Implications Of Childhood Obesity

One out of three children in America is now considered obese or overweight. This fact makes childhood obesity one of the largest growing epidemics in America. Childhood obesity has a negative impact on children for a couple of different reasons. Obesity creates many complications regarding a child’s physical health. Bullying coincides with childhood obesity which results in peers taunting another child due to their physical appearance. In addition to harassment by other peers it also affects the way they feel about themselves which ultimately affects self-esteem. This epidemic also has a significant impact on the way a child performs in school.
First and foremost, obesity creates many complications regarding a child’s physical health. Many complications arise with childhood obesity, the most common ones would be high blood pressure and dyslipidemia (Daniels 49). According to Daniels, cardiovascular complications amongst children with obesity consists of atherosclerosis and left ventricular hypertrophy(49). Atherosclerosis is the hardening of arteries which could cause a heart attack. Left ventricular hypertrophy is the increased mass of the left ventricle which could also increase the risk of a …show more content…
There are many health complications in the metabolic system that is created through this epidemic. Type two diabetes mellitus is a disorder associated with the metabolic system. Unfortunately, type two diabetes is showing more frequently in children that are not older than 10 (Daniels 52). This suggest that more children are being impacted by obesity. Moreover, higher levels of insulin circulating in the pancreas may sequentially increase the chances of having high blood pressure and higher levels of cholesterol (Daniels 52). In other words, it is dangerous for child healthwise to have higher levels of insulin in their body because it increases the chances of hypertension and