Childhood obesity in America is now a leading issue since the number of overweight or obese children has tripled during the last 30 years. The prevalence of obesity in children aged 6 to 11 years has tripled from 6.5% to 19.6%. As a nation, statistics should be alarming. Obese children have a significant impairment in their physical, psychological, emotional, and social well-being. They also increase their chances for disease processes, and are at risk for becoming obese as an adult.
Before pointing fingers at any one reason, one must consider the causes of obesity. The sources are varied. These causes include: environmental factors, social factors and medication. Environmental factors including of overeating, lack of physical activity, eating
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Some physical effects can be found in the heart or the overall body itself. The overall body itself has many effects as well including arthritis, stroke and type two diabetes. According to Child Obesity Statistics in America 2011 more than 70% of obese youth are at higher risk of heart disease. “All in all, these children are at great risk of developing serious medical conditions such as type 2 diabetes, fatty live, high cholesterol levels or high blood pressure” (Childhood Obesity Epidemic). Something that is also worrying is that 70% of those children who are obese will also be that way through adulthood. In addition, childhood obesity also has emotional effects including discrimination and the self-esteem of the child.
Schwimmer, Burwinkle, & Verni, (2003) hypothesizes that obese children and adolescents, when compared with healthy children and adolescents, would have worse health-related quality of life as seen in other pediatric chronic health conditions. 108 children and adolescents were evaluated for obesity. They showed signs of diabetes mellitus, hyperinsulinemia, dyslipidemia, asthma, anxiety, depression, cardiac issues, nonalcoholic fatty liver diseases and other chronic issues. Children who are obese, also show impairment with social, physical, psychosocial, emotional