Essay Sample on Childhood Obesity
Take a moment and in vision a young child, when you think of them I hope they are running, playing and laughing like every adolescent should. Now, take a moment and in vision a young child who cannot run and play with the other kids because they are 15 to 20 pounds too big for their age. This should strike an adult with concern, right? The answer should be yes. Childhood obesity is slowly becoming one of our nation’s biggest concerns, it is a prerequisite for physical and social problems. This ‘illness’ is controlling the lives of today’s youth, hindering them from experiencing simple joys in life such as playing with their friends at recess. Childhood obesity is a pressing issue and needs to be addressed.
To begin, childhood obesity is an issue in which I am very passionate and care a great deal about, I feel as though no child should be put in a circumstance from such a young age to not be taught to care about their physical health. According to the World Health Organization, obesity is defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health. I understand that a child may be born with a special condition in which they cannot help excess weight gain, but if a healthy child is born there should be no excuses as to why him/her fall into bad health habits. This specific issue is important because obesity interferes with how a child is able to run, play and interact with others. If a boy/girl is not able to participate in normal activities, let's say in an elementary school PE class, then other kids begin to take notice and that particular child’s self-esteem could be affected. Being left out at a young age due to a difference in weight can only open the door for future issues as the child gets older, such as bullying. Adding on, obesity at a young age can cause psychological issues ranging from depression and anxiety to body dysmorphia. If a child is scrolling the internet continually seeing models and social media influencers flaunting their bikini bodies, this will not create a healthy idea of body image for the struggling individual. “With the rise in adolescent obesity and the increased use of social media influence on body image, it is important to understand the associations between obesity and depression” (Trevino). Next, obesity can be harmful to a child’s young developing body. Carrying around extra weight as an adolescent is hard on ones body, for instance, “Bones grow in size and strength during childhood. Too much weight places excess stress on the growth plate, which can lead to early arthritis, a greater risk for broken bones, and other serious conditions, such as slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE) and Blount's disease” (AAOS).
Lastly, obesity at a young age can lead to a wide range of health issues/ complications. Based on an article from the UCSF, an obese child is more likely to have health issues such as: asthma, heart disease, high blood pressure, liver problems, gallstones, type 2 diabetes and more. All of this evidence proves how big of an impact childhood obesity can have on the lives of young individuals, being overweight at a young age is not easy, but luckily there are individuals in our society that are here to help.
Secondly, members of society, more importantly the medical members, view childhood obesity as a top concern. They work hard to control the rising obesity rate in children due to the fact, “that the prevention of obesity is vital because the likelihood of childhood obesity persisting into adulthood increases as the child ages” (Johns Hopkins). However, there are more views on this issue than just those that revolve around the medical world. Other ways society may view childhood obesity is that the child is simply eating more because they are growing, or that the child was born with a medical condition that doesn’t allow them to lose weight, or the family in which the child lives in is low income and cannot provide their child with healthy food options or lastly the child eats as a coping mechanism for stress. Right here are just four ways in which childhood obesity could be seen through the eyes of society, this being said there are many more instances for why a child may be obese. A big contributor to children being obese is due to, “modern life being sedentary. Kids spend more time playing with electronic devices than actively playing outside” (Gavin). However, family members also influence obesity through eating habits as well as genetics. Also, according to Gavin she reveals, “both genes and habits are passed down from one generation to the next… People in the same family tend to have similar eating patterns, levels of physical activity, and attitudes toward being overweight. A child's chances of being overweight increase if one or both parent is overweight or obese”. If a child’s family practices poor eating habits and does not care to be active, then becoming obese is inevitable and staying healthy slowly becomes put on the back burner.
Lastly, childhood obesity has been on the rise, “Over the past three decades, childhood obesity rates have tripled in the U.S., and today, the country has some of the highest obesity rates in the world: one out of six children is obese, and one out of three children is overweight or obese” (Harvard). This being said, the largest group affected by childhood obesity are children ranging in, “age from 2 -19 years old as of 2017 - 2018” (CDC). Digging deeper into the problem there are two major groups that consistently lead the pack in having obese children, based on an article from the Centers for Disease Control and Presentation the first group is Hispanic children with an obesity prevalence of 25.6% and the second group is African American children with an obesity prevalence of 24.2%. When combining the statistics these groups make up a shocking 49.8% of obese children in America. Historically speaking, “We have not always been a nation in the midst of an obesity epidemic” for example, “In the 1960s and 1970s only 13 percent of U.S. adults and 5 to 7 percent of U.S. children were obese” (Johnson). Another statistic reveals, “In 1969, approximately half of U.S. children walked or biked to school, and 87 percent of those living within one mile of their school did so. Today, less than 15 percent of U.S. school children walk or bike to school” (Johnson). Through these pieces of evidence it highlights two time periods in which obesity was not an issue and then progressed in to the problem it is today. 50 years ago life was a lot different, there wasn’t fast food at every corner, not everyone had access to a car and there weren’t TV and video games to keep us all occupied for hours on end. What I’m trying to get at is that back then children were more active and basically forced to be active in order to have fun, nowadays physical health is not as valued as it should be, parents see fast food as an easy dinner and video games as a way to have their me time. With this, children get lazy and learn bad eating habits and to not care about their physical well-being. Physical health is on a decline and that is only going to hurt our future generations to come.
In conclusion, childhood obesity is an extremely important issue that is quickly creeping up on the United States and taking it by surprise. Children in today’s world are not being taught the proper measures to take in order to maintain their physical health. Childhood obesity can leave a child with major physical, psychological and emotional issues as they grow older. Society can also play a role in how one sees themselves, society can bring one up to tear one done in the blink of an eye. All in all, “Obesity kills; it is now the second leading cause of death in the U.S.and is likely to become the first. Unless this epidemic is successfully addressed, life expectancy will actually decline in the US” (Johnson). It is our responsibility to shape the younger generation and teach them the importance of physical health. As a final fruit for thought Anne Wilson Schaef once said, “Good health is not something we can buy”, therefore we must appreciate the body we are given and teach those after us how to take care of it.
