We Must Prevent Obesity in Children :: Childhood Obesity

Americans are the fattest stack on the planet and come to to expand. According to a survey of adult men and women in the unify States during 1999-2000, published in JAMA The Journal of the American Medical Association, 30.5% of Americans are obese, up from 22.9% ten years earlier, and nearly two-thirds (64.5%) are over cargo (Flegal et al.). Excess tilt isnt just a matter of looks. Obesity magnifies the risk of ticker disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and other ailmentsalready overtaking tobacco as the leading cause of chronic illness (Brownell and Horgen 4). An especially disturbing sentiment of this trend is that children are increasingly obese. The Center for Disease Control and legal community reports that the percentage of obese children aged 6 to 11 almost quadrupled from 4% in 1974 to 15% in 2000, and the percentage of obese children aged 12 to 19 increased from 6% in 1974 to 15% in 2000 (United States). pear-shaped children have a 70% chance of becoming obese adu lts with a much higher risk of serious illness than those of normal weight (Brownell and Horgen 46). Further more(prenominal), obese children suffer many serious health problems today. Pediatricians now routinely treat atherosclerosis and type II diabetes, diseases that used to be give away only among older people (Tyre 38). Todays children are among the offshoot generation in American history who may die at earlier ages than their parents.For most people in the United States, fleshiness is a matter of individual choice and old-fashioned will power (Lee and Oliver). The vulgar advice for overweight people is to eat less and exercise more, but how relevant is this advice for children unless they have strong guidance from adults? How can children make intelligent choices just about eating in an environment where overeating is normal and where few adults do it whats in the food they eat? The United States has been successful in addressing juvenileage health problems drug use ha s dropped, teenage pregnancy has been reduced, and teen smoking has declined. We need to take a similar proactive solution by taking concrete steps to reverse the trend toward more obese children.Many have blamed the rise in obesity on a more sedentary life style, including the move to the suburbs, where people drive instead of walk, and increased viewing of television. One study of children honoring television found a significant drop in the fairish metabolic rate during viewing (Klesges, Shelton, and Klesges).