In this article I was intrigued with the fact that children were becoming more dependent on the medications for their problems instead of physically doing something about it. So I did some research and found that it is a world wide problem. Doctors in a variety of countries have reported that since 1990 their numbers for overweight children has nearly doubled. The American Heart Association’s official website states that the percentage of children who are obese has nearly doubled in the last decade. They also state that, “one in every five children are obese.” This survey was taken in 2004. “The prevalence of overweight in children ages 6-11 increased from 4.0 percent in 1971-74 to 17.5 percent in 1999-2004 The prevalence of overweight in adolescents ages 12-19 increased from 6.1 percent to 17 percent (http://www.americanheart.org/ presenter. jhtml?identifier=4670). I feel that this statement really shows how popular this epidemic is becoming. Children are getting bigger. “Overweight children are more likely to be overweight adults (AHA).” I have noticed that a lot of adults are also becoming wider. American Heart Association explains how much harder it gets when overweight children become overweight adults. The doctor visits become more frequent and the medications only increase due to health issues. “When defining overweight in children and adolescents, it is important to consider both weight and body composition (AHA).” Honestly people can get confused when it comes to knowing if you are overweight or just a little healthy. Being overweight means the your weight over powers your body composition. For example: If I weigh 150 lbs. and I am 5’7” then on a scale of 1-10, 10 being overweight I would be about an 8. I would just say I am a little on the healthy side. Basically children are becoming overweight which leads to serious health problems in their future, but knowing when you are overweight is the deciding factor. Everyone, including children, should keep themselves healthy and know what to do if they notice they are gaining more weight than they need to.
According to research children are progressively becoming more overweight. Some people say it is their activity level each day. Some say it is their calorie intake a day. “Parents’ involvement in modifying overweight children’s behavior is important. Parents who model healthy eating and physical activity can positively influence their children’s health (AHA).” I feel strongly about this issue because children follow their parents example, it is a natural instinct. If a parent is influencing a child to eat McDonalds, for example, then that child is going to want to eat McDonalds a lot. But if a parent teaches their children about eating healthy foods early in life and eats fruits and vegetables then the child is going to grow up eating those things. AHA states that not only should healthy eating habits be set in place for children but also a limited access to television and other electronics. Children tend to play video games and watch television a lot. This type of non-active activity is not one way to stay healthy. If you set a limit to how much television a child receives a day then that would certainly help them become more active. “the number of children suffering from the ill effects of obesity is increasing which is conversely proportional to the rising number of children suffering from depression (AHA). Depression goes hand in hand with obesity in children. Studies have shown that 89% of children who are obese are depressed. Yet doctors are not sure whether it is depression that causes the obesity or the obesity that cause depression. I personally think that depression comes with obesity. People know when they are becoming overweight. The more overweight they get the more depressed they get. Children who are overweight need help. Parents, teachers, and friends all need to be there when our children are becoming overweight because it will only hurt them in the future when their medical bills are more than the house payment.
Diabetes type 2, asthma, heart disease, depression, cardiovascular disease, are all factors that come after children become obese. As they grow older their health problems began to grow. “Being overweight is not a cosmetic problem. It greatly raises the risk in adults for many diseases and conditions (National Heart Lung and Blood Institute).” Such diseases like heart disease occurs when a fatty material called plaque builds up on the walls of the coronary arteries which allow blood and oxygen to flow to the heart. You can see how easy it would be for obesity to cause heart disease. When your food intake is full of calories and sugar then other problems are going to occur such as type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is a disease in which blood sugar levels are too high. Over 80% of people with type 2 diabetes were overweight as children and are still overweight. The NHLBI, as I referred to before stated, “Along with heart disease and type 2 diabetes, strokes can occur in obese adults.” A stroke is caused by a fatty buildup called a clot that moves its way closer to the brain. If the clot makes it to the brain it will block oxygen and blood from getting to the brain which then causes the stroke. Serious health problems will follow obesity and if obese children do not get help they too will live with these health problems.
Lastly, there is hope for these obese children. Parents can certainly put an influence on their children to eat healthier and be more active. Fruits and vegetables are not the enemy. I believe the more that parents talk to their children about being healthy the more children will understand and help themselves out. Then maybe later in life these children will not have to live with medical problems. This growing epidemic is all over the world. In places such as Germany, Russia, China, France, England, and Australia, reports are saying that obesity is becoming more known and more talked about. This is a great way to raise awareness about this problem which I think will soon change and children can live happy and healthy.
No comments:
Post a Comment