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Juan Aguilar
ENG 113B
Dr. Santosh
06 May 2016
You Are What You Eat
Childhood Obesity increased in the past 30 years. 18% of Children ages 2 to 19 years old
are overweight or obese, identified by the body mass index (BMI). Childhood Obesity is a
subject matter that we need to examine and solve as a country, otherwise the future holds more
sickness, shorter human lifespan, and an unhealthy world. Children with malnutrition are
suffering within this generation because they arent getting the necessary nutrients and vitamins
in order to sustain a healthy lifestyle. Children from a poor family might not have enough energy
to play outside because their families cant afford to buy healthy or organic foods for their
children. Children in this generation are becoming lazier because they are more attracted to
utilizing their electronics inside their home consistently. Africa is known to have the least
amount of obese children because Africans do not have as many fast food corporations within
their environment like the United States. Childhood obesity is a worldwide epidemic that can
lead children to develop Type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, asthma, and sleep disorders. These
illnesses can cause symptoms such as low self-esteem, bullying and depression. Therefore,
parents should take proactive measures to demand lower prices for organic foods, cook home
meals, limit the utilization of electronic devices, supervise their child playing outside for at least
2 hours, and limit the consumption of fast food.

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Childhood obesity around the world is vastly increasing because fast food corporations
such as McDonalds, Burger King and Carls Jr. are commonly well known joints to have an
affordable and tasty meals. In the journal article, How Differing Demographic Factors Impact
Consumers' Loyalty towards National or International Fast Food Chains a Comparative Study in
Emerging Markets, argues that the demographic of fast food industries are spreading vastly in
every continent and firms produce processed foods which have high calories and sugars. These
businesses are very successful because they earn a total revenue that profits their business to
build even more fast food joints. This is troublesome within the global economy because it will
impact the health of young children consuming cheap processed food. Moreover, this article
states, This fast growth of fast food chains is due to the increase in income level of middle-class
consumers in third world and developing countries, changing eating needs of young children and
adults and the penetration of multinational food chains in these countries (Abdul Rehman,
2010). Businesses are more concerned about seductively pleasing their consumers purchasing
their products instead of worrying about their health risks. In addition, the psychological matter
towards the consumers attitude is important of the impact on purchase behavior.

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(Children in Africa do not have enough money to demand food products at their local farmers
market. Therefore, they consistently eat plantains and rice every day because the sale price is
cheap and affordable.)
Demographically, childhood obesity is increasing in every country because of the
affordable meals they supply to the rural people within their environment. But on the other hand,
Africa is commonly known to have the least obese children because Africa is not capable of
reinforcing their own resources in agricultural production and in technology. Moreover, most of
the children from Africa come from poor families or tribes. According to Gallup World, in 2013,
the 10 countries with the highest proportion of residents living in extreme poverty were all in
sub-Saharan Africa. Extreme poverty is defined as living on $1.25 or less a day. Africa is very
dependent as a nation because the government does not take action in helping and urbanizing
their environment. The picture above speaks for itself. An average 10% of African children are
overweight and 6% are obese. Approximately, 1 to 3 children in sub-Saharan Africa are
undernourished and malnutrition can lead to starvation. The natural resources in Africa are very
difficult to nourish 1.11 billion people because the weather conditions are divesting for the
agricultural production. According to the journal article, The Forgotten Resource Curse: South
Africa's Poor Experience with Mineral Extraction, the author claims that that South Africa has
experienced many of the symptoms outlined in the resource curse literature including relatively
slow GDP growth, gross inequalities, entrenched poverty and the creation of a rentier state.
Poor families are the reason why they dont consume healthy foods because they would
not able to afford organic products. This causes child malnutrition because they do not get the
nutrients they need to support their energy. Since fast foods are affordable, families prefer having
a full $5 dollar meal as opposed to 1 pound of organic apples for $9. This is very ironic because

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it should be the other way around because organic foods should be affordable so that poor
families can buy these products. The debate was that processed foods are easy to make than
cultivating and harvesting an organic fruit for more than 6 months. The picture below is mindblowing because the cheapest meal to eat is a $1 burger which is high in fat and cholesterol. In
addition, children ranging 6-15 year olds are very picky eaters and this is the problem that
parents are permissive about their childrens decisions. On a daily basis, parents should prep
home cook meals for their kids because it lowers the child metabolism into consuming more
food and it fills them up with enough nutritious vitamins and nutrients for the day. Doctors
recommend that they prep meal for their children on breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This study
shows that children are less likely to become obese because of home cook meals are better than
fast foods.

Technology is vastly advancing and children are more involved playing with technology
than playing outside. This is very problematic because they are not interested in playing outside

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anymore, but rather playing with their games inside their home. Its inevitable that children
would rather play inside their home because technology brain washes them which prevents them
playing outside nowadays. Their goal would be is for every virtual reality product in every home
because they want this technology to influence the mind of everyone to utilize their product.
Children are more obsessed playing with their mobile devices rather than exercising for at least
one hour. According to the Baby Boomer Report, this generation is so attached on social media
that the internet is something to die for. In addition, children are so attached with technology they
watch at least 4 hours of television on an average day. Children in this generation should learn
about the effects on childhood obesity and they should be encouraged to eat fruits and
vegetables. If children are aware about the death increase in heart attacks, diabetes, and high
cholesterol. Children will get very paranoid and they will be very concerned about everything
they do and put in their mouth. It is very important to reduce the children from becoming obese
because it can also be passed down by hereditary which can ruin future generations. According to
Jameson, He argues that children are slowly eating their lifespan away because of all the
unhealthy food they consume in their bodies. An overweight child has a greater Body Mass
Index over 85 percentile, but on the other hand, an obese child is over 95 percentile.
(In the picture below you can see how interested these girls are playing with the Oculus virtual
reality product. These products are high in demand and this technology will be home owned by
2018)

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An average child eating disorderly can also cause the child to be emotionally depressed and
encourages children to eat junk food because it makes them feel a lot better. The United States is
held accountable for having the most obese people out of very country. There are more obese
children because it is passed down hereditary, increased in technology, less physical activities,
and more food intake. It is important that children should know about their health because they
will be extremely aware of all the benefits of consuming healthy foods and make them live
longer. In addition, if children get the idea of obese children are mentally and emotionally sad
because they get bullies for how thy look which leads to suicide. Many children were born obese
because their parents either had diabetes, they were obese, or because of poverty. According to
pediatricians, they recommend children to eat at least 5 fruits and 5 vegetables to get the
nutrients and vitamins they need in their bodies. They also want children to get at least 2 hours of
play because physical activity reduces the calories and makes the child stay in shape.
According to my calculations, children are unaware on illness conditions they will look
upon their future lives because they do not know they are harming themselves based on their

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food consumption. In 68th Street Elementary School, I interviewed 5 children and I asked,
What is your favorite food? I was very astonished how fast they respond because they all
answered fast food meals such as pizza, hamburger, and fried chicken. 3 children respond they
love pizza because of the texture and its delicacy. In addition, I informed them that these foods
are made up of carbohydrates and grease that generally leads the child to become obese. I tried to
persuade them into consuming more vegetables and fruits to avoid illnesses such as diabetes,
cholesterol and sleep deprivation. These children were about 8-10 year olds, yet they still look
uninterested about these facts because these kids are nave that bad foods can harm their lives in
the future.
All in all, children have acknowledge the harmful illnesses that come from eating in a
disorderly fashion. Children have to be aware of anything they consume because it can change
their lives forever. Parents are responsible for their childrens health because parents are
influential to their children and they attempt to follow their parents actions. The United States is
the highest rated country to have the most overweight and obese children. The government is
also responsible for children being overweight because the demand for fast foods are lower than
organic foods which are commonly expensive. The ideal misunderstanding is that people in the
United States are lazy, but they are not physically active. Children follow their parents shoes and
look up to their parents. Parents should advocate and be role models for their children to eat
healthier and become physically active.

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Citations
Jin, Y, YQ Chen, QY Tang, MB Xue, WY Li, and J Jiang. "Evaluation of Carotid Artery Stiffness
in Obese Children Using Ultrasound Radiofrequency Data Technology." Magazine of Ultrasound
in Medicine, 32.1 (2013): 105-113.
Srivastava, RK. "How Differing Demographic Factors Impact Consumers' Loyalty Towards
National or International Fast Food Chains a Comparative Study in Emerging Markets." British
Food Journal, 117.4 (2015): 1354-1376.
Silverstone, Susan, and Jim Teatum. "Technology: The Problem or the Solution to Childhood
Obesity." American Journal of Business Education, 4.1 (2011): 37-60.
Talbot, Thomas Brett. "Virtual Reality and Interactive Gaming Technology for Obese and
Diabetic Children: Is Military Medical Technology Applicable?" Journal of Diabetes Science and
Technology, 5.2 (2011): 234-238
I interviewed children at 68th Street Elementary School (What is your favorite food?)