childhood obesity: cause, effect and the solution

Childhood obesity Introduction Childhood obesity is regarded as a situation whereby children have excess body fat. It involved putting in higher calorie numbers that required by body or which the body has the capacity to burn off (Rabin, 2010). Children having twenty percent of weight or more exceeding normal weight are considered obese. Sorry to say, many children nowadays fall within this category. This paper aims at highlighting various aspects concerning childhood obesity such as causes, associated effects, and solutions as well as pros together with cons linked with each of the highlighted solutions. Childhood obesity causes According to Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (2011), “obese youth are more likely to have risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure. In a population-based sample of 5- to 17-year-olds, 70% of obese youth had at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease”. There are various causes regarding childhood obesity which may be brought to light as follows. For instance, food choices have highly influenced the occurrence of obesity among children (Waters et al, 2011). An example in this case is choice of sugary and high fat foods as an alternative to healthier options. These food categories highly contribute towards increased body weights among children and therefore they steer childhood obesity occurrence. Secondly, insufficient physical activity is a major cause regarding childhood obesity. It is through physical activities that bodies are able to burn excessive fats and bring about healthy living among children. Changing lifestyles have influenced some children such that they lack sufficient time to involve themselves in play and other activities which actively engage the body (Ludwig, Peterson & Gortmaker, 2001). This prevents their bodies from burning off fats which are excess and therefore this results into fats accumulation which facilitate weight increase hence obesity conditions occurrence. Thirdly, genetics has also contributed towards childhood obesity occurrence. Sources point out that certain rare disorders of genes steer the occurrence of obesity among children. Within other individuals, it has been found out that certain genes performing together have the possibility of making some children highly vulnerable to obesity. In cases whereby there is tendency for a given family to experience overweight conditions, parents ought to become aware of selecting food choices which are healthy for their families (World Health Organization, 2011). It is therefore clear that genetic factors have brought about childhood obesity within some instances. In addition, overweight parents have the capacity to prop up childhood obesity among their children. This is due to the fact that by being overweight, there is the implication that the eating patterns held by the parents are generally sugary or fatty foods which steer obesity occurrence. These are likely to be introduced to their children and therefore they end up experiencing obesity problems. Sources highlight that the eating patterns held by a family have considerable influence upon whether healthy weight is maintained by children (Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons, Committee of Public Accoun...