Childhood Obesity: A Public Health Issue Essay

Childhood obesity is a major public health epidemic which has significantly risen over the past three decades and there is no chance in sight of slowing it down unless real action is taken. This major health crisis continues to reduce individuals’ quality of life and has caused severe health problem like heart disease which is the leading cause of death in the United States and around the world. In most cases, obese children grow up to be an obese adult. The prevalence of childhood obesity can be addressed through education initiatives such as school prevention programs because children spent a majority of their time outside of the home at school, therefore school provides a great opportunity to educate and improve a child’s health at an ideal point before the problem gets worst. My paper will focus on childhood obesity prevention in Hill Top Middle school Lodi, New Jersey.

Compared to other countries, the United States was reported to have the second highest rate of obesity in the world after Mexico. Over the past decade, cases of obesity have triplicated in the U.S., affecting more than one-third (34.9% or 78.6 million) of the adults (Ogden et al. 2014). Given the current trends, it is projected that 42% of the U.S. population will be obese by 2030 (Finkelstein et al. 2012). Aside from its nefarious impact on the overall quality of life of the affected individual on a micro level, obesity has an enormous economist cost on the US healthcare system. In their extensive annual medical spending report, Finkelstein et al. (2012) indicated that the annual medical cost for obesity in the US amount to $147 billion

Obesity is crucial in this country, in order for there to be a change we need to start serving healthy foods at schools. The First Lady Michelle Obama brought this healthy lunch concern to the educational system. California’s Department of Education Nutrition Services provides fresh fruit and vegetables to students as a supplement throughout the day. California’s schools have moved ahead to support Hunger-Free Kids policy. The local government regulates school districts including Los Angeles Unified School District to serve whole grains, fruits and vegetables versus foods high in calories. The Hunger-Free Kids policy allowed public schools to serve healthy lunches preventing obesity.

stated, “Except for smoking, obesity is now the number one preventable cause of death in this country. Three hundred thousand die of obesity each year.” Obesity is a growing problem in our country, and as a result, it has doubled from 1980 and tripled for teenagers. One of the causes of obesity is the choices for school lunches. For example, schools offer pizza, burgers or a sandwich, with little nourishment but should include healthy options such as salads with oil and vinegar or a burger with veggies instead of fries. The latest data shows the childhood obesity rate from two to nineteen years old is 18.5 percent (State of Obesity.org). The first National School Lunch Act was passed in 1946 by Congress because it away to boost the well-being and health of the Nation’s children who were malnourished in the Great Depression. As a result, school lunches are a significant contributor in our youth becoming obese, along with a sedentary lifestyle, socioeconomic status, genetics and lack of income. Salad bars in all schools serving low-calorie dressings, lean meats, fruit, and vegetables would help kids reduce their chances of health issues. Furthermore, revisions to the policy from a fast food concept to healthy lunches would benefit kids in numerous ways. Similarly, healthy food equals healthy students both physically and psychologically, while putting the power back in the hands of the parents making decisions instead of companies like Schwan Corporation.

Childhood obesity is simply the result of a surplus of calories consumed and a deficiency in calories burned. It is a nationwide public health concern that has increased dramatically over a few years. Childhood Obesity is a public issue, but it affects the health and well being of children we call our friends, and family. Currently most Americans use the body mass index or BMI as one of the main methods for determining childhood obesity. However, this is where the concern for childhood obesity for most Americans ceases to exist. This is when people start to think that this dilemma of childhood obesity doesn’t affect them in their lives. Mark Blum, Buddhist thinker states there is this mentality, this motto “If I could consider my body as mine, from an egocentric standpoint, I would be free to do whatever I want with it” that has developed (Blum 148). People feel like their body, or in this case their obesity is a personal problem and it can’t be dealt with in public matters. Nevertheless, it comes back to this when the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) reported “an estimated 16.9% of children and adolescents in the age group of 2-19 years old were obese.” As well as Healthy People 2010 ranked “obesity as the number one health problem in the nation” (Karnik and Kanekar). This clearly shows us that childhood obesity has become a serious issue over the past couple of years. No child is immune to childhood obesity, and health problems adults typical

Obesity has been a major health issue in the community for the past three decades, and has recently become a spreading concern for children (Black & Hager, 2013). Childhood obesity leads to many health and financial burdens in the future, and has become a public health priority. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2016), childhood obesity has doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years. Black and Hager (2013) state that pediatric obesity is a major public health problem that effects a child’s mental and physical health. Having childhood obesity also increases the risk of developing adult obesity and many other chronic illnesses. Childhood obesity will be further explored in the following sections and will include: background, current surveillance methods, epidemiology analysis, screening and diagnosis, and the plan of action.

Childhood obesity has increased drastically over the past years and has become a health risk to children. In fact, childhood obesity has doubled in numbers in the past thirty years (Childhood Obesity Facts). Obesity occurs when an individual becomes overweight and can be diagnosed by using the body mass index or BMI scale. Obesity causes many diseases in children which cannot be cured without a doctor, in result, childhood obesity drives high health care costs. The existence of childhood obesity has begun to get out of control and there is little effort to prevent the obesity epidemic. The number of children who are obese have greatly increased over the years and people are trying to come up with a solution to prevent obesity. Without the prevention of obesity future generations could be in serious trouble with health issues. Childhood obesity should be prevented by showing the youth that healthy is the smart option, the main causes of obesity include lack of guidance, fast food restaurants, and the market for unhealthy foods.

After years of lobbying and debate, the Department of Agriculture has finally rewritten the dietary guidelines for the school lunch and breakfast programs. As Nirvi Shah writes in his article “School-Meals Makeover Stirs the Pot" published in Education Week, “The first rewrite of school-meal rules in 15 years, the proposed standards aim to cut sodium, boost the amount and types of fruits and vegetables students are offered, cut saturated fat, increase whole grains, and for the first time, limit calories” (Shah). These new rules have been rewritten in 2011 but it could take schools until the 2012-13 school year to implement these rules. Many people are not satisfied with the new guidelines, mainly the schools.

Childhood obesity is a growing public health concern in the UK. Data obtained from the National Child Measurement programme 2013/14 showed that a third of children in England are classified as overweight or obese (Wilkie et al., 2016). If current trends continue, 50% of all 10 year-olds will be overweight or obese by 2020. Obese and overweight individuals have a 10% increased risk of developing chronic diseases such as cancers, hypertension and type 2 diabetes (Kopelman, 2007). Consequently, this poses not only health risks to those who are overweight or obese but a future potential public health economic burden.

Obesity is a health issue that we are going to discuss in this case. The target population is children are most prone to diabetes. The Center for Disease Control asserts that roughly 17% (or 12.5 million) of children and juveniles aged 2—19 years suffer from obesity. Since 1980, obesity frequency amid boys and teenagers has virtually tripled (CDC, 2012). Nurses in the present day face a significant challenge an ever growing trend in overweight and obese children, and they have more responsibility to advocate for help and even support them. Promotion of health is one of the most significant aspects of nursing and regardless of the circumstance a nurse finds himself in; they have the authority and power to incite change. The issue of childhood obesity is discussed throughout the paper including relevant programs and policies that advocate for ameliorating the pandemic. Public policy nonetheless ought to address the rising concern provoked by childhood obesity in the contemporary society.

Childhood obesity affects between 16% and 25% of children according to Spence Rathus. Over the past 20 years’ childhood obesity has increased and become more dominant (CDC, 2011a). There are other factors besides heredity that play a role in childhood obesity. Sugary drinks are more readily available along with unhealthy meal options at schools. Another factor would be advertising of unhealthy and fattening foods. Just from personal experience, kids are less active than when I was growing up. Parents place their children in front of televisions to act like a babysitter and keep their kids quiet instead of spending time with them and being active and healthy. With all these adds for McDonald’s they want what they see on televisions and parents are willing to upsize their meals because they’re getting a ‘bigger bang for their buck’.

The National School Lunch Program was established under the National School Lunch Act signed by President Truman in 1946 (National). Schools involved in the lunch program receive cash subsidies and USDA foods from the USDA for each meal they serve. Only if their meals meet the federal requirement, will the school receive the money. The lunches provided are nutritionally balanced and low-cost or free. Today, over 31 million students receive meals through this lunch program (What). The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act was put in place to improve the already existing school meal requirements and promote better nutrition.

Childhood obesity is a serious health problem that is associated with future diseases. Early mortality is also a result of childhood obesity. An obese child is more likely to develop chronic diseases in adulthood (Hood,& Emie, 2005).Having obesity can increase the likelihood of Type 2 diabetes, kidney diseases, high cholesterol, cardiovascular diseases, sleep apnea, liver diseases, orthopedics problems, and cancer (Sahoo, Sahoo, Choudhury, Sufi, Kumar & Bhadoria, 2015)(Yim & Yoo,2014)(Xu &Xue,2015). CKD or chronic kidney disease is a result of obesity which may lead to the increase in the rates of cardiovascular disease, premature death, and end stage renal disease (Yim,& Yoo,2014). There is also a clear connection between obesity and cardiometabolic dysfunction. Obesity may bring vascular changes which indicate early atherosclerosis, ventricular stiffness and hypertrophy (McCrindle,2014). Among Canadians, CVD (cardiovascular disease) is the leading cause of death (Brigder,2009). Dyslipidemia, hypertension, and insulin resistance are all examples of complications of cardiovascular dysfunction in obese children(Mcrindle,2014). The correlation between Type 2 diabetes and childhood obesity have been shown in many studies. There was a

Childhood obesity is a major problem in the United States. “Overweight is defined as a BMI at or above the 85th percentile and below the 95th percentile for children and teens of the same age and sex” (Google definition). As citizens we can find solutions to fix this problem. Parent and school training, getting industries to lower prices on healthy food and adding more physical activity. They are easy fixes that we should get started on immediately and could easily start a cure for childhood obesity.

The new policy not only calls for restrictions on fat and calories, grains and proteins have also been given weekly limits. Schools will no longer be allowed to serve sandwiches with two slices of whole grain bread every day of the week because it would exceed the weekly grain limit. Also, salads topped with grilled chicken and low fat cheese will be no more since they exceed the daily protein limit (SANDRA). As a result of these outrageous regulations, many students are left feeling hungry and apathetic later in the day (Sheehy). Schools should encourage kids to eat a minimum of grains,