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Essay On Childhood Obesity Epidemic

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Ending the Epidemic: Childhood Obesity Over the past three decades childhood obesity rates have tripled in the United States giving us one of the highest rates in the world. One out of every six children is obese, and one out of every three children is overweight. The dietary habits of children are mainly to blame for this drastic increase creating an urgent need for improvement. A long list of health problems not normally seen in children is now present in obese children. Even though some quick fixes have been identified that will have an immediate positive effect on obesity rates, the rate has held steady the last few years. Something needs to be done immediately. Childhood obesity is one of the most serious health challenges facing us today. …show more content…

Obesity means having too much body fat. It is not the same as being overweight. A child is considered overweight if he has excess body weight for a particular height. The excess body weight could be the result of excess fat, muscle, bone, water or a combination. Obesity can be caused by genetics, nutrition, lack of physical activity and family factors. Oftentimes, obese parents will have obese children. For instance, the chance of a child becoming obese is 50% if one of their parent’s is obese. The likelihood jumps to 80% if their parents are both obese. Although the genetic influences are significant, it is important to recognize that poor eating habits, lack of exercise, and family eating patterns and pressures also contribute to the inability to maintain a healthy weight (Childhood Obesity). Childhood obesity is a growing epidemic that has doubled in children and quadrupled in teens in the past 30 years. In 1980, only seven percent of children aged two to 19 were obese.
By 2012, that number had jumped to nearly 18 percent. Similarly, the percentage of obese teens increased from five percent to nearly 21 percent during that same period. Add in the number of overweight children and teens and the total equals one third of the population (Childhood

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