Americas

Healthier Future

Simple ways to help improves your kid’s overall health

Table of contents
Abstract (pg. 2)
Introduction (pg. 3-4)
Methodology (pg. 4)
Results (pg. 4-6)
Analysis (pg. 6)
Recommendation (pg. 6-7)

Abstract.
The purpose of this report is to try to put a massive dent into childhood obesity. When most
people hear of ending childhood obesity, they think of healthier food options in cafeterias,
cutting fountain drink and adding more greens to a child’s diet. They are many other factors that
come into play when trying to end an epidemic that has been occurring in New Mexico for over
100 years. The biggest thing we as humans can do to prevent childhood obesity is to bring
awareness around the subject. The main premise of this report will be aimed at society as a
whole rather than putting all the blame on Public schools. While public schools not offering
healthier food options during lunch is a factor to this epidemic, one bad meal a day isn’t going to
cause obesity in children. Obesity is caused from many factories like excessive unhealthy eating,
not getting enough physical exercise and lastly the child not being aware of what they are doing
their bodies. This paper will go into a lot of depth major factories we as humans can do to protect
our future generations.
Introduction
While obesity has always been something that various people have dealt with, it has
never been as prevalent as it is now especially among children. Many factors we as humans do
today have led to this epidemic such as processed food, children not getting enough physical
exercise, children not having enough awareness about obesity alongside their parents.
Nowadays kids can be seen watching tv all day or playing video games instead of going outside
and playing with their friends. Instead of eating a turkey sandwich, many kids would rather go
for the quicker option of a swiss-roll or Cinnabon in which they can just open the wrapper and
start eating. Before the internet ever existed, kids would be outside playing and running around
but things have obviously changed in a big way since then. Because of these factors’ kids aren’t
burning enough calories and thus inducing their bodies to build up fat storages. In fact, in 2018
according to the state of childhood obesity roughly 4.8 million kids ages 10-17 are suffering
from childhood obesity. Nearly 20% of all children is the U.S. have obesity and the overall direct
health expenses equivalate to 14 billion dollars. It is very obvious something has to be done
about this persistent issue that America as a whole faces.
While many things have been done to try to bring more awareness to childhood obesity
it isn’t working and its not being made as big of a deal as it should be. According to an article
written by Harvard students in 2012 called School of Public Health at Harvard University said
there are many ways to help kids with their unhealthy eating habits. The biggest factor they
recommend is calling on APS schools to implement healthier food options in the cafeteria.
While this is the argument where most people go to its not the only factor as to why there is
obesity among children. One unhealthy food option a day doesn’t lead to obesity there are
obviously way more factors that cause it. No kid can be expected to constantly eat healthy and
never have an unhealthy good tasting meal because to be apparent that’s not what a child is
concerned with. So yes, children are always going to eat candy bars and McDonalds from time
to time, So saying that we need to cut unhealthy food from their lunches wont make a huge
difference because they will just ask for something unhealthy for dinner. While it seems like this
is the only apparent way to actually make a difference in a child’s health life, they are other
more appropriate ways to combat childhood obesity.
Lastly weight gain seems to be a problem across the whole world, but America seems to be
always at the forefront of it all or at least near the top. This means that Americans as a whole
must be doing something wrong with their dietary needs. Studies that have been conducted
show that Americans meals sizes are much larger than that of other nations. In fact, Americans
have increased their calorie intake by nearly 20% from 1983 to 2000 which is an astonishing
number to say the least (Why are Americans Obese, 2019). Compared to Canadians are obesity
numbers seem to be steadily growing further and further apart.
 Methodology
This recommendation report was first conducted by looking into why Americans don’t
seem to be trying anything to combat this obesity epidemic that runs rampant throughout the
world and more so America. It is obvious that if we were to lower obesity rates people would
physically feel better and even more importantly feel happier. The main questions behind this
report is why Americans are steadily gaining weight and what methods can be conducted to
lower this number. I was able to collect a lot of information from websites such as
PublicHealth.org, StateofChildhoodObesit.org and many more. After collecting enough data
about why Americans are gaining weight, I gathered information about appropriate and ethical
ways to combat it. I gained a lot of these tips from the CDC.gov, NCBI.gov, Health.gov and
more. Once I collected all of my research, I began to conduct my own analyses and put the best
method together to challenge childhood obesity with all of the acquired information I had
gathered.

Results
While times are truly changing year by year so are people. In the 1970’s obesity
occurred in one-third of the children in America as it does today. We know that obesity can
cause some major health issues including heart disease, cancers, diabetes, gallbladder disease,
sleep apnea, osteoarthritis and much more. Americans need to come together and try to
challenge obesity in any way possible, however many challenges can be brought about. Like I
previously stated a child’s diet isn’t the only thing causes obesity but it is a factor. Most people
would recommend cutting out fast food, but some families can’t afford to do that given that
fast food is very cheap. We need to dive deeper into what makes childhood obesity occur.
In order to challenge obesity, we must first take a look at what qualifies someone has
having obesity. Obesity can be somewhat calculated by a person’s body mass index (BMI). A
person’s BMI can be calculated by taking into two factors, their height and their weight. The
procedure to find a person’s BMI is pretty simple, all that is done is dividing an individual’s
weight by their height squared. Once this is completed you have your BMI. If a person BMI is 30
or higher than they may be at risk for obesity. I did state that it can somewhat calculate obesity
because the BMI index does not take into account muscle mass. If you are a running back in
football your BMI may state that you are greater than 30 but that doesn’t necessarily mean that
you are obese, I could just point to the fact that you may have a lot of muscle mass. In order to
be certain if you have obesity the best bet is to go talk to a health care professional.
Childhood obesity isn’t just a threat while the person is obese but it can cause a lifetime of
serious illness that won’t go away such as type II diabetes. According to the Health Policy
Institute, obesity “is a risk factor for four of the 10 leading causes of death in the U.S. —
coronary heart disease, type II diabetes, stroke, and cancer.(1) Obesity and physical inactivity
account for more than 300,000 premature deaths each year in the U.S.( A Lifelong Threat, 2013).
Obesity is constantly killing people every year and it seems like that number will just steadily
increase but is there a certain area where it seems to be increasing more?
According to the Health Policy Institute obesity has astronomically increased in lower income
households. If a household make less than 40,000 a year they are twice as likely to be obese
compared to a household that make 50,000 or more(Low Income Communities,2016). A study
done from 1986 to 1998 showed that obesity increased in African Americans and Hispanics by
120% compared to Whites where it only increased by 50%, because of their living situations.
Obesity also seems to be more common among men than it does in women. Nearly 26% of boys
are considered obese compared to the nearly 22% of girls that are obese. So, it appears that living
in a lower income household can actually lead to a pretty significant increase in obesity, and a
person’s sex also can depict at having a greater chance of obesity.
While kids may want to see a doctor with concerns about their weight, they may not be
able to. In order to see a doctor for a reasonable price you need a decent health care insurance,
however as previously stated some families live in a lower income household and may not be
able to afford a trip to a doctor. In fact, nearly 79% of obese children who lived in higher income
households were able to visit a doctor at once a year whereas 53% obese children in lower
income households weren’t even able to get a visit throughout the whole year. This eludes to the
fact that with more money a person has a greater chance of combatting childhood obesity
because they gain knowledge from a healthcare professional, whereas a child who lives in a more
poor situation might not even know why they are struggling with increased weight gain.
Sleep has also been connected with an increase percentage in obesity. Research suggest
that a person who sleeps 4 hours a night compared to a person who sleep s10 hours a night is at a
higher risk for increased weight gain (Zeratsky,2018). While less sleep doesn’t mean that you are
going to put on weight directly there are some indirect ways it can cause weight gain. According
to researchers a person who is up longer throughout the day is more likely to have an increased
appetite due to their body not being able to get recharged from a good night’s sleep. This means
that while one person who get 10 hours of sleep a night is able to recharge their body for a new
day another person who gets 40 hours of sleep might have to look towards carbs just to have
enough energy to stay awake. Another factor is getting less sleep means less energy and less
energy means less likely to participate in physical activity. Physical activity is a great way to
burn calories and make sure you wont gain weight, however when someone is to tired, they may
not want to work out at all or they may go at it half-heartedly.

Analysis
After the research for the project was concluded I discovered one major factor and that
was that there are many factors that can lead to obesity. From sleep to eating unhealthy to where
a where a person lives all are factors that can cause obesity. When first conducting my research, I
thought the primary factor was going to be unhealthy eating because that is what we are taught as
kids. Americans are always taught eating unhealthy leads to weight gain and continuous
unhealthy diet routines can lead to obesity. After I concluded my research, I discovered that this
wasn’t the case.
The original questions that brought about this research was how the obesity epidemic in America
can be cured and are there any other major factors that cause obesity other than unhealthy eating.
After extensive research I was able to find out the answers to both of these questions. The second
question of what other factors can cause obesity was pretty easy to find. While unhealthy eating
is a big factor that can lead to obesity, continuous lack of sleep, where a person is raised and not
having the “luxury” of having decent healthcare can also lead to obesity. The first question took
a little bit longer to think of because how is it possible to fix all of these issues that people face
that are directly correlating to weight gain. However, after researching a little bit more I was able
to find an appropriate response to that as well.

Recommendation
America has a whole need to be more in tune with health issues that seem to grow every single
year. With obesity causing so many health issues like heart disease and arthritis it should be one
of the health concerns on the forefront of everyone’s mind, especially those with children. A
parent should always be aware of their children’s health issues, because a child is not mature
enough to know the health risks behind actions that they partake in. While its always easy to say
we need things to change I plan on giving appropriate methods that can help kids with obesity
and help prevent childhood obesity overall.
The first step we should take is to make sure our children are getting enough exercise.
When someone exercises their body is having to burn calories in order to fuel their body with
energy and when calories are burned in the body this helps prevent weight gain. Exercise is very
important for children because it can create a lifelong habit. Exercise can also help prevent a lot
of diseases like heart disease, diabetes and even arthritis. Its important to remember that not
every child is gifted with athleticism and some might not even like to play sports which is ok.
That doesn’t mean however that the child should just be allowed to play video games in his room
all day. Even as much as taking them for a little walk or going on a hike can be very beneficial
for them not putting on excessive weight.
The next step a parent should take it to ensure their kids are moderately healthy. I chose
to say moderately because I personally feel that a kid should be allowed to eat some junk food
throughout the week, because you don’t want your kid to start hating the idea of healthy food. A
couple fast food meals throughout the week won’t do any trouble as long as there are eating
healthy throughout the rest of the week. When talking about dieting it is very important to
remember vegetables. Vegetables are very low in calories but because they are so dense in
nutrients it creates satiety which is the feeling of being full. By eating vegetables, you can eat
more food with a way less calorie intake. When a human body has had a deficit of calories
throughout the day the body decides to start burning fat because it is packed with the most
calories per gram. This means that eating a lot of vegetables throughout the day actually does
lead to weight loss.
Another step a parent should take is to make sure their children are getting adequate sleep
throughout the night which is typically 7-9 hours. In the era we live in today kids are notorious
for staying up late due to video games and tv. While kids should be allowed to play and watch tv
it should not come in conflict with their sleep schedule, but yet it often does. Parents should
make sure their kid is in bed precisely 9-10 hours before they have to wake up for the next
morning to ensure they will get a goods night rest. Oversleeping can also cause weight gain too
just as much us not sleeping enough. When kids are in their teenage years and going through
puberty, they tend to sleep a lot, but if you notice your kid is sleeping 11-12 hours a night than
that isn’t doing their health any justice. So, make sure through their teenage years they are
getting anywhere from 8-10 hours of sleep.
The last and most important step we can take as a society is awareness. Awareness is
important because without it how would any knowledge spread. Not everyone in America is
going to read this recommendation report but if one person could read it and spread it on to 5
who each spread it on to 5 more and so on than people could become a bit more knowledgeable
in childhood obesity and begin to make a change. Since some people in lower household
incomes cant even afford to go to a healthcare professional to seek wisdom on these matters its
important for us as a community to change this and start spreading the word that childhood
obesity is curable and all we have to do is take action. If we could all do this in America then I
truly feel that Americans as a whole would be healthier and happier.

References
Childhood Obesity: A lifelong threat to health. (2013, May 5). Retrieved from
https://hpi.georgetown.edu/obesity/.
Katherine Zeratsky, R. D. (2018, May 1). Why skipping sleep leads to weight gain. Retrieved from
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/expert-answers/sleep-and-weight-
gain/faq-20058198.
Low-income communities more likely to face childhood obesity. (2016, January 7). Retrieved from
https://www.uofmhealth.org/news/archive/201601/low-income-communities-more-likely-face-
childhood-obesity.
Writers, S. (2019, October 25). Why are Americans Obese? Retrieved from
https://www.publichealth.org/public-awareness/obesity/.