et al (2014), a study conducted in 2010 revealed that childhood obesity can be attributed to the outcomes of the infusion of natural selection approving of individuals with a higher level of parsimonious metabolism of energy and current-day consumerist culture that is characterized by overreliance on energy rich, cheap diets and less limited energy demands in daily activities. Genetics Childhood obesity is usually the outcome of an interaction between several genetic and ecological issues. Polymorphisms in a number of genes influencing appetite and energy-breakdown could expose children to obesity when the condition is coupled with the existence of numerous calories (Dietz, 2004). As such, overweight in children is a significant aspect of several of sporadic genetic complications that often affect children. Specifically, Prader-Willi syndrome is one of the genetic conditions, which affects 1 in every 12,000 children coupled by hyperphagia and the penchant for eating, triggering rapid increase in weight among the affected parties (Daniels, Arnett & Eckel, 2005). In minors with early-onset cases of extreme obesity, which normally happens under the age of ten years and BMI more than three standard deviations higher than the average level, 7 percent have locus mutations. According to Freedman, Wang and Thornton (2009), four-fifths of the children born to two overweight parents are likely to be obese in comparison to fewer than 10 percent cases of the children of two non-obese parents. Regardless, Jiang and Foster (2013) said there are substantial disparities in the percentage of overweight cases that can be linked to genetics, with statistics ranging from a paltry 6% to 85% across the country. Socioeconomic status Socio-economic status also impacts the prevalence of childhood obesity (Dietz, 2004). The condition is much higher in children and adolescents who come from minority communities defined by race and or ethnicity. In addition, children from families whose socioeconomic levels are higher are also expected to register higher cases of obesity because they rarely engage in healthy activities like physical games. The sedentary activities such as playing computer games, which is common in such communities, usually add to the gravity of the condition. Impacts of childhood obesity Childhood obesity is a health challenge posing both short-term and permanent negative effects on the bodily health and the wellbeing of children. Some of the immediate impacts are: obese children and adolescents are more expected to experience risk factors for heart problems, such as inordinate cholesterol and hypertension. Dietz (2004) notes that in a group of sampled children aged between 5 and 17, 70% of overweight youth are expected to have one or more sign(s) or complications relating to cardiovascular disease. In addition, obese adolescents and children are more expected to experience pre-diabetes, a health condition in which the level of sugar in the blood point to a high risk of diabetes. According to Ogden, Carroll, Kit and Flegal (2014), minors who are overweight are at higher risk of being physically handicapped due to weak bones and joints. The group is also at risk of sleep apnea, stigma, and low self-esteem among other environmental challenges. Long-term health impacts such as cardiac problems, type 2 diabetes, different cancers, stroke and osteoarthritis are expected to affect obese children in adulthood (Freedman, Zuguo, Srinivasan, Berenson, & Dietz, 2007). Dietz (2004), in their research supported the concept by adding that children who are diagnosed with obesity in their early childhood are more likely to be obese adults. Owing to the fact that managing the impacts of obesity in children and adults consumes more than $150 billion annually, there has been a renewed push to prevent the condition and cut-down on health care costs in the country. Prevention Childhood obesity is preventable by adopting healthy lifestyle practices, including healthy dietary and physical exercise. Such practices have the potential to lower the prevalence for children becoming obese either through hereditary or unhealthy eating habits, and as such, reduce co-joining health complications (Dietz, 2004). The dietary and body activity behaviors of the younger population oftentimes depend on a number of societal issues, including family issues, communities, learning organizations, child care programs, health care facilities, religious organizations, government influence, the media, and food manufactures. In light of these forces, each party should play their part in enforcing responsible healthy life practices in order to avoid childhood obesity (Krebs, Himes, Jacobson, Nicklas, Guilday, & Styne, 2007). Freedman et al (2005) took issue with schools, saying these institutions play an especially imperative role by fostering a safe and positive environment in which educating different stakeholders about what healthy behaviors entail is the clarion call. With a proactive approach to combating unhealthy stereotypes such as fatness being associated with more wealth, schools can particularly provide opportunities for children and adolescents to be better informed about and exercise healthy practices. Management Krebs et al (2007) said managing obesity requires parents, teachers, clinicians and other important stakeholders such as the media to come out strongly and condemn the substitution of physical exercises with computer games and see to the reduction of consumption of snacks among children. By supporting more physical activities and less sedentary lifestyles, the prevalence of childhood obesity would drop. According to Daniels, Arnett and Eckel (2005), lowering the use of electronic gadgetry to less than two hours a day would reduce the chances of overweight in children by between 17 and 44 percent and the prevalence of severe obesity by between 10 and 61 percent (Jiang, & Foster, 2013). Parents should be particularly on the lookout because they do spend the highest amount of time with their children who are in their early childhood stages, and take a more proactive role in ensuring that the children get enough body exercise to burn excess calories in their body. Research Methodology Background Childhood obesity is a serious problem affecting the United States, which calls for the implementation of appropriate measures to curb it, because failure to act will precipitate a whole new generation of unhealthy adults in the next few decades. Although, the condition and the negative health impacts are well documented in the country, little information is available about its prevalence. This research is based on the prevalence of childhood obesity among kindergarten-school children. Methodology This is a quantitative research on the prevalence of childhood obesity in American elementary schools. The researcher relied on both the primary research by the CDC and secondary research gathered (by the CDC) from published books, journals, and other materials in order to corroborate the credibility of the statistics. In the resources used in the literature review, the researchers sampled the respondents carefully; exposed them to the relevant research questions; handled childhood obesity in longitudinal studies and secondary research by pairing similar studies; tackled extreme scores and the trajectory of the scores for regression; and reconciled the disparities in the prevalence rates between communities. With, “what are the prevalence rates of childhood obesity across communities?” as the problem question, the researcher was keen to obtain the outcomes of childhood obesity prevalence in the country. Results The results indicate that there are major disparities in the prevalence of childhood obesity in terms of race, ethnicity and age. Gender issues, however, have no impact on the condition. In 2011 to 2012, overweight pervasiveness was higher among Latinos (22.4%) and non-Latino black children and adolescents (20.2%) than their white counterparts (14.1%) because of the former communities’ more sedentary lifestyle. Cases of obesity were fewer among non-Hispanic Asian children and adolescents (8.6%) than was the case among non-Hispanic white and black or Latinos, because of their healthier dietary practices based on natural foods. In 2011 to 2012, 8.4% of children aged between 2 and 5 years were overweight compared with 17.7% of children aged between 6 and 11 years and 20.5% of adolescents between the ages of 12 and 19 years (Nan, Strobino, Ahmed, & Minkovitz, 2011). The huge drop in the number of obese infants can be attributed to feeding the children on the healthy breast milk as opposed to unhealthier diet of older children and adolescents. Conclusions Childhood obesity is a serious problem affecting the American children and adolescents. The prevalence of the condition has increased over the past decade, especially among population segment aged between 2 and 19 years. Childhood obesity is caused by genetics, poor dietary practices and lack of physical exercise or a sedentary life. Unlike infants who feed solely on the healthy breast milk, weaned children above 3 years old are immediately sucked into the lifestyle of unhealthy foods, hence the higher rate of childhood obesity in late childhood and during adolescence stage. In light of this, various stakeholders have embarked on campaigns to improve the consumption of healthy foods and body exercise in order to reduce the percentage of obese children in the US, which currently is on the rise. References Daniels, S.R., Arnett, D.K., & Eckel, R.H., (2005). Overweight in children and adolescents: pathophysiology, consequences, prevention, and treatment. Circulation, 111, 1999–2002. Dietz, W.H. (2004). Overweight in childhood and adolescence. New England Journal of Medicine, 350, 855-857. Freedman, D., Wang, J., & Thornton, J.C., (2009). Classification of body fatness by body mass index-for-age categories among children. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, 163, 801–811. Freedman, D.S., Kettel, L., Serdula, M.K., Dietz, W.H., Srinivasan, S.R., & Berenson, G.S. (2005). The relation of childhood BMI to adult adiposity: the Bogalusa Heart Study. Pediatrics, 115, 22–27. Freedman, D.S., Zuguo, M., Srinivasan, S.R., Berenson, G.S., & Dietz, W.H., (2007). Cardiovascular risk factors and excess adiposity among overweight children and adolescents: the Bogalusa Heart Study. Journal of Pediatrics, 150(1):12–17. Jiang, M., & Foster, E. (2013). Michael. Duration of Breastfeeding and Childhood Obesity: A Generalized Propensity Score Approach. Health Services Research, 48(2pt1), 628-651. Krebs, N.F., Himes, J.H., Jacobson, D., Nicklas, T.A., Guilday, P., & Styne, D. (2007). Assessment of child and adolescent overweight and obesity. Pediatrics, 120, S193–S228. Li, C., Ford, E.S., Zhao, G., & Mokdad, A.H., (2009). Prevalence of pre-diabetes and its association with clustering of cardiometabolic risk factors and hyperinsulinemia among US adolescents: NHANES 2005–2006. Diabetes Care, 32, 342–347. Nan, L., Strobino, D., Ahmed, S., & Minkovitz, C.S. (2011). Is There a Healthy Foreign Born Effect for Childhood Obesity in the United States? Maternal & Child Health Journal, 15(3), 310-323. Ogden, C.L., Carroll, M.D., Kit, B.K., & Flegal, K.M. (2014). Prevalence of childhood and adult obesity in the United States, 2011-2012. Journal of the American Medical Association, 311(8), 806-814. Read More