Obesity in Children - Research Paper Example

 Abstract Childhood obesity has emerged as a major issue that is swallowing the well-being of the majority of the children of the present epoch. It has taken the shape of an epidemic in the United States. Reports state that 16.3% of children belonging to the age group of 2-19 years are obese. Obesity shatters the self-esteem of the child and inculcates depression. Essentially, measures must be promoted to prevent the situation by adopting healthy lifestyle instead of developing eating disorder and being depressed. The number of cases in past three decades has raised three folds. It is unfortunate that the rate of incidence of obesity is reported to be exceptionally high for the minor population i.e. the population belonging to the age group between 2 to 18 years. Obesity has displayed its prevalence in the minority communities; reports reveal that 25% of Black and Hispanic kids are flabby. These exceptionally fat kids are categorized as kids with super-obesity shows a rise of 100% in past 20 years. With the advancing age, kids grow as obese adults. Reports highlight that these overweight kids encounter problems of high blood lipids, insulin resistance, elevated blood pressure, and other troubles. The jeopardy of high blood cholesterol concentration is maximum amongst children with body loads more than 90th percentile (Child Obesity in America, n.d.). The situation is alarming as the authorities are also worried about the prevalence of obesity and its related predicaments. The present article deals with the prevalence and preventive measures that need to be adopted to lead a healthy life right from the childhood. Introduction Webster's Dictionary (2011) defines obesity as "A condition characterized by the excessive accumulation and storage of fat in the body". This can be caused by lack of physical activity and excessive calorie consumption or taking in more calories than a person can burn off. BMI or Body Mass Index is a tool used to determine over weight and obesity in both children and adults. "BMI is a reliable indicator of body fatness for most children and teens and can be considered as an alternative for direct measures of body fat" (CDCP, 2011). Journal published by the American Academy of Pediatrics researchers established that "childhood obesity may be caused by factors that operate at the earliest stages of life" (Bagley, 2009). Numerous reasons persist in day-to-day life which play vital role in defining prevalence of childhood obesity. Existing Problems Complications of Childhood Obesity Reports illustrate that around 7 million American children and teenagers are supposed to have elevated cholesterol concentrations. If LDL concentration rises at young age they are likely to have prominent LDL cholesterol intensities at adulthood. Such overweight kids are likely to develop cardiovascular disease (Winkleby et al., 1999) and diabetes; these diseases are otherwise associated with adults in their middle-age. A drastic rise in type 2 diabetes has been reported by pediatricians among the children and adolescents. Type 2 diabetes is associated with obesity (Ebbeling et al., 2002). Besides these critical issues the obese child also witnesses physical health issues and social troubles. Morbidly obese children also suffer from emotional distress as a result they develop profuse eating habits and feel delighted if they get all the eatables they wish for, thereby developing a tendency to eat constantly and still remain dissatisfied even after consuming a large full meal. It is observed that children consume junk food items and snacks, containing high proportion of fat, salt and sugar contributing to the obesity. The most favorite food items for kids of present epoch are ice creams, soda pop, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, pizza, French fries made of potatoes rich in starch, milk shakes containing excessive sugar, chips, and candy bars. These food items are devoid of fibers and are rich in fats and cholesterol. Instead of consuming raw vegetables and fruits children of the present era like to opt for juice with sugar, as fibers are being strained out from these juices they are devoid of providing nutrition that could act as roughage. Children find salads and vegetables icky, if they are advised to eat fruits and vegetables, they eat with toppings of cream and sugar or they enjoy the fruits with some delicacies (Reilly et al., 2005; Child Obesity In America, n.d.). Lifestyle Further, the life style and schedule also paves the way for bad eating habits. Working parents get little time for their children to train them for developing good eating habits. Parents leave little time for attending the kids and discussing with them their issues and concerns, their likes and dislikes. Working mother seldom gets time to cook food for their kids and thereby forcing the kids to opt for the readymade food stuff available in the market. When the kids feel hungry they take a packet of biscuits or potato wafers to satisfy their appetite, as parents especially mother is not around to attend their needs. Gradually, this becomes the habit and children tend to develop such a practice as their habit culminating into poor eating habit or eating disorder and eventually tend to become obese. Moreover, the nutritional superiority of a child's diet is optimistically prejudiced not only by having a pleasing and enjoyable family atmosphere at mealtime, but also they have parents to share affectionate moments and they seek parents' help for developing eating habits and understanding dos and don'ts. On the contrary children, who tend to eat food by themselves, in the absence of parents, do not have enough knowledge to understand what they should eat and consume. They eat as per taste and not as per the food value. Regular family meals also provide order, discipline and emotional security to the child. Psychologists have found that positive child-parent interactions improve child's development and their cognitive abilities. A healthy family atmosphere is imperative not only for the development of personality and development of the child but also for the appropriate health of the child (Child Obesity in America, n.d.). Physical Activities Children are either associated with watching television, DVD movies or they play video or computer games, or do internet chatting, surfing etc. There is hardly any time for physical exercise. The government wants that children and adults of the nation inculcate a habit of walking every day. This is an effort to restrain obesity prevailing in the United States. It is important for children to be engaged in more of physical work encompassing walking, running, cycling or other outdoor actions. This not only distracts them from an inclination for eating so as to remove their boredom, but enable them to burn their calories keeping them fit both physically and mentally. Observation reveals that in the present era families are small and if the child has no company to play with, there are chances that child adopt ways to overcome the loneliness as well as monotony of life, for this the child keep sitting in front of the computer to play game or chat with friends and if some sort of thrill is observed they keep a packet of wafers with them to draw pleasure out of the game and also relish eating and enjoy life, a contentment drawn out of the solitude (Child Obesity In America, n.d.). Family Atmosphere The situation worsens when the children witness single parenting, the child turns out to be over-pampered. Single parent takes the accountability of the child alone and in order to keep their child cheerful they accomplish all the commands and rarely restrain insists. These activities inflict a psychological impact on the child's mind and hence they take advantage of their parents to execute their requirements. Parents are under constant pressure due to comparison that is made by the child with peers. This creates a feeling of competition and generates a wrong notion. In order to prove them better as well as superior, parents employ and endorse erroneous habits in their wards resulting in the indiscipline shown by the children in the form of eating disorder (Child Obesity in America, n.d.). Research states that if one of the parents is obese then the chances of child being obese is 50% but if both the parents are obese then chances for the child being obese is 80%. Obesity due to medical conditions is Read More