Degen 1

Eric Degen

British Lit

Mrs. Maxwell

October 4, 2011

Childhood Obesity

Have you noticed the copious amounts of overweight and obese people in the world

today? Overweight is defined as having excessive body weight for a particular height from

muscle, bone, water, or a combination of these factors, as stated by J. Roach. Roach also states

that obesity is defined as having excess body fat. Overweight and obesity is a result of caloric

imbalance, which means that one is not burning off as many calories as they are receiving per

day. Therefore, the calorie build up causes body fat. Being obese is not only in one age group,

race or sex. Obesity can occur to anyone at anytime. In conclusion, it is essential to monitor ones

calorie intake, as well as to have a good diet and regular exercise.

Obesity has been monitored for several decades. Recently, there has been a huge spike in

the chat that was found on the national obesity website. Obesity is climbing at a very unhealthy

rate. For example, the number of overweight children and adolescents in the United States has

nearly tripled since the early 1970’s. This is an astonishing fact and thousands of people would

have never known. This shows that people do not know much about their health or about the

United States health statistics. Today, more than one third of children and adolescents are

considered to suffer from the medical term obesity, states Roach in his article of statistics about

childhood obesity. Roach expresses his concern about the health of the children in the United

Degen 2

States by trying to get the word out to help these children in need. This statistic shows that

parents are slacking and they need to encourage their children to get active and participate in

sports. Therefore, it is going to take drastic changes in diet and a different active schedule to get

these children into a healthier body.

There are thousands of ways to die in the modern day United States. The March 2004

Journal of the American Medical Association reported that poor diet and physical inactivity soon

could overtake tobacco as the leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States of

America. This means that obesity could have more casualties that drunk driving or any other

forms of car crash. Unhealthy weight gain due to poor diet and lack of exercise is responsible for

more than 300,000 deaths in America each year. There is no reason for someone to die from

eating the wrong foods and or lack of activity. In conclusion, America should do whatever it

takes to help reduce the number of lives we lose every year to obesity and cardiovascular

problems due to being overweight.

Being obese does not only make one feel bad about themselves and give them low self

esteem but it also has very serious medical conditions that go along with it. During their youth,

overweight children and adolescents are more likely to have risk factors associated with

cardiovascular disease, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and type two diabetes.

People do not understand the risks that are involved in being obese and not being active in

anyway. If people were more informed about the risks vs. the reward of being obese, we would

not have nearly as many obese people. Obesity is among the easiest medical condition to

recognize but is one of the most difficult to treat. There are copious amounts of drugs and pills

that clam to make one lose weight in a certain amount of time. Those pills and drugs don’t do

anything for you but make one spend their money and still be obese. The only way to lose weight

Degen 3

and not be obese is to monitor what one eats with a good diet plan and have regular active

exercise. Childhood obesity has been linked to diabetes, high blood pressure, depression,

anxiety, and poor academic performance, states Alan. Therefore, if children know the facts about

obesity they would not sit inside all day and waste their time on a video game.

When one compares different age groups to other age groups, one can find several

interesting statistics. Over the past three decades, the childhood obesity rate has more than

doubled for preschool children aged two to five and adolescents twelve to nineteen and it has

nearly tripled for children six to eleven years old. This statistic shows that every year more and

more children are becoming obese and overweight. There are several plausible explanations for

this sudden rise in the obesity rate, such as several hundred breakthroughs in technology, as well

as the convince of fast food restraints. The obesity epidemic has affected both boys and girls and

has occurred in all ages, race, and ethnic groups throughout the United States of America. This

proves that it does not matter where one grew up or it does not matter how old you are. Obesity

is everyone and will continue to increase unless one can help the obese. At present,

approximately nine million children over the age of six are considered to be obese at the medical

standard. This is truly a very sad and bad statement that other countries use to judge the United

States. In summary, neither age nor gender affects the obesity rate in the United States of

America.

Not only is being obese very harmful to one health, but it is also very expensive.

Overweight children are much more likely to become overweight adults unless they adopt and

maintain healthier patterns of eating and exercise. This statement is very true because once

someone gets obese; they become much more timid and to scared to go to the gym because they

are worried about what people will think about them. Obese children need to change their ways

Degen 4

otherwise they will end up as obese adults. The annual cost to society for obesity is estimated at

nearly $100 Billion dollars says Barnes of the Stop Childhood Obesity program. $100 billion

dollars is a huge waste of money if it just goes for medical equipment and such for obese

patients. Not only does it cost a lot to become obesity but it also cost a lot to have surgeries for

obesity. The estimated average hospital length of a stay for obese individuals is 85% longer than

a normal weighted individual nationwide. There is no positive side to being an obese individual

except the intimation factor.

No where is exempted from obesity, not even the state of Georgia. 15,000 (15%) of

children aged two to four just in the WIC program are obese. It is truly amazing how there are

fifteen thousand toddlers that are overweight just in the state of Georgia. One would think that

the parents would do a better job of trying to keep their kids active. 28,000 (24%) of just third

graders are obese in Georgia. Out of 117,600 third graders in the state of Georgia, there are

28,000 that are obese. 43,000 middle school students are obese in the state of Georgia. Middle

school students should not be obese because a gym class is necessary for them every year.

62,000 high school students are obese in Georgia. High school students should not be obese

because of everyone trying to be popular and trying to fit in. Therefore, school systems in

Georgia need to specialize on obesity and overweight and try to help kids get into a healthier

way of life.

Just about everything has gone up with the economy, including the price of health care.

Hospital costs due to obesity related diseases in children increases from $35 million during 1979

to1981 to $127 million during 1997 to 1999. This proves that it is a very horrid thing to be obese

and try to pay for all the medical bills. Part of this reason is because people are too lazy to get up

Degen 5

off the cough and be active and try to lose some weight to try to save some money. Inclusion, if

one is obese; it is advised to lose weight for the finical side of obesity.

Obese people will blame there obesity on thousands of different possible escape goats.

For example, two in five Georgia middle school students (44%) and high school students (43%)

watch television for three or more hours on a school day. Not only does watching television

contribute to making oneself obese, but it also distracts from doing their homework; resulting in

poor academic performance. Four out of every six people eat fast food twice a week. Due to fast

food being so convenient and cheap, one would mistake it as a good substitute than a home

cooked dinner. Not only does technology contribute to obesity and poor academic performance

but fast food also helps people gain weight. In summary, obesity is not what one should look

forward to or try to encourage.

In conclusion, being obese not only puts one at risk for very serious medical problems but

it also is a serious drain on a financial level. When I was a little boy, my father was very obese

and would not stop eating. I did not know what to do to help him get on the correct path to fix his

life. Therefore, I told my father that I wanted to be like him and be obese. He finally realized that

his obesity was not just affecting himself, but it was affecting everyone around him. He is now in

the best shape of his life and is as healthy as a vegetable. What can we do to help prevent obesity

in the world today?