Paper Example on Childhood Obesity

Obesity is a lifestyle disease that refers to the state of being overweight. In the world today, many children are obese, and this puts a threat to the future generation. The worrying fact is that 80% of children suffering from obesity come from developed countries (Blass, 2012). Parents of obese children are to blame for their children's conditions because most of the parents feed their kids on junk foods with a lot of unnecessary cholesterol. Poor nutrition and diet is the primary cause of obesity but is not the only cause of obesity. Obesity in children puts them at risk of developing cardiovascular diseases and other conditions that arise as a result of the poor performance of body organs as a consequence of a lot of cholesterol in the body (Salli, Floyd, Rodriguez & Saelens, 2012). This paper will discuss the three most important risk factors that cause obesity.

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Dietary intake

As pointed earlier, poor nutrition is the primary cause of obesity in children. Most of the obese children eat unbalanced diet and have no access to fruits and vegetables that are vital in the growth of a child (You & Choo, 2016). The majority of the obese children come from poor backgrounds meaning that their parents cannot afford balanced diet to either joblessness or meager earnings (You & Choo, 2016). However, this is not to say that obesity affects only the poor, it also affects the wealthy, but the poor suffer more than the rich. Children from affluent backgrounds become obese as a result of a lot of food because they can afford it. Children from the well up families also become obese due to taking a lot of junk food that is often advertised on the various media platforms (You & Choo, 2016). Junk food is often rich in carbohydrates and as such the children have an excess intake of carbohydrates.

The majority of the parents of obese children are illiterate or have no access to information on proper nutrition. However, this does not mean that children whose parents are learned are not affected by obesity. Learned parents also have obese children as a result of ignorance which makes them fail to give their children a balanced diet. Today, people live in urban centers where they rely heavily on processed and packaged foods. The processed foods that have balanced nutrition are expensive and can only be afforded by the rich people in the society, and the poor are forced to give their children the cheap foods that they can afford. The cheap foods are rich in carbohydrates, and their consumption increases fat in the body and the long run it leads to obesity in the children.

Physical activity

Physical activity is also a risk factor for obesity. Lack or limited physical activity increases the propensity of a child becoming obese (Sallis, Floyd, Rodriguez & Saelens, 2012). The majority of children who are obese today do not engage in physical activities during their leisure time. Lack of physical activities mean that extra calories in the body are not burnt and this result in excess accumulation of fat in the body (Horsch et al. 2015). Lack of physical activity is sometimes promoted by environments that do not allow for physical activities such as bicycle riding, walking and running. According to Horsch et al. (2015), physical activities help fight obesity as they contribute to burning excess calories in the body that if not consumed can result in weight gain.

Obese children enjoy eating than engaging in physical activities and are addicted to eating. The parents of children who do not like participating in physical activities are ignorant of the fact that sitting idle and just eating won't help their children in any way. Obesity makes children less attractive physically due to the accumulation of a lot of weight, and this makes the children have difficulties interacting with others in schools or any given social gathering. Obese children have low self-esteem, and the majority of them claim that they hate themselves and this makes them think that everyone around them hates them (Salli, Floyd, Rodriguez & Saelens, 2012).

Sedentary behaviors

The modern society has witnessed the advent of modern video games that children are quickly addicted to and love playing most of the time. Sedentary behaviors are a risk factor for obesity because it lowers physical activities (Mitchell et al., 2013). Children who have sedentary behaviors spend most of their time watching TV, playing play stations, sitting idle or sleeping. The accumulation of a lot of fat in the body weakens the organs of the body, and this motivates the children to adopt the sedentary behaviors. Mass body weight impairs the body immune of a child, and this increases the chances of an obese child falling ill. An overweight child is often withdrawn and feels weak and lacking the energy to partake in any activities and thus he or she prefers to live a sedentary life (Mitchell et al., 2013).

Girls have a high propensity of having sedentary behaviors than boys because boys love engaging in outdoor activities than males. This shows that girls are at a higher a higher risk of becoming obese than boys. Prevalence of children becoming overweight has increased significantly in recent years due to changes in lifestyles. There is the need for people to put more efforts in promoting the fight against obesity in children because the children are the key to the future generations (Blass, 2012).

References

Blass, E. M. (2012). Obesity: Causes, mechanisms, prevention, and treatment. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates.

Horsch, A., Wobmann, M., Kriemler, S., Munsch, S., Borloz, S., Balz, A., Marques-Vidal, P., Borghini, A., & Puder, J. (2015). Impact of Physical Activity on Energy Balance, Food Intake and Choice in Normal Weight and Obese Children in the Setting of Acute Social Stress: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Mitchell, J. A., Mattocks, C., Ness, A. R., Leary S. D., Pate R. R., Dowda, M, Blair, S. N., & Riddoch, C. (2013). Sedentary Behaviour and Obesity in a Large Cohort of Children. Accessed from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2746930/Sallis, J. F., Floyd, M., F., Rodriguez, D. A., & Saelens, F. (2012).Role of Built Environment in Physical Activity, Obesity and Cardiovascular Disease.

You, J., & Choo, J. (2016). Adolescent Overweight and Obesity: Links to Socioeconomic Status and Fruit and Vegetable Intakes.