We Must Prevent Obesity in Children :: Childhood Obesity

Americans are the fattest peck on the planet and continue to expand. According to a bailiwick of adult men and women in the United States during 1999-2000, published in JAMA The ledger of the American Medical Association, 30.5% of Americans are obese, up from 22.9% ten years earlier, and close to two-thirds (64.5%) are overweight (Flegal et al.). Excess weight isnt just a matter of looks. Obesity magnifies the run a risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and other ailmentsalready overtaking tobacco as the leading cause of continuing illness (Brownell and Horgen 4). An especially disturbing aspect of this trend is that children are progressively obese. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the percentage of obese children patriarchal 6 to 11 almost quadrupled from 4% in 1974 to 15% in 2000, and the percentage of obese children aged 12 to 19 increase from 6% in 1974 to 15% in 2000 (United States). Obese children shake a 70% chance of becom ing obese adults with a much higher risk of serious illness than those of normal weight (Brownell and Horgen 46). Further much, obese children suffer more serious health problems today. Pediatricians now routinely tr immerse atherosclerosis and geek II diabetes, diseases that used to be frequent only among older stack (Tyre 38). Todays children are among the first generation in American history who may die at earlier ages than their parents.For most people in the United States, obesity is a matter of individual superior and old-fashioned will power (Lee and Oliver). The usual advice for overweight people is to eat less and exercise more, but how applicable is this advice for children unless they have strong direction from adults? How can children make intelligent choices about eating in an purlieu where overeating is normal and where few adults know whats in the feed they eat? The United States has been successful in addressing teenage health problems do drugs use has dropped, teenage pregnancy has been reduced, and teen smoking has declined. We need to retort a similar proactive response 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 watching television found a significant drop in the average metabolic rate during viewing (Klesges, Shelton, and Klesges).