Childhood Obesity Epidemic

Childhood Obesity Epidemic

Childhood obesity is rampant in young kids and the number of obese kids has increased vastly over the past 20 years. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, “The percentage of children aged 6–11 years in the United States who were obese increased from 7% in 1980 to nearly 20% in 2008,” and this shows how vast increase in obese children over the past 20 years (CDC 1). Many people question who is to blame for this childhood obesity epidemic. Should we blame the parents for creating such unhealthy lifestyles for these kids, or should we blame the government for not regulating the food and advertising that the kids come in contact with daily? We must find a solution to this epidemic because with the increasing rates of childhood obesity, the children are at increased risk for many diseases that could lead to death.

Advertising companies promote their products as healthy and good for people but these young kids are eating mass quantities of these foods and taking in way to many calories than they are exerting. This is a big factor in causing obesity. Also the food that is given to the children at schools and other places is certainly not suitable for a young child that is trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The IWG, International Working Group, wants the government to, “regulate grocery lists and interfere with commercial advertising standards” (Warren 1). All of these people feel that the government needs to step in and stop childhood obesity from increasing more than it has. Many restaurants try and target these kids at a young age by providing toys with the meals or other incentives to buy their product. This is damaging the mindset of the kids because immediately want to eat the unhealthy food because of the toys or other incentives the restaurants or fast food places are providing them with. Also, most of these young children are in elementary school and according to Phil Anderson, a professor at the St. Rosemary Educational Institute, “Nutrition is completely ignored within the Elementary school systems today with no opportunity for young children to learn about nutrition” (Anderson 1). He believes that the government could implement a better nutritional program for kids in elementary schools. The government has done some to provide better choices for these children, like removing soda machines out of some schools and regulating the school lunches for these kids, but many children are still becoming obese and this is only the start to a very hard and unhealthy future. I feel like this is the less efficient route in trying to change the tides in the battle against childhood obesity because government intervention will take more time than just educating the parents on the harm that they are putting their children in.

In contrast to the argument that goverment intervention is going to help the most with the childhood obesity epidemic, many people believe that it is solely the parents fault and responsibility that the young kids are becoming obese. It is a known fact that young kids look up to their parents and follow what their parents do, so if the parents are eating bad foods and have a unhealthy lifestyle, we can assume that these young children will follow in that same path. A study in Great Britain found that, “Children of fat parents tended to be over-fed and under-exercised, setting them on a trajectory towards obesity” (Anderson 1). Taking this into account you can see that the parents play a huge role in their children’s health and wellness. Another thought about parents affecting childhood obesity is that the parents don’t have enough time or money to eat healthier. Many people feel like if the parents don’t have enough time to put some effort in to making their kids healthier that they shouldn’t even have the kids. The parents of these obese children are leading them down a path full of many sicknesses that can ultimately end in death. Some parents are even losing custody of their children because of the lack of help they are providing their children with. In the Chicago Tribune, a report in June said that, “A South Carolina mother Jerri Gray lost custody of her son, Alexander Draper, after being charged with criminal neglect. The 14-year-old weighed 555 pounds” (Khan 1). This is an extreme case but we have to expect that it can happen to young kids and take preventative measures to help this childhood obesity epidemic. If we can educate the parents on the health implications by providing course on obesity for the parents we can show what they are leading their children to, or even help them see that they can eat healthy for cheap. This can help the parents make better decisions in what they are feeding their children and also set up a better example of a healthy lifestyle for their young kids to follow.

After much research and time spent with this subject, I feel like a mixture of both of these factors would help combat childhood obesity but I strongly feel that we need to educate the parents because they have such a high influence in their children at a young age. Over the past couple of years, I have noticed a considerable change in the younger generations of kids. I can see that the rate of young children becoming obese is increasing and something must be done to prevent this epidemic form becoming worse. I feel that we must help the parents and teach them or we can cause the next generations of kids to follow in the footsteps and the childhood obesity rates will continue to increase. These young kids that are becoming obese are increasing their risks to be obese when they are older and this highly increases their risks for many diseases that are very harmful to people and especially these young adults. I feel that we have to educate the parents in some way because they are they play the leading role in influencing what kind of lifestyle the kids will have.

In Conclusion, we have seen the two arguments in this ongoing childhood obesity epidemic. Both arguments have many valid points but parents play the key role in the children’s life and educating them on the dangers of childhood obesity could vastly change the amount of young kids becoming obese. Something must be done to prevent this ongoing epidemic because it is leading to very unhealthy futures for the next generations and for the kids that will be adults in the future. Whether advertising must be regulated or whether parents should be more educated, these children are helpless at these young ages and someone must step in and help these young kids.

Works Cited

Anderson, Phil. "Child Obesity: Who is to blame?." http://schoolworkhelper.net/. St. Rosemary Educational Institution, December 2, 2010. Web. Retrieved on: Wednesday 30th November 2011. http://schoolworkhelper.net/2010/12/child-obesity-who-is-to-blame/.

Khan, Amina. "Parents to Blame for Childhood Obesity? - Chicagotribune.com." Chicago Tribune: Chicago Breaking News, Sports, Business, Entertainment, Weather and Traffic - Chicagotribune.com. Web. 18 Nov. 2011. <http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-hk-health-obesity-0106jan07,0,2836526.story>.

Spicer, Rachel. "Child Obesity, Eating Habits Not Necessarily Parents’ Fault - Opinion."Kansas State Collegian - Kansas State University. Web. 18 Nov. 2011. <http://www.kstatecollegian.com/opinion/child-obesity-eating-habits-not-necessarily-parents-fault-1.2606484>.

Warren, Tierra. "Food Czars Blame Childhood Obesity on Advertising | MyHeritage." MyHeritage | For Members of the Conservative Heritage Foundation. Web. 18 Nov. 2011. <http://www.myheritage.org/news/food-czars-blame-childhood-obesity-on-advertising/>.

"CDC - NPAO - Obesity Facts - Adolescent and School Health." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Web. 18 Nov. 2011. <http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/obesity/facts.htm>.