Obesity in Usa

Introduction

Children who suffer from obesity can develop health risks by the time they reach adulthood. Sadly, obesity in the United States has increased over the last three decades. Currently one in five adults in America is obese. Parents have a major responsibility to instill habits of health nutrition from an early age. The story of Alexander Draper is an example of how important is for a parent to take care of their child’s nutrition. Alexander Draper was fourteen years old when his mother lost custody of him, because he weighed 555 pounds. His mother said to authorities that she did the best she could to prevent Alexander’s weight, but she was still charged by the South Carolina authorities with criminal neglect. Authorities said what went wrong was Alexander’s mother parenting skills. Alexander is one of the “40% of American children that are either overweight or obese.” (Crouse 149) First lady Michelle Obama has created the “Let’s Move” campaign against child obesity. This campaign teaches families how to adjust their lifestyle and is a wake up call for children in the United States to become more aware of the health risks associated with this issue. I am from Peru, where child obesity is not a big issue as in the United States. According to the Peruvian National Health Strategy eleven percent of Peruvian children are obese. Living here has opened my eyes of how obesity can lead to many negative consequences. It is important for parents to understand obesity, its causes and how they can prevent it; more important in order to have a healthier society parents need to become aware of the factors that contribute to the development of child obesity.

Definition

Often we hear about child obesity on the news, in magazines and even on television shows. We may also hear about children being overweight, not to be confused with obesity, the definition of overweight is “the excess body weight including fat and lean body mass, bones and water.” (Jelalian and...