Childhood Obesity Epidemic Analysis

While browsing Netflix on a Saturday night, putting my responsibilities aside and obviously procrastinating I came across a documentary that caught my eye with its brilliant reviews and great thumbnail picture and ‘punny’ title, “Fed Up”. The documentary discusses the Childhood Obesity Epidemic and the reasoning behind why this has become such a large issue as it has for societys wellbeing. The documentary shows four 11 to 15 year olds trying to rid of their health risked weight by the general given methods but are struggling as the food industry comes up with new ways of disguising unhealthy properties in their products. The Childhood Obesity Epidemic is a social and health risk in todays society that has affected New Zealand and America widely

Overweight is defined as having excess body weight. Obesity is defined as having excess body fat. The childhood obesity epidemic only focuses on the children who are suffering from obesity and are at risk of health problems that could affect them in later years as they grow into adults. The children that are of obese borderlines are more likely to have health problems such as heart disease and stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, cancers, gallbladder disease, gout and breathing problems. Children with obesity grow more likely to these conditions as they get older if their body fat is not controlled.

These health risks are becoming more relevant in recent years as The Childhood Obesity Epidemic becomes greater and more children are being affected by obesity, this can be clearly comprehended by the studies and surveys taken on children in the USA - the number one country for obesity- and New Zealand - the third ranking country for obesity. Studies show, 1/3 young people in USA are overweight or obese as the percentage of obese children 6-11 years old increased from 7% in 1980 to 18% in 2012 while obese 12-19 year olds increased from 5% to 21% over the same

This challenge proposes a trial of a 10 day period without sugar. This includes corn syrup, fructose, fruit juice, lactose and many other ingredients added to most foods put on supermarket shelves that we ignore. This challenge may not work for you and you may not carry on after the 10 days is up, but it is a favourable way to educate yourself on the ‘ghost ingredients’ we think are harmless but create our problem of obesity. If you are not persuaded enough to try out the challenge, investigate each product you may pick up on your weekly shop - particularly parents. If there is an ingredient you don't recognise; it probably is not healthy to consume and you should opt for more raw and known products. I hope to undergo the Fed Up Challenge as i feel it will improve my health and my current diet while also educating and persuading the people around me to take charge on improving our current and future children’s health, construct a better and healthier environment and world. If you are looking to make a change in our worldwide health and benefits to our offspring, consider taking the challenge or checking out the documentary as I highly recommend it. And now i ask you the question: Are you fed