Childhood Obesity And Unhealthy Habits

Obesity has been a prevalent and heavily debated issue in America for the past decade, everyone seems to have his own opinion of how to deal with the dilemma. According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) over two thirds of Americans 20 years and older are overweight and one third are obese. As of recently the rate of increase in overweight and obese individuals has dropped greatly, however there is still an upwards trend. Issues like conflict in the middle east, civil rights, and political scandals have taken precedent over the ever growing unhealthy habits of Americans. A simple solution has been presented by many, one that would render the problem invalid and allow Americans to focus on other more pressing issues …show more content…
One thing that these products all have in common is that their advertising strategy is to market almost exclusively to children and young adults. Fast food typically advertises to very young children, attempting to hook them on their products before the children are provided with any background whatsoever on the potential impacts of overeating and unhealthy dietary habits. The nutritional education provided by schools is negligible in comparison to the bombardment of advertisements that people are assaulted with on a daily basis, in the street, in magazines, on internet websites, or on the television. As a child growing up I was completely unaware of the different types of calories, how calories were used by the body, and what a healthy caloric intake would be for someone of my activity level and weight. It wasn’t until my senior year of high school that I was given any kind of in depth information on nutritional science. Nutritional education must begin at a very young age, as early as elementary school, and should be reinforced throughout middle school and high school. This will allow children to form a better understanding of what exactly they are putting into their body and how it is being used or stored, giving them a basal understanding of why overeating can be negative towards their health. Though physical health is essential, it should be noted that mental health is an important factor in human growth and development as