Childhood Obesity

Childhood Obesity:

The Dangers and the Solutions

Aliska Mastin

Childhood Obesity: The Dangers and the Solutions

The life of a child is faced with many challenges whether they are academic, social or emotional. A child deserves every opportunity to be safe and healthy and as a parent I think that childhood obesity should definitely be regarded as what it is: a detriment to their physical health and psychological well-being. According to the World Health Organization, childhood obesity is on the rise with as many as 42 million children in the world with especially middle and low income countries affected (http://www.who.org). There are so many causes to childhood obesity- overeating, loss of sleep, stress, as well as genetic issues all of which create a nest for childhood obesity to develop into obesity for an adult. The dangers that come from obesity are heart disease, increased brain pressure, damage to the lungs, and issues in the digestive tract, bones and joint diseases as well as diabetes. The exploration into the seriousness of these causes and solutions to childhood obesity are what will bring the importance of this topic to light.

Many parents are guilty of telling their children to finish everything on their plates at all meals to promote the idea that kids will not allow themselves to waste food, this is especially true in lower income families. The reality is that most families facing these challenges and health scares the food is being cooked in grease and over seasoned coupled with the fact that most children now spend their time indoors in front of video games instead of being outside playing as the generations before them have. A multitude of health organizations are now pressuring schools to stand behind their sports and physical education programs to help eliminate childhood obesity along with the changes to the dietary options...