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Meiling Walter

Professor Moore

English 1301

27 October 2017

Childhood Obesity in the United States

Childhood obesity rates have been increasing steeply in recently years. According to the

Institute of Medicine, nearly one-third of all American children under the age of 18 are

overweight or obese, and that number has grown by 10 percent every decade for the last 30

years (Werner). Obese children are more likely to become obese adults, and obesity brings to

serious health risk not only on physical: heart disease, type 2 diabetes and other chronic disease

which can link to be low self- esteem, social disorders and depression and lower life quality in

the future. Reasons behind this epidemic are subjects to debate and controversial, but both

parents and schools likely can play important roles to decrease childhood obesity : including

environment influence, food choice education and physical activities education.

The environment has a role in shaping a childs cognitive emotional, physical and social

behavior. In the family, parents are the mainly characters to the environment climate, parents

food marketing reference, food serving structure are impacts to the environment, although

recipes and food preparing is different from the familys background, traditions and cultures. As

Werner mentioned in his article, with most areas of behavior development, to be affective, most

kids need their parents to be highly engaged and committed to proving an environment that

encourages a healthy lifestyle, these will become long term influence to childrens future. Focus

on childhood obesity, school environment is another intervention target to consider on childrens

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health, because children spend most of their time in school and are bounded with what school

offers. Beside all other activities, children eat and play during the time spent in school.

School lunch time that is too short effects food intakes, children might lose control of how much

they need to eat. American children live in an environment where surrounded with fast food

chains and advertisement on foods contains high in fat, sugar and calories, educate children on

healthy food choice is another fact to concern.

In addition to obesity, food choices are important relationship to childrens dietary. In the

family, socioeconomic status impacts the ability of decision making, marketing activities

preference. Nowadays, for both parents are employed who spend more time at work and less

time at home and in the kitchens, sometimes, drive-thru meals and TV dinners are such as

classically for them, convenience, cheap, fast filling and delicious. In the United States today,

eating healthier foods cost more than eating unhealthy foods. The school lunch program, sadly,

the goal to improve childrens health may swim the food choices under the budgetary

circumstance. Side trays such as M&M chocolate cookies, peanut butter sandwiches are products

to making profit for school, but easy access to unhealthy tasted food is believed to contribute to

the recent obesity epidemic. However, with the same amount of food expense, change the dietary

combination can positive influence childrens food choices, display a fresh cold fruit or a cold

vegetable in a cup repeatedly, it will increase their awareness of vegetables, this is a way to

encourage children to make healthy choices for moving forward to their healthy journey.

Although food choices are related to overweight or obesity, physical activity is a necessary part

of weight control and health improvement.

Lack of exercise is also a mainly cause to the childhood obesity epidemic. Along with the

technology speeding development, children spend more time on the flat screen than their parents
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generation, the average child spends 20 hours per week on playing video games, watching

televisions, snapchatting. By limiting screen time and helping children to have more movement

can change childrens sedentary lifestyle. Parents interactive can both benefit to children and to

parents, making a daily exercise routine steadily, finding fun weekend outdoor activities. At

school, as Werner mentioned in his article, The public education system has contributed to, this

dilemma by offering only one or two hours of gym class per week in too many elementary

school. Funding is still another obstacle to help children being more activation for school.

Purchasing more exercise equipment, hiring more physical education teachers, space for children

interactive with others, these are critical financial factors to improve childrens exercise

activities. "Benefit from a childs physical activity include weight control, heath maintenance,

and positive emotional effects on body image (Monteiro Gaspar et al). This might become just a

long-term goal to battle childhood obesity.

Overall, childhood obesity rates increasing from complex factors. High quality and

healthy life style are costly, helping children to be stronger, healthier generation needs more

support from a variety of public resource. Government, the food industry, and childrens health

providers are suggested to share the responsibility. A joint responsibility message could

emphasize the universal desire of parents to help their children while also recognizing that

children spend a lot of time outside the home, much of it in school (Wolfson et al.). With all

these support, both families and schools can make better outcomes for their children and students

on creating better environment, wiser food choices and better-quality exercise lifestyle.
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Works Cited

Moore, Elizabeth S, et al. "All in the Family? Parental Roles in the Epidemic of Childhood

Obesity." Journal of Consumer Research, vol. 43, no. 5, Feb. 2017, pp. 824-859.

EBSCOhost, doi:10.1093/jcr/ucw059. 27 October 2017.

Werner, Doug. "Battling Childhood Obesity." USA Today Magazine, vol. 146, no. 2866, July

2017, p. 62. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=124119761&site=ehost-live.

27 October 2017.

Wolfson, Julia A, et al. "The Role of Parents in Public Views of Strategies to Address Childhood

Obesity in the United States." Milbank Quarterly, vol. 93, no. 1, Mar. 2015, pp. 73-111.

EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pbh&AN=102210343&site=ehost-

live. 27 October 2017.

Wiley, Lindsay F. "No Body Left Behind": Re-Orienting School-Based Childhood Obesity

Interventions." Duke Forum for Law & Social Change (DFLSC), vol. 5, Jan. 2013, pp.

97-128. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lgh&AN=89990394&site=ehost-live.

27 October 2017