Long And Short-Term Effects Of Childhood Obesity

Improved Essays
Obesity is a serious medical condition that not only affects adults but children and adolescents. Childhood obesity occurs when a child 's weight is significantly above the average weight for his or her age and height. A child is classified as overweight when their BMI is at or above the 85th percentile but below the 95th percentile for children and adolescents of the same sex and age. When a child is classified as obese their BMI is at or above the 95th percentile of children and adolescents of the same sex and age. BMI is determined by dividing an individual 's weight in kilograms by his/her height in meters squared (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2015). According to the CDC (2015), in the last 30 years, obesity rates …show more content…
These effects can either be short-term or long-term and impede children from performing to their full potential. During infancy, rapid weight gain is associated with accelerated puberty development and growth affecting early child development. Some short-term effects of childhood overweight and obesity are prediabetes, risk factors for cardiovascular disease (high blood pressure or high cholesterol), Sleep apnea, bone and joint problems depression, poor self-esteem, the risk for eating disorders, behavior and learning problems and the list goes on. Some long-term effects of childhood overweight and obesity are type 2 diabetes, various forms of cancer (breast, colon, ovary, prostate, etc.), heart disease, stroke, osteoarthritis and much more. Childhood obesity can also impede a child 's social interaction with his or her peers and lead to isolation due to poor self-esteem and fear of rejection, worsening psychological …show more content…
These policies include early care and education policy, let 's move campaign and healthy food financing initiative. Early care and education policy intend to educate child care providers, public health practitioners and decision-makers about current conditions in their state and ways to prevent or reduce obesity in the future. This public policy integrates electronic device reduction time and nutritional and physical activity training. The early care and education policy would also increase access to physical activity opportunities and healthier foods by enacting farm to table programs, joint use agreements, and purchasing cooperatives. The let 's move campaign was launched by First Lady Michelle Obama in 2010, which hopes to solve the obesity problem that affects so many children today. This policy focuses on five pillars of the program, including developing a healthier beginning for children, increasing parents and caregiver 's confidence, supplying healthier more nutritious foods in schools, providing more affordable healthy foods, and improving levels of physical activity. This policy involves everyone including, caregivers, health care professionals, parents, community-based organizations, schools and all levels of government to participate in reducing childhood obesity. Another policy released by Obama

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The negative effects of Childhood Obesity One of the major social issues that are affecting the world today, is the obesity found in children. Just in America alone, has one of the highest rates of childhood obesity in the world. Since 2012 “The percentage of children aged 6-11 years in the United States who were obese increased from 7% in 1980 to nearly 18% in 2012. Similarly, the percentage of adolescent aged 12-19 years who were obese increased from 5% to nearly 21% over the same period.”…

    • 893 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Childhood Obesity Research

    • 1152 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Obama’s plan is a comprehensive plan of action which includes promotion of exercise, dietary education, and government enforced restrictions on food marketers targeting school age children. Many groups and organizations have jumped on the health train such as Corporate Accountability International. This advocacy group is pushing to have the McDonald’s Corporation remove their food-pushing clown and mascot, Ronald McDonald, eliminated altogether in a step to eliminate inducements for children (Benac, 2010). The First Lady has announced that all corporations, restaurants and food manufactures alike, need to take responsibility equally. In an organized coalition Mrs. Obama has formed among these groups, a voluntary removal of 1.5 trillion calories of sugary, fattening, and non-nutritious foods kids love will be removed entirely from the shelves by 2015 (Benac, 2010).…

    • 1152 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The White House Task Force initiative led by first lady Michelle Obama is designed to cut child obesity rates by five percent by 2020 . Every two years the Center for Disease Control and Prevention records the rate. To achieve the goal, the plan made seventy exercise and nutritional recommendations for parents to model. The recommendations that the parents model is designed to increase the consumption of healthier foods and increase physical activity. The White House Task Force recommendations are published online and are accessible to anyone.…

    • 2001 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    At present, the assessment tool most used to define obesity is the Body Mass Index (BMI). A person’s BMI is calculated by dividing their weight by double their height (Germov, 2014, p. 214). For children (ages two to seventeen), age and sex are also a factor, growth charts such as those…

    • 1498 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In fact, obesity and being overweight have totally different meanings. For instance, if you had a female child that was 5’3” and weighed approximately 152lbs she would be considered overweight, whereas if she weighed 197lbs at 5’3” she would be considered obese therefore, using the body mass index to determine if you are at a healthy weight, overweight, or obese. It is said that obesity is to be considered having excess body fat and overweight is having excess body weight for a certain height from a combination of factors such as fat, muscle, bone and water. Ultimately, health experts have suggested that if parents better the lifestyle of their children, we will see a decrease in this epidemic in obesity, whereas parents believe if food industries reduced the sugary junk food that this would in fact reduce the obesity rate, but what is the real underlying issue causing obesity to…

    • 1148 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Children in America are continuing to be exposed to a debilitating disease that is growing a major threat to their future well being. Childhood obesity is a condition in which a child is severely overweight for their age, height, and gender. This disease leads to very serious health problems such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and increased risk for heart attack. In addition to an already scary list, obese children can deal with diabetes, sleeping problems, and asthma.…

    • 1660 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Childhood Obesity Facts

    • 717 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Obesity is a major health problem in the United States that affects millions of people. Obesity currently affects 1 in 3 adults and more than 34.9% or 78.6 million adults are obese in the United States (Adult Obesity Facts, 2015) An adult is considered to be obese if their Body Mass Index (BMI) is 30 or higher. The obesity epidemic is a major health concern, but more concerned is shifting toward the high prevalence of obesity among children. Childhood obesity has quadrupled in adolescents and doubled in children in the past 30 years (Childhood Obesity Facts, 2015).…

    • 717 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Obesity is defined as excessive accumulation and storage of fat in the body (Obesity Information). Obesity is measured by body mass index (BMI) a common scientific way to screen whether a person is underweight, normal, overweight, or obese (Cause and symptoms). Due to the physical changes that occur during growth and development of the child, the BMI is measured by their height, weight and gender. How did we get here? The…

    • 830 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    CHILD OBESITY IN THE UNITED STATES Introduction Obesity is a health issue associated with a high amount of fat in the body. It may sometimes be wrongly used with being overweight where a person has excess weight about height from muscle, water, bone, and fat (Cole et al., 2000). Obesity results can be brought about by environmental, behavioral and genetic factors. Child obesity is great concern in the United States as more children are becoming obese even unto their adolescent years where the number has quadrupled during the past three decades. Demographics Obese Children of age six to eleven years in the US have increased greatly from 7% to 18% between the years 1980 to 2012.…

    • 877 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Childhood obesity is a large problem throughout the world and especially the United States. Children who suffer from this illness have higher disadvantages than children who are of a normal weight class. Childhood obesity can come from children with eating disorders, depression from peers or not having parents involved in their lives. Even though the United States is not the number one country to lead in childhood obesity, it is ranked in the top ten coming in at number five. Childhood obesity can cause serious health problems in the future.…

    • 1206 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Childhood Obesity Effects

    • 1208 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Programs such as Let’s Move! by Michelle Obama have been created to educate families and children on proper nutrition (“Learn the Facts”). Programs like these are helping, but the issue still continues to grow. If childhood obesity is not put to an end…

    • 1208 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    But without the comparison of BMI with other children of the same age and gender, the results may not always be accurate. Although two children can be at an unhealthy weight and both have high percentages of body fat, they can still be classified differently. One can be classified as obese and the other as overweight. For example, two 10 year old boys who each have a high percentage of body fat, one with a “BMI of 23”, the other with a “BMI of 21” are not both considered obese (“ About Child & Teen BMI”). The boy with the BMI of 23 would be considered obese because his BMI is at or above the 95th percentile (“About Child & Teen BMI”).…

    • 813 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The percent of children struggling from childhood obesity has tripled since the 1970s, and today, one in five school children have obesity. Children at or above the ninety-fifth percentile have obesity. The long-term effects that have impacts on children are physical, social, and emotional. The long-term effects are the children having a higher risk for asthma, sleep apnea, bone and joint problems, type two diabetes, hypertension, early puberty, Blount’s disease inflammation of the liver, and risk factors for heart disease. Childhood obesity also causes bullying and teasing, are more likely to suffer from social isolation, depression, and a lower self-esteem.…

    • 279 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Childhood Obesity Proposal

    • 1207 Words
    • 5 Pages

    A Proposal to Help Change Childhood Obesity Childhood obesity is a problem in a number of countries around the world and is a rising problem in the United States. With adult and childhood obesity rates on the rise something must be done to help prevent this immense issue. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 18% of all children and teens in the United States are obese, and the numbers have tripled since 1980 (Combatting childhood obesity, 2015). But who is at fault for the increase of weight in children? There are many accusations of different things to place the blame but, has anyone truly looked at the places selling these fast food products, the schools, and the advertisements that children…

    • 1207 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Our world, due to various reasons, is filled with all types of diseases. The latest of them all is the one called obesity. This word is presently the talking point of people all around the globe. Rising obesity rates have now become a major public health concern around the world. Prolonged obesity has implications for health at older ages, and these health effects may increase the costs of health care for individuals and governments.…

    • 1128 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays

Related Topics