Childhood Obesity In America Essay

Twenty years ago it would nearly be impossible if a parent tried to get their child to come inside after a long day of running around and playing in the sun. Little boys would be mad at their mom or dad for breaking up their intense game of football and the girls wouldn’t want to go inside until they finished their adventures at the park; that’s not really the case today. Instead, more kids would complain about having to go outside because that would mean time spent away from their phones and video games. This generation of kids have developed new social norms and being active and eating healthy are not the main priority. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, obesity is defined as, “the condition of being extremely fat or overweight” (“Obesity, n”). Attention needs to be brought to the American Public that childhood obesity has nearly doubled between 1999 and 2007 with much of the “overweight” children rising from 13% to 31.7% (Fontaine). At a time in their life when children shouldn't have any worries in the world, it is now becoming concerning whether or not children realize the horrible path they are heading in, full of health risks and alarming consequences. Childhood obesity in America is a growing disease that has become an epidemic due to the …show more content…
Main reasons as to why childhood obesity is a growing problem is due to the lack of physical activity performed by the youth. Children are spending less of their free time outside playing football and more time inside recreating the game in a virtual video game. In a British medical journal, Lancet, Sue Kimm and co-workers stated that “adolescents should accumulate 60-min physical activity of at least moderate intensity on most days,” (Reilly 917) but the problem with that is children no longer know