Rise In Childhood obesity


by Eric Hartwell - Date: 2007-02-18 - Word Count: 511 Share This!

In the year 2001 in the United States, the Surgeon General released a report outlining the crisis of obesity that the country had fallen into. The point of the report was to generate steps towards taking care of this health problem, which has reached epidemic proportions. The following year, the IOM (Institute of Medicine) was called upon to draw up a prevention plan to help decrease the rising numbers of obese and overweight children in the United States. The idea was to study the behavior and cultural and environmental factors that contribute to childhood obesity while trying to find ways of preventing this from occurring on such a large scale.

For children between the years of 2 and 5 and adolescents between 12 and 19, the rate of obesity has doubled since the 1970s. For children between the ages of 6 and 11, the rate has tripled. Almost one third of all children today are at risk for becoming overweight. Sixteen percent of them already are.

When it comes to boys and girls, the rates are similar. The rates have increased since the 1960s for both sexes. In the last years of the previous century, over 29% of all boys were at risk for becoming overweight, while 27% of all girls struggled with the same problem.

Of course, some groups are more effected by this phenomena than others. Among boys, those who are of Mexican American descent tend to have a greater problem with obesity, with over 42% of boys in this group being effected by the problem. Among girls, the problem is more serious for those of African descent.

The problem of children being obese is a grave one, in that it can have lasting effects on one's emotional and physical health. In the year 2000, it was estimated that about a third of all children born in the United States are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes in their lifetimes.

One of the sad facts of our time is that young people have fewer and fewer chances to be physically active. In elementary and primary schools, quite often there is a lack of space and equipment for serious physical education, not to mention fewer and fewer teachers with specialized training in this area. Children spent the vast majority of their time at school sitting down behind a desk. The vast majority of six to eight year old in the United Kingdom are allowed only thirty minutes of regulated physical education in their weekly school curriculums! The game fields and playgrounds are being sold off or abandoned. At home, children are discouraged from playing outside due to their parents' concerns with safety.

For children and young adults dealing with obesity, it is best to evaluate the individual's situation, taking in to consideration environmental, genetic, and metabolic concerns while treating the arising physical and psychological damage that has arisen. An obese child's eating plan should also come with an exercise plan. Long term counseling is often needed to deal with self esteem issues relating to obesity that can effect the child's performance in the real world.


Related Tags: obesity, diet, dieting, lose weight, overweight, fat, child obesity, teen obesity, teenager obesity

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