Alexandra Rodriguez

Monica Rodriguez

English 1302

21 April 2022

Health Issues in Childhood Obesity

Throughout the past two decades, there has been a spike in obesity in children due to a

multitude of reasons. Many medical professionals have tried to come up with solutions to these

problems, however, each doctor ends up with a different conclusion. The most common reason

talked about is unhealthy eating habits along with the lack of or abstinence from exercise. These

two can cause an immense amount of damage to one's body which can cause many diseases

during childhood as well as later in adult life. Although childhood obesity cases have been

mentioned to have many different reasons as to why it can happen, unhealthy eating habits and

the lack of physical exercise are the main sources of rapid weight gain.

Unhealthy Eating Habits Causing Diseases

There has been a rapid spike in childhood obesity cases worldwide for the past two

decades because children are not able to control how much they eat and have no sense as to what

kinds of foods are bad in excess. Because these habits are formed at an early age, obesity usually

carries on until adulthood when more complications can arise such as diabetes, cardiovascular

issues, cancer, and many more. Researcher Joan C. Han hypothesizes that the constant eating of

the wrong meals is the cause of many children developing type two diabetes during childhood or

early adulthood (1737). Many diseases can develop and spread into other organs in the body due

to the excess fat that is being surrounded by major organs. The body cannot handle the extra

weight which then causes cardiovascular issues to arise, resulting in it becoming harder to
engage in physical exercise. Breaking these habits at an early age can lead one to a great and

healthy life as an adult; as well as not having to worry about medication being taken, doctors

appointments, etc. because of the self-control in what meals one had been consuming and the

amount of daily exercise that was being executed.

Although children are young and do not fully have a sense of what is right and wrong to

eat, the body can still tell oneself how it feels after eating a meal. For example, if a child eats a

bag of spicy chips and a few moments later the child gets a stomach ache, it would be best if the

child does not eat those chips anymore, or in moderation. According to researcher, Krushnapriya

Sahoo, “...suggests that child risk factors for obesity include dietary intake, physical activity, and

sedentary behavior.” (190). Living in today’s time can be very difficult for children because of

all the television commercials advertising bigger portions in meals for slightly less cost. As

result, causing pre-mature diseases in younger children or have the disease develop as an early

adult.

The Lack of Physical Exercise

Although exercise can be quite exhausting when it is first done, the body adjusts to the

circumstances resulting in a much healthier lifestyle as well as an exceptional weight.

Researcher, Kyle J. McInnis, states in the article “...regular exercise has been shown to be one of

the best predictors of successful weight maintenance.” (111). McInnis also writes that regular

physical exercise can decrease the chances of getting cardiovascular morbidity and mortality for

overweight individuals even if they remain overweight (111). Obtaining the right amount of

exercise each and every day can be incredibly beneficial in the fact that it can decrease the

number of diseases and illnesses that can arise due to the lack of inactivity. It can be something
that is greatly intimidating to those who are obese or overweight, however, can have a grand

impact on one’s lifelong self.

Similarly, a reason why many overweight and obese individuals do not want to engage in

physical exercise is that it is believed that obese persons have to do very brutal exercise, which is

false information. Researcher, Claude Bouchard, states in the article, “Most of the obese can

engage in low-intensity activities such as walking at a leisurely pace and, in several cases, brisk

walking.” (135). Getting as big as one gets, it can be extremely difficult to participate in harsh

physical movements. However, doing simple tasks such as walking every day for twenty minutes

can greatly impact an obese person’s health. After a few months of walking, they can begin in

engaging in more physical exercise such as a faster pace walk or a very light jog.

Specific Meals Causing Obesity

Many are aware that certain meals have a high caloric count if it is eaten in bulk.

Specifically, fast food restaurants such as McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Sonic, etc. have very high

levels of fatting and transfats which cause one to gain weight at a much quicker rate. Food plays

a large role when it comes to gaining or losing weight. Eating the wrong kinds of meals can not

only cause one to gain a mass amount of weight, but also cause one to develop many different

kinds of illnesses like cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, and cancer at an early age.

According to the researcher, I. T. Johnson, “largely based on case-control studies, showing that

individuals in the highest population quartile for fruit and vegetable intake experienced about

half the risk of most important cancers compared with those in the lowest quartile.” (167). There

has been a lot of misconception about food that one can only eat small amounts of food to keep

one’s weight down or help one lose weight. The misinformation about that is one can indeed eat

as much as they want, in healthy foods.

 Continuing, being able to have good self-control over what foods you eat and maintain a

good physical lifestyle will make losing weight much easier. Because many fast-food restaurants

have been implementing larger portions onto their combo meals, many Americans along with the

rest of the world have been gaining an incredible amount of weight. As a result, restaurants have

been trying to implement a healthy food section with nutritional facts as well as vegan-friendly

options to try and gain more customers. According to the researcher, Patricia Verduin, “The food

industry is committed to providing the consumer with healthy food options and reliable nutrition

information.” (259S). Doctors have been working tirelessly to help end the obesity disease or

trying to find ways that will help obese and overweight individuals to lose weight quicker.

Doctors, as well as nutritionists, have come up with meals that are all rich in flavor, have a great

deal of nutritional value, and are easy to prepare. Soon enough, overweight individuals will be

able to enough life much more because of all the weight loss.

Conclusion

Obesity has been a complex disease that has taken over the world for as long as doctors

can remember. Each year, the obesity rates increase more and more and make the childhood

obesity age much younger. Thanks to medical advances and being able to understand the disease

much more, medical professionals are now able to provide the best care for overweight

individuals as well as educate the patients on the proper foods to eat and how to exercise

properly.
 Work Cited

Bhadoria, AjeetSingh, et al. “Childhood Obesity: Causes and Consequences.” Journal of Family

Medicine and Primary Care, vol. 4, no. 2, Apr. 2015, pp. 187–192.,

https://doi.org/10.4103/2249-4863.154628.

Bouchard, Claude, et al. “Exercise and Obesity.” Obesity Research, vol. 1, no. 2, Mar. 1993, pp.

133–147., https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1550-8528.1993.tb00603.x.

Han, Joan C, et al. “Childhood Obesity.” The Lancet, vol. 375, no. 9727, May 2010, pp. 1737–

1748., https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(10)60171-7.

Johnson, I. T., and E. K. Lund. “Review Article: Nutrition, Obesity and Colorectal Cancer.”

Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, vol. 26, no. 2, 11 May 2007, pp. 161–181.,

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2036.2007.03371.x.

McInnis, Kyle J. “Exercise and Obesity.” Coronary Artery Disease, vol. 11, no. 2, Mar. 2000,

pp. 111–116.

Verduin, Patricia, et al. “Solutions to Obesity: Perspectives from the Food Industry.” The

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vol. 82, no. 1, 1 July 2005, pp. 259–261.,

https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/82.1.259s.