Leading Cause of Childhood Obesity : High Fructose Corn Syrup

Leading Cause of Childhood Obesity : High Fructose Corn Syrup

Christina Kelly

DeVry University

Leading Cause of Childhood Obesity : High Fructose Corn Syrup

As the number of children in America and around the world is growing, so is the number of children suffering from childhood obesity. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, childhood obesity has more than tripled over the last thirty years ("Obesity facts," 2011). This statistic is not only disturbing at the numbers, but also disturbing to parents and school systems who can play a major role in its prevention. Despite claims by high fructose corn syrup supporters, the sweetener is not natural and is rather harmful to the body, especially the metabolic and digestive hormones that keep the body balanced and healthy. The process starts off with corn kernels, yes, but then that corn is spun at a high velocity and combined with three other enzymes: alpha-amylase, glucoamylase, and xylose isomerase, so that it forms a thick syrup that’s way sweeter than sugar and super cheap to produce (Hartman, 2011). The use of high fructose corn syrup as a sweetener in foods replacing a more expensive sucrose (table sugar) has also increased in high numbers over the last thirty years ("Obesity facts," 2011). The daily recommended intake in total sugars for a child is about thirty grams; however the use of high fructose corn syrup in juices and sodas exceeds this recommendation by the American Medical Association in just one drink. Drinks and foods that use more natural forms of sugar require a much larger consumption amount just to get to the daily intake recommendation. It is also predicted that one of every two black and Latino children born in 2000 in the United States -- and one of every three white children -- will contract diabetes in their lifetimes, most before they graduate high school due to the amount of high fructose corn syrup and processed foods that are being consumed...