Obesity In Children

5 Pages 1243 Words

Obesity in Children


Obesity in children has become a number one concern among health care officials. In the past obesity was never much of an issue in children because the rate of obesity in children was very low. “Right now, about 25% of American children are overweight, with about 10-15% falling into the obese category” (Tracey). Obesity has become an issue now because more and more children are considered obese. Children lack the physical exercise and good eating habits of those children in the past. This is the primary reason behind why children are so overweight. In this paper we will discuss how and why children are obese, the health complications and what can be done about obesity in children.
First of all, obesity is defined as: “a more serious degree of overweight” (Insel and Roth). More and more children are fitting into this definition of obese. Obesity isn’t just about being fat. There are many complications associated with being obese. Several of these complications include: Diabetes, Heart Disease, Stroke, Hypertension, Gallbladder disease, Sleep apnea and other breathing problems, High Cholesterol, and Psychological disorders (Henner 8). Many of these health complications have been seen in mainly adults, but now are showing up in many of our children. For example, many kids are now coming down with Type II Diabetes, which in the past was primarily an adult onset disease, related to obesity. However, now children are coming down with this disease. What is happening is due to the lack in physical exercise and all the juices and sodas that kids drink, their bodies are required to produce more insulin, and at their age, it is causing them to not produce enough insulin to meet the amounts of sugar they are consuming. Children are also showing signs of High Cholesterol and Heart Disease. Obesity is very serious in children now, not just in adults. It is amazing how parents don’t consider ...