The Epidemic Childhood Obesity in the United States

The world has been suffering from various serious diseases over the last decades. The

consequences of health issues can have negative impacts on human life. The occurrence

of a considerable number of cases of disease at a particular time in a specific

geographical area can be defined as an epidemic (World health organization [WHO],

2016). Many diseases are alarming as health issues in the entire world. Likewise, one of

the serious health problems is the outbreak of childhood obesity in the United States

(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2015). At the elementary level,

obesity derives from the imbalance between the level of the quantity of energy

consumption and the amount of depletion (Pearce and Witten, 2016). The widespread

occurrence of this disease has nearly tripled from 7 to 18 percent among children aged

6-11 years since the last two decades between 1980 and 2012 in the United States (CDC,

2015). This essay will discuss the outbreak of childhood obesity in the United States due

to the influence of food environment and the choice of sedentary lifestyle that can result

in negative consequences such as socio- emotional impacts.

Modern food environment is most significantly linked to excessive food consumption

among children. Environment factors can be influenced by dietary habits, food

preferences and availability of food which can be increased the risk of obesity among

children. Throughout history, the dietary habits have changed because of the accelerating

numbers of restaurants that encourage children to consume unhealthy food which

contains extra calories and fats (Smith, 1999). According to Young and Nestle (2002),

quantity of palatable food packets is rapidly increasing in food markets in the United

States. The standard quantity of coke at average in one bottle has increased from 200ml

1
in 1950 to 500ml at this present. In addition, children have a variety of food options on

account of wide exposure of advertisements of food in supermarkets as well as on

television channels (Aznar, Ahrens & Pigeot, 2011). Furthermore, due to the expansion

of food technologies, a significant number of children have had access to countless

processed food. Moreover, appetizer displays of food items which might be responsible

for causing childhood obesity (Young & Nestle, 2003). It seems that modern food

environmental changes could be considered to contribute to unhealthy and excessive

food intake that leads to obesity among children.

Another cause of the widespread occurrence of childhood obesity can be the choice of a

sedentary lifestyle. In the globalized world, the explosion of technology has played a

crucial role in increasing sedentary trends among children. Due to the innovation of

technology, stairways are replaced by elevators and accelerators in modern buildings and

schools, resulting in reducing energy consumption among children in the United States

(Smith, 1999). Moreover, children more likely access electrical devices such as

televisions and computers, potentially increasing sedentary habits. Children, usually

spending 4.5 hours per day watching television, have less physical movement. (Salbe et

al., 2002). What is more, advanced technology unceasingly devastating the daily need of

physical activities among children. Additionally, the current school environment can also

be the cause of the outbreak of childhood obesity (Sahoo et al., 2015). In previous times,

Sahoo et al. illustrate that children used to attend physical education as compulsory

programs at school whereas only a few schools still apply today. Thus, the choice of a

sedentary life can be a major cause of the widespread emergence of childhood obesity,

causing negative impacts on the health of children.

2
Childhood obesity is more likely attributed to socio-emotional deleterious effects on

children. Obese children are frequently bullied by their peer groups and society because

of their excessive weight (American Academic of Pediatric [AAP], 2016). Under those

circumstances, children mostly face various obstacles such as social isolation of

discriminations and stigmas. Similarly, obese children are often excluded from

competitive physical activities at schools as they tend to have under-expected

performances among their peers (AAP, 2016). Thus, the social impact contributes to

emotional problems in relation to anxiety, depression, low self-confidence and self-

esteem among obese children; ultimately resulting in negative effects on school education

(AAP, 2016). As a consequence, childhood obesity can be destructive contributing factors

to children regarding socio-emotional impacts.

In conclusion, it seems that the cases of childhood obesity are increasing in the United

States since last decades. An influence of modern food environments and sedentary

lifestyles are identified as the significant causes of the existence of childhood obesity,

provoking terribly socio-emotional impacts on obese children. Based on the causes and

effect, it appears that the growing issues of childhood obesity can be alleviated by

effective approaches such as education. In so doing, the government and parents

possibly project to have an effective school program and advice respectively to educate

children how to choose healthy food and do daily physical activities appropriately (CDC,

2011).

3
References

American Academy of Pediatrics. (2016). Health issues: The emotional toll of

obesity. Retrieved from https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-

issues/conditions/obesity/Pages/The-Emotional-Toll-of-Obesity.aspx

Aznar, L., Ahrens, W., & Pigeot, I. (2011). Epidemiology of obesity in children and

adolescents: Springer series on epidemiology and public health. Dordrecht:

Springer.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2011). School health guidelines to

promote healthy eating and physical activity. Retrieved from

http://www.cdc.gov/MMWR/preview/mmwrhtml/rr6005a1.htm

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2015). Healthy school: Childhood

obesity facts.

Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/obesity/facts.htm

Pearce, J., & Witten, K. (2010). Geographies of obesity environmental

understandings of the obesity epidemic. Retrieved from

http://site.ebrary.com/lib/australiancathu/reader.action?docID=10367802

4
Sahoo, K., Sahoo, B., Choudhury, A. K., Sofi, N. Y., Kumar, R., & Bhadoria, A. S.

(2015). Childhood obesity: causes and consequences. Journal of Family

Medicine and Primary Care, 4(2), 187–192. doi: 10.4103/2249-

4863.154628

Salbe, A., Weyer, C., Harper, I., Lindsay, R., Ravussin, E., & Tataranni, P. (2002).

Assessing risk factors for obesity between childhood and adolescence: II.

Energy metabolism and physical activity. Pediatrics, 110(2), 307-14. doi:

10.1542/peds.110.2.307

Smith, C. (1999). Understanding Childhood Obesity. Retrieved from

http://site.ebrary.com/lib/australiancathu/reader.action?docID=10425148

World Health Organization. (2016). Diseases outbreak: Retrieved from

http://www.who.int/topics/disease_outbreaks/en/

Young, L.R., & Nestle, M.S. (2003). Expanding portion sizes in the US

marketplace: implications for nutrition counseling, NCBI 103(2), 231-4. doi:

10.1053/jada.2003.50027

5
6