Medical Sociology

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Childhood Obesity

Introduction

Whether a child is born in an under-developed country or a country like the U.S., there is always a high chance that he/she may come to face the issue of obesity within the very early stage of life (Nguyen, 2018). In the 21st century, it has been observed an increase in the number of children being affected by obesity. There is undoubtedly a great necessity to understand the fact that childhood obesity is becoming a serious medical condition which may not just affect adolescents, but children as well. When it comes to children who are obese, they are undoubtedly above the normal weight for their height and age (Baidal et al., 2016). In the current scenario, there is a high need to consider obesity a major problem as it is on its way to destroy the upcoming generation. The reason for that is quite simple as the numbers in childhood obesity seem to increase. Due to extra pounds, children can face those problems that were previously associated with adults. In a nutshell, it can be assumed that childhood obesity is the major contributor to depression and poor self-esteem.

Understanding the Problem

In the current world, nearly 1 out of 4 teens and children are either obese or overweight. Studies and research show that such extra pounds tend to develop serious health problems among children. Among such problems there lies asthma, heart disease, and diabetes (Baidal et al., 2016). Apart from this, childhood obesity is also seen to induce some sort of emotional toll as well. When it comes to overweight children, they often have trouble to joining in activities related to sports. Moreover, such kids are not able to keep up with other kids of their age group. The reason for that is quite simple as in some scenarios, they may get teased by other kids which can be leading to negative body image, short self-esteem, and even depression.

Studies and research show that obesity in a child as early as possible can be reducing his/her risk to develop serious medical conditions throughout life. In case if the entire family gets involved, it may eventually break the cycle of obesity and weight problems. Apart from this, there will be an evident boost in the mental and physical health of a child, and he/she may get help in establishing a healthy relationship with food that will last forever. The matter of fact is that children tend to grow at different times and different rates. Therefore, it becomes quite difficult each time to tell whether the child is overweight or not. When it comes to the Body mass index or simply known as BMI, it tends to use weight and height measurements for estimating how much body fat a child pertains to have. One thing that must be taken into consideration is that BMI regardless of being a good indicator is not considered to be the perfect measure of body fat. Apart from this, it has been observed in certain cases that BMI misleads at times when children are going through an experience of rapid growth until a certain age.

Causes

One of the most important step to break the cycle is to understand the way in which a child becomes overweight. In the majority of the cases that are related to obesity, they are either caused by exercising too little or eating too much. There is no doubt that a child requires a certain amount of food for supporting the development of healthy growth. However, when the same child tends to take in more calories than he/she is able to burn out throughout the day, it results in the child gaining weight. There are certain reasons that typically work in combination and increase the risk of a child to become overweight. One of the major contributors to obesity is the lack of exercise. The children who do not exercise on a regular basis are on a higher risk to gain weight (Nguyen, 2018). The reason for that is quite simple as such children do not burn as many calories. Such children are often observed spending too much time in sedentary activities which results in contributing to the problem.

Another important factor is diet. The children who eat high-calorie foods on a regular basis such as baked goods and fast foods are on a higher risk to gain weight and become obese in the near future. There is no doubt some munchies like desserts and candies cause weight gain. Apart from personal choice, there are certain other factors that are related to the surroundings of a child as well. In case if a child comes from a family of overweight people then there is a high chance that the child may put on weight (Sahoo, 2015). This is considered to be especially true in the type of environment where physical activity is not encouraged. Moreover, there is a set of psychological factors as well such as family, parental, and personal stress that results in increasing the risk of obesity in a child. A number of children are observed who overeat to deal with emotions like stress. One thing that must be considered here is that the parents of such children may have similar tendencies.

Prevention

It does not really matter if a child is already at a healthy weight or is at a risk to become overweight. There is always a big room for the measures that can be taken in order to keep things on the right track. One of the best approaches is to make sure the suitable diet is given to the child (World Health Organization, 2016). There is a high need to limit the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. A child must be provided with plenty of vegetables and fruits. One of the most important factors that tend to play a major role in the health of a child is proper sleep. A sleepless child is always one step ahead than others to become obese. Therefore, the children must get enough sleep on a routine basis as it may serve in helping them to be prevented from future issues.

Conclusion

It is concluded that there is a great necessity to consider obesity a major problem. The reason for that lies in the fact that obesity is on its way to destroy the upcoming generation. It has been observed that the numbers in childhood obesity are increasing. When it comes to overweight children, they often have trouble participating in different activities and sports. One thing that must be taken into consideration is that BMI regardless of being a good indicator is not considered to be the perfect measure of body fat. There are certain reasons that typically work in combination and result in increasing the risk of a child to become overweight. In majority of the cases that are related to obesity, they are either caused by the children exercising too little or eating too much. One of the important aspects regarding obesity is that children tend to grow at different times and different rates. Due to this, it has become quite difficult each time to tell if the child is overweight or not. The growing issue of childhood obesity can be taken at a slower pace. All of this can be done by simply focusing on the causes and taking essential steps for its prevention.

Work Cited

Baidal, Jennifer A. Woo, et al. "Risk factors for childhood obesity in the first 1,000 days: a systematic review." American journal of preventive medicine 50.6 (2016): 761-779.

Nguyen, Jessica. "Childhood Obesity: United States." (2018).

Sahoo, Krushnapriya, et al. "Childhood obesity: causes and consequences." Journal of family medicine and primary care4.2 (2015): 187.

Singer, Kanakadurga, and Carey N. Lumeng. "The initiation of metabolic inflammation in childhood obesity." The Journal of clinical investigation 127.1 (2017): 65-73.

World Health Organization. "Consideration of the evidence on childhood obesity for the Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity: report of the ad hoc working group on science and evidence for ending childhood obesity, Geneva, Switzerland." (2016).