Children Obesity in the United States and Europe

Introduction

Children obesity is an unpleasant trend that is progressively rising across the globe. This has raised the alarm to the healthcare practitioners, who have focused on evaluating its leading causes, and how it can be prevented. Obesity is, therefore, a condition where a child accumulates excess body fat leading to an overweight individual. Obesity is determined by the computation of body mass index, and its accurate for children aged above two years. If the BMI index is above 94%, then such a child is considered obese. The condition has severe effects particularly during the advanced age, thus necessitating intervention from the healthcare personnel. Therefore, the essay will focus on identifying the causes and consequences of obesity and comparing the rate, diet, education, and education availed to the public on obesity in America and Europe. Moreover, the essay will highlight measures that can be taken to averse the rising rates of obesity in the two regions.

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Causes of Children Obesity

Obesity has been associated with several causative aspects. For instance, it is believed to be genetic. Obesity can be caused by heredity, such that the children acquire it from their previous obese parents. Moreover, behavioral traits of a child such as lack of or inadequate physical activities, consumption of high-calorie foods, sedentary practices such as unhealthy sleeping routines, use of inappropriate medications such as uncertified supplements. Such behaviors slow down the metabolic process thus leading to the rapid conversion of food into body fats (Sahoo et al., 2015). Additionally, the environment and community setups such as schools, or children care centers determines the health status of the teenagers. If such places offer healthy foodstuffs, such children will have a reduced risk of contracting obesity (Anderson & Butcher, 2015). Additionally, the opportunities and types of physical exercises offered by such institutions determine the status of the children weight and body fat accumulation.

Consequences of Children Obesity

Obesity presents both short-term and long-term consequences. The primary short-term effects include the probability of high cholesterol and high blood pressure, which if it persists, may emerge as cardiovascular disease risk factors. Moreover, such children develop high chances of insulin resistance, glucose tolerance, and also type 2 diabetes. It may also lead to the emergence of other health complications such as gallstones, heartburn, and fatty liver disorder (Sahoo et al., 2015). In the long run, children suffering from, obesity tend to experience low self-esteem, psychological deficiencies such as depression and anxiety, and stigma. Healthwise, such children may develop into obese adults, which may lead to the emergence of severe diseases such as cancer, type 2 diabetes, and heart diseases.

Similarities of Obesity in US and Europe

The two regions are facing rising and severe epidemic of obese disorder, especially of children. Europe is considered as one of the areas posing the highest rate of obese children across the globe. In the EU region, one out of three children aged 5-11 years are either overweight or obese.

Background: There is a lack of common surveillance systems providing comparable figures and temporal trends of the prevalence of overweight (OW), obesity and related risk factors among European preschool and school children. Comparability of available data is limited in terms of sampling design, methodological approaches and quality assurance. The IDEFICS (Identification and prevention of Dietary- and lifestyle-induced health Effects in Children and infantS) study provides one of the largest European data sets of young children based on state-of-the-art methodology.

Objective: To assess the European distribution of weight status according to different classification systems based on body mass index (BMI) in children (2.0/9.9 years). To describe the prevalence of weight categories by region, sex, age and socioeconomic position.

Design: Between 2007 and 2010, 18 745 children from eight European countries participated in an extensive, highly standardised protocol including, among other measures, anthropometric examinations and parental reports on socio-demographic characteristics.

Results: The combined prevalence of OW/obesity ranges from more than 40% in southern Europe to less than 10% in northern Europe. Overall, the prevalence of OW was higher in girls (21.1%) as compared with boys (18.6%). The prevalence of OW shows a negative gradient with social position, with some variation of the strength and consistency of this association across Europe. Overall, population groups with low income and/or lower education levels show the highest prevalence of obesity. The use of different reference systems to classify OW results in substantial differences in prevalence estimates and can even reverse the reported difference between boys and girls.

Conclusions: There is a higher prevalence of obesity in populations from southern Europe and in population groups with lower education and income levels. Our data confirm the need to develop and reinforce European public health policies to prevent early obesity and to reduce these health inequalities and regional disparities (Ahrens et al., 2014). This has been identified as a healthcare concern and has triggered researchers and medical practitioners to venture into studies aimed at recognizing causes and measures to curb it. On the other hand, the US second it with an average of 18% of the total children population affected by obesity. The nation has exhibited a general rise in the number of children affected by overweight or obesity by approximately 12.1% between the year 2009 to 2012 for the children aged between 2-5 years. Moreover, for the age bracket between 6-11 years, the nation exhibited a general rise of 12.1%, and children between the ages of 12-19 years shown an 18.0% increase in the same period.

Objective: Provide the most recent data on the prevalence of obesity and severe obesity among United States children and adolescents aged 2 to 19 years.

Methods: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999\2014, was used. Weight status was defined using measured height and weight and standard definitions as follows: overweight as 85th percentile for age- and sex-specific BMI; class I obesity as 95th percentile; class II obesity as 120 of the 95th percentile, or BMI 35; and class III obesity as 140% of the 95th percentile, or BMI 40. This study reports the prevalence of obesity by 2-year National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey cycle and Wald tests comparing the 2011/2012 cycle with the 2013\2014 cycle, as well as the linear trend from 1999 to 2014. Multivariable logistic regression models estimated odds ratios for differences by each 2-year cycle.

Results: In 2013\2014, 17.4% of children met criteria for class I obesity, including 6.3% for class II and 2.4% for class III, none statistically different than 2011\2012. A clear, statistically significant increase in all classes of obesity continued from 1999 through 2014.

Conclusions: There is no evidence of a decline in obesity prevalence in any age group, despite substantial clinical and policy efforts targeting the issue (Skinner, Perrin, & Skelton, 2016). Therefore, such statistics indicate the seriousness of the disorder in the two regions, thus necessitating an organized intervention strategy.

Moreover, both regions are facing the challenge associated with diet and individual behavior activities as the leading causes of the increasing rate of childhood obesity. According to the research conducted by world health organization, consumption of food rich in calories and lack of physical activities are the leading causes of overweight or obesity disorder across the globe. Thus, the US and EU are also characterized by these challenges, where the primary cause of the disorder in the two regions is associated with consumption of fast foods (Marcus, 200...