In the words of Tom Vilsack, “The rise of childhood obesity has placed the health of an entire generation at risk.” Childhood obesity is a huge epidemic that is sweeping the world. There has been a major increase in obesity in the past few decades throughout the world and there are an increasing number of children and adolescents being diagnosed (Kalra, De Sousa, Sonavane, & Shah, 2012). There is no easy way to approach parents and children to discuss how they need to modify their diets and physical activity. How do you teach these generations about healthy living and adequate physical education? With health classes and physical education programs being cut across the United States how do we approach this epidemic head on? So, many questions
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For children, obesity can hinder normal body function, physical activities, and participation. Some other factors that contribute to obesity have shown to be correlated with family food habits, genetics, early developmental lifestyle of the child, parenting, early family relationships, socioeconomic status, media marketing, cultural influence, insufficient physical activity, and social habits (Kalra et al., 2012). Not only is there a physical aspect of obesity but there is a psychological aspect that goes along with it (Kalra et al., 2012).
There is an enormous amount of psychological stress placed on children living with obesity. Along with this strenuous stress they can also suffer from depression, anxiety, cognitive impairments, lower IQ, sleep problems, and crash dieting (Kalra et al., 2012). Anxiety and depression are the two most prevalent psychological problems that children with obesity suffer from. Depression can also transform the obese child to become very aggressive and develop other problems like aggressive behavior, anger management issues, conduct problems, bullying, and oppositional defiant symptoms (Kalra et al., …show more content…
The children with obesity have a distinct physical experience and can be identified pretty easily. In the regular classroom, there are a few problems that might arise which include: student to desk size ratio, anger, and or introversion. Since my classroom would actually be a gym, the problems would take on a different appearance. I am a physical education teacher so it is a whole new ball game. The obese child would struggle or have a hard time completing certain physical activities such as: running, skipping, dodging, and other cardiovascular related activities. For the average child these are activities are fun and usually easy for them but for the obese child that is not the case. As a teacher, some signs that I would be able to watch for is larger body mass, struggle to complete activities, and struggle in social
For children, obesity can hinder normal body function, physical activities, and participation. Some other factors that contribute to obesity have shown to be correlated with family food habits, genetics, early developmental lifestyle of the child, parenting, early family relationships, socioeconomic status, media marketing, cultural influence, insufficient physical activity, and social habits (Kalra et al., 2012). Not only is there a physical aspect of obesity but there is a psychological aspect that goes along with it (Kalra et al., 2012).
There is an enormous amount of psychological stress placed on children living with obesity. Along with this strenuous stress they can also suffer from depression, anxiety, cognitive impairments, lower IQ, sleep problems, and crash dieting (Kalra et al., 2012). Anxiety and depression are the two most prevalent psychological problems that children with obesity suffer from. Depression can also transform the obese child to become very aggressive and develop other problems like aggressive behavior, anger management issues, conduct problems, bullying, and oppositional defiant symptoms (Kalra et al., …show more content…
The children with obesity have a distinct physical experience and can be identified pretty easily. In the regular classroom, there are a few problems that might arise which include: student to desk size ratio, anger, and or introversion. Since my classroom would actually be a gym, the problems would take on a different appearance. I am a physical education teacher so it is a whole new ball game. The obese child would struggle or have a hard time completing certain physical activities such as: running, skipping, dodging, and other cardiovascular related activities. For the average child these are activities are fun and usually easy for them but for the obese child that is not the case. As a teacher, some signs that I would be able to watch for is larger body mass, struggle to complete activities, and struggle in social