A Discussion on Childhood Obesity Essay

Obesity is considered as a major public health issue in the current decades. Obesity refers to a condition whereby excess body fats accumulate in the body and may lead to serious health effects. The body mass index is the tool that is mainly used to screen for obesity and overweight in both the adults and children. The body mass index is the weight in kilograms divided by the height in meters squared and is concerned with the amount of fat in the body that may lead to obesity (Biro, 91). The contributing factors of obesity among adults and children include the eating habits, genes, and lack of physical activities. If obesity is not controlled, it may lead to worse health complications, for example, high blood pressure, heart disease, type2 diabetes, and joint problems.

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United States is considered to have the highest percentage of the obese population globally. The obese individuals in the United States spend an average of $1429 higher in their medical expense per year as compared with those that are not obese (Ogden, 311). Approximately $147 billion is used in the total population medical expense annually within the United States. However, the amount is expected to increase by approximately $1.24 billion annually until 2030 (Han, 36). According to research by the organization for economic cooperation and development (OECD) in 2013, approximately 57.6% of the United States population was obese and estimates that of the population may be overweight by 2030. The centers for diseases control indicated that obesity was spread across all the age groups that are 36.5% for the adults aged 20 years and above, 17% for adolescents and children of age between 2-19 were obese( Ogden, 330). Obesity contributes to approximately 100,000 to 400.000 deaths annually in the United States which results in huge healthcare expenditure costing the society $117 billion in the direct and indirect costs. The healthcare cost due to obesity is higher as compared to smoking and accounts for 7% to 12% of the total national healthcare cost in the United States (Han, 33).

Despite national and the states government's strategies and campaigns to reduce the cases of obesity in the country, obesity in the United States is still increasing in scope and size, with the number of people affected by obesity is increasing annually. This can be solved by continually encouraging people to observe proper food diet and enhancing the awareness of the risk factors of obesity to the population. This study will mainly focus on obesity among the children between the age of 5 and 15 years in the United States this is mainly due to the increase in cases of childhood obesity in the United States.

Childhood obesity has been a serious global public health problem in the 21st century, which mainly affects the middle and the low-income families mainly in the urban setting (Biro, 91). The number of cases of childhood obesity cases has been reported to be on the increase globally. The obese children are likely to continue being obese even into their adulthood, and they are at huge risk of developing other complications such cardiovascular diseases and diabetes at a very young age. Childhood obesity may also have effects on the child during the adolescence stage whereby the child develops hepatitis and increased intracranial pressure. The risk factors of childhood obesity include.

Genetics

Genetics is considered to be the main contributing factors of childhood obesity, according to research, body mass index is approximately 25 to 50% inheritable (Birch, 50). However, the genetic factors have to be linked to other factors such as the behavior and environmental factors to influence the child's weight. The genetic factors account for approximately 5% of the causes of childhood obesity, therefore even though genetics results to obesity it does not lead to the drastic rise in the cases of childhood obesity (Birch, 60).

Consumption of the fast foods

High intake of the fast foods is linked to the increased obesity among the children. Families that work outside the home area prefer the fast food for their children since they are convenient and less expensive. Fast foods tend to have increased amount of calories with fewer nutrition values. Research on the children eating habits in the restaurants found that children consume more calories from the fast foods than they would have initially taken in their home settings. The high calories intake results in increased cases of obesity among the children due to high-fat accumulation in the body.

The prevention of childhood obesity

Schools usually play a huge role in the control and prevention of childhood obesity through the provision of an enabling environment that support policies and practices that promote healthy behaviors, at home parents also play the role of prevention of childhood obesity. Various methods are employed in the prevention of obesity, this includes.

Observing proper dietary practices

There is no recommended diet for the children globally, however, to prevent childhood obesity the people are advised to take various things into concern, this includes, first, increase the intake of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. Increased fruits and vegetable intake helps in weight management thus preventing the risk of obesity. High fruits and vegetable consumption lowers the total energy density in the meal thus reducing the energy intake and enhance diet quality. The European union fruit scheme acts as a voluntary scheme that gives school children aged between 6 to 10 years free fruits with the intention of encouraging proper eating habits to prevent childhood obesity ( Chen, 16).

Secondly, reduce the amount of energy consumed from the total fats and change the intake of saturated fats to unsaturated fats. This can be achieved through avoiding the consumption of fast food which tends to have a high number of calories as compared to the nutrition levels. The high calories intake results in increased accumulation of fats in the body thus leading to obesity to obesity. The education intervention campaigns should emphasize that obesity and overweight are not signs of good health in a child, the education intervention should mainly focus on the mothers in communities with decreased social, economic status.

Recommending physical activity for children ages 5 to 15 years

Physical activity is a key component in the management and prevention of obesity in the United States; the world health organization recommends that the children and adolescents aged between 5 to 15 years should engage in at least 60 minutes of vigorous physical activities (Chen, 35). For the children, the physical activities should include, Sports, chores, and planned exercises. The physical exercises help burn the accumulated fats in the child's body thus preventing childhood obesity. Childhood inactivity is associated with obesity in the united states with more children being obese at a young age. This can be eliminated through teachers motivating the children to play by providing equipment's that entice the children to play, for example, the balls and toys.

Conclusion

According to the study childhood obesity is a serious health issue that requires proper attention for it to be controlled and managed in the United States. Management of childhood obesity requires the unity of efforts among various parties such as the government, teachers and the families whereby each party should play its role in ensuring obesity management. Various methods should be employed in obesity management and control; this includes encouraging physical activities and improving on the dietary practices.

Works cited

Biro, Frank M., and Michelle Wien. "Childhood obesity and adult morbidities-." The American journal of clinical nutrition91.5 (2010): 1499S-1505S.

Birch, L. L., and A. K. Ventura. "Preventing childhood obesity: what works?." International journal of obesity 33.S1 (2009): S74.Chen, Xiaoli, May A. Beydoun, and Youfa Wang. "Is sleep duration associated with childhood obesity? A systematic review and metaanalysis." Obesity 16.2 (2008): 265-274.

Han, Joan C., Debbie A. Lawlor, and Sue YS Kimm. "Childhood obesity." The Lancet 375.9727 (2010): 1737-1748.

Ogden, Cynthia L., et al. "Prevalence of childhood and adult obesity in the United States, 2011-2012." Jama 311.8 (2014): 806-814.