Essay On Childhood Obesity

Why is Childhood obesity such Epidemic in America? Childhood obesity is an important issue because of the rapid increase that this disease has reached in the past few years. Compared to other threats to children 's health, childhood obesity has begun to rise tremendously. One in three children in this country are overweight and by that the government is expected to add billions of dollars to the U.S health-care bill. Treating a child with obesity is even more costly than treating an average child. Through the years doctors are confirming that boys and girls in elementary school are now suffering from high blood pressure, high cholesterol and painful joint conditions. There is a peek of Type 2 diabetes in children and also a spike of gallstones. These conditions are typically affiliated with adults but are becoming more prevalent in young children due to the parental neglect during childhood. “Parental neglect during childhood predicts a great risk of obesity in young adulthood, independent of age and body mass index in childhood, sex and social background”. Lack of parental care for young children has been a significant association with obesity in young …show more content…
Fast foods have not only increased in convenience but also play a big role in stress management, relief of fatigue, and lack of time and entertainment. Expert say “Fast food contains high levels of fat and their frequent consumption may lead to elevated energy intake and reduced consumption of more low fat nutritious foods such as soft vegetables”(Moreno & Rodriguez, 2007). The fast food industry in the United States have exceeded to approximately 191 billion dollars. There are more than 232 thousand fast food establishments in the US that have employed over three and a half million people. It is shown that 63 percent of children ages 1 to 12 years old are consuming outside fast foods at least one to three times a