...Running head: Childhood Obesity in America: A Super-sized Problem That Plagues Our Society 1 Childhood Obesity in America: A Super-sized Problem That Plagues Our Society Elizabeth Widmeyer Western Governors University Childhood Obesity in America: A Super-sized Problem That Plagues Our Society 2 Childhood Obesity in America: A Super-sized Problem That Plagues Our Society Childhood obesity is a growing epidemic in America's society that is having an astronomical impact on the health of our children and our health care system. But, what exactly does it mean to label a child obese? According to Mayo Clinic (2014) “Obesity is a complex disorder involving an excessive amount of body fat.” Body fat is measured using the body mass index (BMI). A child's BMI is calculated by dividing their height by their weight. The calculation would then be graphed with their age in months to determine their growth percentile (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2001). A child is considered obese if they are in the 95th percentile or higher . A child who falls in the 85th - 95th is considered overweight and is at risk of becoming obese (KidsHealth, n.d.). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2014) there are 12.5 million Americans between the ages of 2 to 19 that are obese. Race, physical activity level and eating habits are three main components that can lead to obesity in children. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services...
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...Does Fast Food Cause Obesity? Every time Americans tune into the local news broadcasts or scroll through their television channels, they are likely to be stunned at the number of cases of obesity that have been reported in Americans. Seeing human beings that weigh over six hundred pounds has become a popular trend in today’s society, and it’s not even questioned even though many harsh consequences come from being obese. It is sometimes difficult to imagine how these people have sustained this kind of weight and lifestyle. Inevitably, people begin to question whether or not fast food is the cause of obesity rising in America today. Before we can clarify that fast food companies are to blame for people over eating the food produced in these facilities, it must be tested and proven that fast food is actually the main problem causing obesity in America. It is known to many people how the number of fast food restaurants are increasing almost every day. This is very convenient for fast food restaurant chains. Fast-food increases obesity by lowering food prices, tempting customers who have absolutely no self-control, and by being a suitable go to at the end of a very busy day. What causes individuals to consume fast food to the point where they cannot stop themselves? People hold different opinions on this topic. In the past, people in the United States used to eat healthy, eat nutritious prepared food and meals, and exercise with their families. Today, many people in the United...
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...Childhood obesity is best tackled at home through improved parental involvement, increased physical exercise, better diet and restraint from eating. - Bob Filner Childhood obesity is best tackled at home through improved parental involvement, increased physical exercise, better diet and restraint from eating. - Bob Filner References: American Heart Association. (2016), What is childhood obesity? Retrieved from http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/HealthyLiving/WeightManagement/Obesity/Childhood-Obesity_UCM_304347_Article.jsp#.VuN7AY-cHIU Centers of disease control and prevention. (2016), Retrieved at http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html Help Cure Child Obesity. (2016), Child Obesity in America: Taking Care of Our Children Retrieved from http://www.helpcurechildobesity.com/ References: American Heart Association. (2016), What is childhood obesity? Retrieved from http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/HealthyLiving/WeightManagement/Obesity/Childhood-Obesity_UCM_304347_Article.jsp#.VuN7AY-cHIU Centers of disease control and prevention. (2016), Retrieved at http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html Help Cure Child Obesity. (2016), Child Obesity in America: Taking Care of Our Children Retrieved from http://www.helpcurechildobesity.com/ Will You Out Live Your Parents Childhood obesity is a growing problem in our society. We are reaching a time that hasn’t been achieved since the American Revolution. Today, about one in three American kids and teens is overweight...
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...nation. The crisis is obesity. It’s the fastest growing cause of death in America.” According to a government reports, 60 percent of Americans are overweight, and 25 percent are grossly overweight and at medical risk in this country. This condition contributes to approximately 400,000 deaths each year, drains U.S. economy of billions of dollars in direct and indirect medical expenses, disability, and lost productivity. The American culture of obesity is not just a societal trend. It also has strong cultural and economic roots. The economic interests that drive US cultural practices are rarely explained in the media, which makes solving the obesity problem especially difficult. US government officials have become aware of the huge health costs related to diabetes and hypertension, first on individuals, then on the society as whole, through lost productivity and through costs associated with expanding healthcare facilities to serve the increasing number of people with diet-related medical problems. But simple awareness is not enough. Now, when obesity has increasingly becoming a major threat to society and the biggest burden on economy, active government intervention is needed to combat this crisis. Government must develop new economic incentives for businesses and individuals to promote and implement a healthier lifestyle. Obesity is unique in that it is viewed as chronic disease. It is increasing at rates previously only seen with infectious diseases. Obesity is a leading cause...
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...Medicalization of Obesity Obesity is measured by the level of a person’s body mass index (BMI), and is determined based on an individual’s height and weight. As noted in Sternheimer’s Connecting Social Problems and Popular Culture, “between 1980 and 2000, the number of children classified as overweight doubled for those aged two through eleven and tripled for adolescents twelve to nineteen” (198). In addition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention presents separate statistics for obese and overweight individuals in order to bring urgency to what they claim as a problem. As claimsmakers, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention insist that the problem is getting worse by noting that it is an “obesity epidemic,” and categorizes the overweight population as part of the epidemic (Best 127). As a result, society begins to frame this social problem by medicalization. Moreover, Andrew Pollack from The New York Times notes that the American Medical Association has officially medicalized obesity as a disease in his article titled, “A.M.A. Recognizes Obesity as a Disease” (Pollack). Thus, I will attempt to discuss the medicalization of obesity and how it affects society. Medicalization is one of the ways in which to frame a social problem. To clarify, medicalization transpires when previously nonmedical issues become defined and regarded as medical problems (Blackburn 895). However, the real question is—will medicalizing obesity as a disease actually address this problem...
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...Obesity is increasing at alarming rates in our society. While excessive attention to “thinness” carries its own physical and mental health problems, increasing overweight is a much “larger” problem in our society and currently affects over two thirds of the population. This handbook sponsored by the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) has been written with the layman in mind and is meant to be a comprehensive and concise source of reliable information for the educated consumer. In contrast to smoking, which has decreased due to improved public health awareness, overweight and obesity have steadily increased — particularly over the last twenty-five years. On average, obesity shortens life by six to seven years. Excess weight increases the risk of deadly diseases such as heart disease, stroke and cancer. One of the great ironies of advances in medical technology is that deaths due to heart attacks, stroke, and cancer, which have rapidly declined in the past, are now leveling off and in some cases increasing due to obesity-related conditions. For example, diabetes, which is directly related to being overweight, is increasing rapidly, and deaths due to heart disease in diabetics are also increasing. Similarly, cancers linked to obesity, such as colon, prostate, and breast, are also increasing. Right now the American Cancer Society considers obesity to be the second largest cause of preventable cancer, after cigarette smoking. Within ten years, obesity might exceed smoking...
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...Child Obesity Child obesity is a social epidemic presenting challenges to the Government, society and the American family today. It crosses a variety of ethnic, geographic, economic and social environments. Obesity is causing an increase strain on the healthcare system, contributing to the $150 billion annual cost of healthcare provided, which is a breakdown of almost 10 percent of the National medical budget. Obesity increases risks for diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and even cancer. (National center for the chronic disease prevention and health promotion, division of nutrition, physical activity and obesity, 2011, p. 1) “Approximately one in six children are obese in the United States today”. (National center for the chronic disease prevention and health promotion, division of nutrition, physical activity and obesity, 2011, p. 1) “80% of obese adolescents will be obese as adults”. ("Childhood Obesity Prevention," 2014, p. 2) According to a study released January 2014, only “1 in 4 teens are participating in one hour of moderate activity every day”. (Doheny, 2014, para. 1) “Obesity levels for American Indians and Alaska Natives are increasing. Obesity among children in these ethnic groups showed a rise of about a half percentage point each year from 2003 to 2008. For 2008, obesity was highest among American Indians and Alaska Natives, with 21.2 % being obese. Hispanics were second, with an obesity rate of 18.5%. Whites came in third, with 12.6%...
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...Fast Food Workers’ Rights At a glance it is easy to see that the winning formula for the high economic success in the fast food industry is comprised of cheap food and cheap labor. Their ability to sell food at a low price in a matter of minutes caters to families or individuals limited on time or money, and in many cases both of these factors are of equal importance. Inordinately the consumption of low cost labor in the fast food industry has resulted in an underpaid and under protected workforce. In many ways limitations on workers’ rights in the fast food industry have been instrumental in the high profitability of the corporations that dominate it; however, the formation of unions or other sources of support for fast food workers would have implications on the price and/or quality of the final products sold. These implications, in particularly the price of the food, would force a complete restructure of the expectations and needs of customers who currently frequent the restaurants. A key element in sourcing low cost labor has been the excessive employment of teenagers. The fast food industry has exploited the needs and vulnerability of teenagers in order to create a high turnover workforce that is willing to accept low wages and easily taught. The industry has capitalized on assembly line production models, which require little skills from the workers; however, the machinery necessary for these conditions is often times dangerous and violates OSHA guidelines for...
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...Obesity is increasing at alarming rates in our society. While excessive attention to “thinness” carries its own physical and mental health problems, increasing overweight is a much “larger” problem in our society and currently affects over two thirds of the population. This handbook sponsored by the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) has been written with the layman in mind and is meant to be a comprehensive and concise source of reliable information for the educated consumer. In contrast to smoking, which has decreased due to improved public health awareness, overweight and obesity have steadily increased — particularly over the last twenty-five years. On average, obesity shortens life by six to seven years. Excess weight increases the risk of deadly diseases such as heart disease, stroke and cancer. One of the great ironies of advances in medical technology is that deaths due to heart attacks, stroke, and cancer, which have rapidly declined in the past, are now leveling off and in some cases increasing due to obesity-related conditions. For example, diabetes, which is directly related to being overweight, is increasing rapidly, and deaths due to heart disease in diabetics are also increasing. Similarly, cancers linked to obesity, such as colon, prostate, and breast, are also increasing. Right now the American Cancer Society considers obesity to be the second largest cause of preventable cancer, after cigarette smoking. Within ten years, obesity might exceed smoking...
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...The Effects Of Obesity On Healthcare March 24, 2013 University of Phoenix In a world where obesity is becoming an epidemic, people should be informed about prevention, and on how to boost the quality of their life. Obesity is increasing at alarming rates and affects over two-thirds of the American population. While media and entertainment are obsessed with thinness, we should be more concerned with the larger problem of obesity. There are great risks involved in being obese. Obesity is taking it’s toll on many people. It is about time somebody stepped up and proved to these suffering humans that there is help available, and there are people who care and are willing to help with this problem. Obesity currently affects over two – thirds of the population. (www.acsh.org ) Americans are paying less attention to what they are eating, and paying more attention to the costs of foods. Obesity rates have been steadily increasing over the past twenty five years. This is partly due to the rising costs of eating healthy. ( www.acsh.org) “Families get fatter as they buy cheaper and less healthy foods in order to try to fill up”. (Emily Openchowski, May 21, 2012) Obesity has been known to shorten life spans by six to seven years depending upon it's severity. ( www.acsh.org/publications/obesity-and-its-health-effects)...
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...Obesity in America a Family Epidemic Tamara Garwood American InterContinental University Abstract What comes to mind when you see an overweight child or adult? Do your thoughts lead you to automatically blame the individual for not being more physically active, eating correctly, or do you blame the parents for not monitoring the consumption of the child? It is easy to automatically draw judgment on those that are overweight in our society because, although obesity is more prevalent in our society, it is still seen as socially unacceptable. This paper will seek to understand the contributing factors to obesity as external, internal, or environmental. Obesity in America A Family Epidemic In addressing the problem we must first discuss the main points that are essential to understanding why obesity is increasing in the U.S. and most of all among our children. The initial analysis of environment, choice of nutritious meals, as well as the influence of society will provide insight to the cause as well as the solution to the obesity epidemic. Once examined the data will prove the argument presented at hand. The main contributors to obesity among adults but especially among youth are, environmental factors, lack of choosing nutritious meals, portion distortion and the factor that fuels all of these, advertising media. So what defines an individual as being obese? Childhood Obesity Action Coalition-OAC.( n.d.) states “A child is defined as “obese” if their body mass...
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...Introduction The number of American people who are obese has increased over the years. This complex condition has affected almost all ages with children obesity being on the rise. Obesity can be linked to the onset of some diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and some heart diseases that have increased the risk of death and reduction of an individual’s health. The answers that we seek are concerned with sugars’ role in the development of obesity and the emergence of related diseases. It is important to consider an individual’s genes when determining vulnerability to obesity but what doctors mostly emphasize is on food intake. As the socioeconomic levels of most Americans rise, diets are increasingly having a higher proportion of sugars while work is shifting into a less physical nature. The high proportion of sugars in the American diet has a direct relationship to obesity and other related illnesses. Is sugar related to obesity and medical disorders associated in the American society? In order to become fully aware of the link between sugars and diabetes, we have to look at the features and nature of sugar. Sugar is a generalized name for a crystalline carbohydrate that is simple, edible and has a sweet flavor. The main types of sugar are sucrose, lactose, fructose and glucose. Glucose, also referred to as blood sugar is the one that circulates in the blood. Table sugar and fruits contain sucrose and fructose respectively. During the process of digestion, carbohydrates...
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...these risk factors, obesity is prevalent in uterine cancer patients. Through research, it has been found that adipose tissue stores and releases hormones, more so after menopause. Excess estrogen, provided by excess adipose tissue, puts females at a much higher risk for uterine cancer. Statistically, the chance of developing uterine cancer doubles when obese. Obesity is a major risk factor to be taken into account when analyzing uterine cancer. Abnormally high contents of adipose tissue can be modified through lifestyle changes. The battle against cancer is an on-going effort that is constantly being improved and modified. Various types of medical research allow advancements in knowledge for cancer prevention. Through research, cancer risk factors are being identified; this provides health care professionals with beneficial information that can lead to cancer prevention or aid in cancer treatments. Different cancers have different risk factors; a risk factor is anything that raises or lowers your chance of getting a disease such as cancer (American Cancer Society, 2015). While there is no exact known cause for certain caners, such as uterine cancer, there are certain risk factors that are related to the prognosis of the disease. (Turkington, 2012). As stated by Chiang (2013), “uterine cancer is defined as any invasive neoplasm of the uterine corpus.” A major risk factor that is commonly seen with uterine cancer is obesity. Obesity has been identified...
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...Childhood Obesity In today's society childhood obesity is considered to be an epidemic. The increase in obesity is not caused by the change in the gene pool, but rather by the change in the environment. This causes vulnerable populations to express the obesity phenotype (Stune, 1999). One in seven children ages 6-17 are considered to be obese. Most nutritionists will say that this is do to the lack of parental guidance. A child's parents should teach their child proper eating habits so that they won't run across problems in the future (Tomlin, 1999). According to the article Facts about childhood Obesity and Overweightness, obese children are statistically not active, and their diets are high in fats and low in energy foods, like carbohydrates . Most doctors will calculate a child's body mass index (BMI), to figure out just how overweight a child is. If a child's BMI is over 30, they are considered obese. In order to calculate one's BMI, you would divide the your weight in kilograms by the square of your height in meters (Mokdad, 1999). What causes obesity? Weight gain among children is likely due to a combination of factors including: poor dietary habits, genetic makeup, family lifestyle, socioeconomic status, and a child's ethnicity. Obesity is more prevalent among Hispanic, African-American and American Indian children, particularly girls (Mayohealth.org 1997). Overweight children are not necessarily overeaters. Unfortunately, much of the food they...
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...Childhood Obesity Abstract Many early life risk factors for childhood obesity are more prevalent among blacks and Hispanics than among whites and may explain the higher prevalence of obesity among racial/ethnic minority children. Eliminating racial/ethnic disparities in health and health care is a national priority, and obesity is a prime target. During the last 30 years in the United States, the prevalence of obesity among children has dramatically increased, sparing no age group. Obesity in childhood is associated with adverse cardio-metabolic outcomes such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and type II diabetes and with other long-term adverse outcomes, including both physical and psychosocial consequences. By the preschool years, racial/ethnic disparities in obesity prevalence are already present, suggesting that disparities in childhood obesity prevalence have their origins in the earliest stages of life. Several risk factors during pregnancy are associated with increased risk of offspring obesity, including excessive maternal gestational weight gain, gestational diabetes, and smoking during pregnancy, antenatal depression, and biological stress. During infancy and early childhood, rapid infant weight gain, infant feeding practices, sleep duration, child’s diet, physical activity, and sedentary practices are associated with the development of obesity. Studies have found substantial racial/ethnic differences in many of these early life risk factors for childhood obesity. It...
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