Childhood Obesity Growing Essay

Childhood Obesity Growing

Where some oppose the idea of childhood obesity being a disease, there is still a growing epidemic where children's weight exceed the normal weight per height and age and increasing health concerns that must be addressed with a commitment to appropriate action plans to reduce and eliminate childhood obesity.

From 1971-74 to 2009-10 childhood obesity increased from 4% to 18% in ages 6-11 and from 6.1% to 18.4% for ages 12 to 19 (Overweight in Children, 2014).

The last decade has seen an increase of obesity rates in children. Nearly 17% of children 2 to 19 are obese and there is a significant trend reflecting an increase in body mass index (BMI) in males.

According to (Russel, 2012), 15% of Kentucky adolescents are overweight with 17.6% being obese.

Physical activity is limited with obese children.

Obese children have more tendencies to be couch potatoes watching TV and playing video games instead of engaging in physical sport activities.According to (Russel, 2012), only 21.4% of Kentucky children are physically active indicating a need to engage children in more physical activities.

C. Public perception has been varied between groups, including providers and parents.

1. In spite of heated debate, the majority of AMA delegates voted obesity as a disease (Frelick, 2013).

2. According to (Wareschburger, 2009), a mother's ability to recognize obesity in children other than their own was dependent on educational level where their ability to recognize obesity in their own children was dependent on their own weight and the child's weight, no education.

II. Causes of Childhood Obesity

A. There is a higher focus on unhealthy foods than on healthy foods in the American society.

1. According to (Russel, 2012), 75.8% of children consumed less than two servings of fruits and juices per day and 89.1% only consumed vegetables three times a day.

2. Sugar sweetened beverage consumption was 35.7% at least once per day.....