Childhood Obesity In Tennessee Essay

Childhood obesity in Tennessee is an issue that should be controlled better. The number of children that are obese is growing at a high rate. 53.3% Tennessee children are obese from 2 year olds to high school students (“Tennessee”). These children are often teased and excluded from activities, which can lead to low-self esteem, negative thoughts, and depression (Smith). Obesity is linked up to many diseases including heart disease, diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure and more (Smith). Obesity is simply a threat to your health. Obese children are more likely to be overweight as adults. Child obesity increases every year because of fast food advertised for children and the transportation that is provided today (Smith). Obesity results due

It disproportionately affects the poor and minorities. It affects education, health-care and poverty (Antunes). Every child is burden with this issue. These children are affected by this issue because people don’t know what a normal child should weigh anymore. “A parent might not recognize that a child is obese because the child may look like all of the other kids in the neighborhood, or even slightly thinner” (Donvan). Samantha Stevens, a 4-year-old girl, is considered obese. She is addicted to carbohydrates (Donvan). She is the biggest girl in her class and has to go through humiliation at her school everyday. Nicolas Reeves, 8 years old, is going through obesity as well weighing 117 pounds. Nicolas is always hungry and can’t control his cravings. Obesity impaired Nicolas’ health making him go through a surgery because of his thickness neck that was causing sleep apnea (Donvan). These children are both responding to this issue by going through obesity programs. Sam is going through a kid friendly program called “Red Light, Green Light, Eat Right”. Samantha is using the traffic light to relate to food. Red means stop, yellow means slow, and green means to eat