Most people know that childhood obesity is bad, but not everyone knows why it is such a big problem. Childhood obesity is more than just gaining a bunch of weight, it leads to so many other problems. For example, it can make making friends very difficult and can induce a lot of mental health issues like depression. Childhood obesity is harmful because it decreases life expectancy of children, leads to socio-emotional consequences, and increases suicide rates.
Childhood obesity is bad because once it starts, it can be hard to stop. It is like one big chain of events that just keeps going on. Childhood obesity causes low self esteem, depression, and even scary medical conditions. It starts with a child having problems in their family; maybe their …show more content…
Inadequate sleep is affiliated with obesity, depression, school performance, quality of life, and risk taking behaviors (Chaput 3). Lack of sleep also disrupts your mood, thinking, concentration, memory, and learning; that is very important if you are in school. Children are supposed to be sleeping eight to ten hours per night, having no more than two hours of screen time per day, and at least sixty minutes of physical activity a day (Chaput 6). Physical activity has been proven to boost sleep quality, which can improve eating behaviors. Screen time tends to disrupt sleep and is correlated with overconsumption of food. Inadequate sleep can decrease the amount of physical activity that a child gets in a day because of fatigue. Certain foods can encourage or discourage sleep and can impact our performance whether it be in school or in sports. There was a study done on how sleep impact obesity management. They found that more sleep resulted in less body weight compared to the people that did not sleep well. Spontaneous changes in sleep duration resulted in weaker weight gain compared to the people who slept for a short amount of time. Removing electronics from a child’s bedroom would help a lot with this problem. Holding off the time that school starts in the morning would help too. Students would be less crabby, more attentive, and have more energy throughout the …show more content…
How they do in school affects the path of their life in the future. In 2012, the United States was ranked thirty sixth in the world in math, twenty eighth in science, and twenty fourth in reading (Fedewa 651). The mental and physical health of students have become crucial factors in improving education. Children that are obese or overweight have scored lower in math and reading on standardized tests. They also have lower grades and have very poor academic performance compared to children that are of a “normal” weight. Schools sell and make high sugar and processed foods which definitely contributes to this fact. Children are often given goldfish or candy when they do something good (Fedewa 652). Doing this creates bad eating habits and can encourage overeating in children. Children should not have to be rewarded for an achievement. They should just feel good about it because they accomplished something. Children and teens need to learn to work hard and do good just because they are supposed to, not because they will get rewarded for it. A study done with monkeys found that when they were given food as a reward, their performance decreased and they were not focused on the puzzle anymore, but the food instead. It is important for schools to teach their students that they need to work hard for themselves and do good for themselves, not for an award or a piece of
Childhood obesity is bad because once it starts, it can be hard to stop. It is like one big chain of events that just keeps going on. Childhood obesity causes low self esteem, depression, and even scary medical conditions. It starts with a child having problems in their family; maybe their …show more content…
Inadequate sleep is affiliated with obesity, depression, school performance, quality of life, and risk taking behaviors (Chaput 3). Lack of sleep also disrupts your mood, thinking, concentration, memory, and learning; that is very important if you are in school. Children are supposed to be sleeping eight to ten hours per night, having no more than two hours of screen time per day, and at least sixty minutes of physical activity a day (Chaput 6). Physical activity has been proven to boost sleep quality, which can improve eating behaviors. Screen time tends to disrupt sleep and is correlated with overconsumption of food. Inadequate sleep can decrease the amount of physical activity that a child gets in a day because of fatigue. Certain foods can encourage or discourage sleep and can impact our performance whether it be in school or in sports. There was a study done on how sleep impact obesity management. They found that more sleep resulted in less body weight compared to the people that did not sleep well. Spontaneous changes in sleep duration resulted in weaker weight gain compared to the people who slept for a short amount of time. Removing electronics from a child’s bedroom would help a lot with this problem. Holding off the time that school starts in the morning would help too. Students would be less crabby, more attentive, and have more energy throughout the …show more content…
How they do in school affects the path of their life in the future. In 2012, the United States was ranked thirty sixth in the world in math, twenty eighth in science, and twenty fourth in reading (Fedewa 651). The mental and physical health of students have become crucial factors in improving education. Children that are obese or overweight have scored lower in math and reading on standardized tests. They also have lower grades and have very poor academic performance compared to children that are of a “normal” weight. Schools sell and make high sugar and processed foods which definitely contributes to this fact. Children are often given goldfish or candy when they do something good (Fedewa 652). Doing this creates bad eating habits and can encourage overeating in children. Children should not have to be rewarded for an achievement. They should just feel good about it because they accomplished something. Children and teens need to learn to work hard and do good just because they are supposed to, not because they will get rewarded for it. A study done with monkeys found that when they were given food as a reward, their performance decreased and they were not focused on the puzzle anymore, but the food instead. It is important for schools to teach their students that they need to work hard for themselves and do good for themselves, not for an award or a piece of