Introduction
Obesity is a complex, multi-factorial disease involving mechanisms of energy intake and expenditure, genetic factors, environmental, and psychosocial issues. Obesity has emerged as a worldwide epidemic and has become a serious public health problem in the United States and in developing countries undergoing fast economic transition. In the adult individual obesity is measured by the body mass index (BMI), which is defined as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared (kg/m2).
The American Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) use a different system to classify excessive weight in children between the ages of 2 and 20 than in adults because children�s body fat differs by sex, age, and degree of maturation. Adults are overweight if their BMI (defined as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) ranges between 25 and 30 and obese if it equals or exceeds 30. In contrast, the CDC recommends the use of sex- and age-specific BMIs to assess children, and does not use ��obese�� because of its stigma. Children are defined as ��at risk of overweight�� if their BMI for age falls between the 85th and 95th percentiles on the CDC sex-specific growth charts and ��overweight�� if it equals or exceeds the 95th percentile (Crossman, Sullivan, Benin, 2006).
Childhood obesity
The definition of childhood obesity has changed over the years using such measurements as height and weight, skin fold, etc. as surrogates of body adiposity. The lack of a standardized definition has limited research and may have missed at risk individuals. The most commonly used definition outside of international data is: For children, overweight = BMI > 85 percentile and obesity = BMI > 95 percentile.
The Essay on Obesity in Children 2
Introduction Childhood obesity is a major problem not only nationally but locally as well. Childhood obesity is a doorway to other major issues children suffer from in today’s society such as bullying, and is the major contributor to health related issues not only as a child but issues that will haunt their health in their future endeavors. Let’s Move is a fantastic campaign that brings awareness ...
Although most parents would like to believe that their child�s obesity is due to a hormonal aberration, such as hypothyroidism, Cushing disease or a genetic defect, the reality is that increased caloric intake and decreased energy expenditure play a prominent role in the rise in obesity among children. The problem is more difficult in children compared with adults, as the child will still have energy requirements for growth (Ross and Scott, 2006).
Childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the U.S. and many other industrialized nations around the world (Ross and Scott, 2006).
Among the changes that affect children�s energy intake are the increasing availability of energy dense, high calorie foods, and drinks through schools. Changes in the family, particularly an increase in dual career or single parent working families, may also have increased demand for food away from home or pre-prepared foods. Moreover, children today are less likely to walk to school and spend more time viewing television and using computers. There is no single factor that determines the prevalence of obesity among children, rather many complementary changes have simultaneously increased children�s energy intake and decreased their energy expenditure. The challenge in formulating policies to address children�s obesity is to learn how best to change the environment that affect�s children�s energy balance.
Prevalence of Child Obesity
About one fourth of all US children are overweight, and these children tend to become obese adults, who in turn tend to raise children who become obese. The biggest influence of parents on children�s overweight and obesity is genetic. However, genetics alone cannot explain the increases in obesity in recent decades. Currently it is popular concept to blame television for the problem. Although television encourages inactivity, it does not cause food addiction, rather it enhances it. T.V. requires very little output of energy and provides the perfect atmosphere for munching.
The Essay on Individual Food Intake
After using the food assessment tool at www.choosemyplate.gov I found that my daily intake of food was not sufficient for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Many of my goals were not achieved or were overachieved. This assessment revealed an imbalance in my eating habits. Like many Americans I am on the run and constrained by time. Going to school and working fulltime often forces me to eat quickly ...
Between 1977 and 1996, soft drink consumption among Americans aged 2 to 18 and 19 to 39 years increased by 83% (from 3% to 5.5% of total energy intake) and 71% (from 4.1% to 7.0% of total energy intake), respectively, while the intake of salty snack foods rose by 132% and 133%, respectively. Among those aged 40 to 59 years, consumption of soft drinks and salty snack foods increased by 111% and 171%, respectively. Furthermore, between 1972 and 1997, the United States per capita number of fast-food restaurants doubled, and fast-food sales escalated from $51 billion to $94 billion between 1986 and 1996. Across all ages, restaurant/fast-food intake as a proportion of total energy intake more than doubled between 1977�1978 and 1994�1996. All of these trends parallel those of U.S. adult obesity rates, which skyrocketed from 15% in 1976�1980 to 31% in 1999�2002. Likewise, since the 1970s, obesity rates have doubled among children aged 2 to 5 years and adolescents aged 12 to 19 years, and more than tripled among children aged 6 to 11 years (Kim and Kawachi, 2006).
The increase in prevalence of childhood obesity is being paralleled by increases in chronic diseases with potentially devastating consequences. Obese children often develop Blount�s disease, which is characterized by an outward bowing of the tibia and femur from the downward pressure of excessive weight. High joint pressure over the years is likely to cause other orthopaedic complications in adulthood, such as osteoarthritis, herniated discs, and chronic back pain. Obese children, like an adult, experience hypertension, atherosclerosis, chronic inflammation, sleeping disorder, and asthma. Overweight is inherently related to a �constellation of metabolic derangements� termed the metabolic syndrome, which includes adverse levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, insulin, and blood pressure (Mozlin, 2005).
Psychological and Behavioural implications
The most common consequences of obesity during adolescence and childhood are psychological dyfunction and social isolation. Pre-adolescent children associate body weight overweight body shape silhouettes with poor social functioning, impaired academic success and reduced fitness and health, although there is little evidence to suggest that self esteem is significantly affected in obese young children. The psychological consequences of obesity include a generally low self-esteem and severe mental distress as well as psychological disturbances that can be so severe as to rank as mental illness, particularly in young women. Obesity has different psychosocial consequences for men and women. Women and teenage girls specially appear to be particularly vulnerable to low self-esteem and depression when they do not fit the slim body ideal seen everywhere.
The Essay on Children Obesity Obese People
Obesity Over the last decade children and adults, in the United States, have been gaining more and more weight. Obesity is rapidly becoming an epidemic in our youngsters' lives. Whether it's all the fast food or lack of exercise, adults and especially children are heavier than ever. This increase in the national girth is giving way to such debilitating and chronic disease diabetes, joint and ...
It would be expected that an overweight person in a society preoccupied with thinness would suffer discrimination. Regrettably, there are plenty of examples. This discrimination is fuelled by the visibility of obesity and the conviction that excess weight reflects a lack of personal control. The most common stigma associated with obese people is to term them �stupid� or �Jumbo�. The issue of weight alone can elicit a host of negative attributes and characterizations. Children as young as 6 years label silhouettes of obese youngsters as �lazy, stupid, cheats, lies, and ugly.� Even more surprising is the fact that in certain cases, even obese children make fun of other obese children and tease them along with others.
Bias towards an obese child can have devastating consequences later on in life in the form of psychological problems, binge eating, poor body image, loss of confidence, isolation, and social as well as socio economic problems. With an exponential increase in fast food chains in the U.S. and other parts of the world, obesity problem is taking a gigantic proportion and weight bias has the potential to negatively affect greater number of children than even before.
Stigmatisation factor
Obese children and adolescents are subjected to social rejection, discrimination and negative stereotyping. Such experiences could be expected to lead to negative consequences in terms of self-image, self-esteem and mood, and there is a widespread assumption that obesity has profound psychological costs. Wardle and Cooke (2005) had examined links between obesity and these aspects of psychological well-being. Having reviewed the most recent studies in this area, they concluded that whilst levels of body dissatisfaction are higher in community samples of overweight and obese children and adolescents than in their normal-weight counterparts, few are significantly depressed or have low self-esteem (Wardle and Cooke, 2005).
The Essay on Child Obesity 3
America has it’s share of problems just like any other country throughout the world, but there is one issue in particular that has been a growing trend for years in America. Today’s topic of issue is child obesity, this is a huge problem in America and it seems to continue to grow in numbers. Child obesity is the highlight of my research, but due to lack of time there will only be an explanation ...
Obesity is considered one of the most enduring social stigmas obese persons are highly susceptible to both institutional and interpersonal discrimination, teasing and problematic relationships with family members. Both actual and perceived mistreatment is associated with poor self-esteem and heightened depressive symptoms. Interpersonal mistreatment and verbal slights harm one’s body image, which in turn compromises one’s self-esteem and psychological well being.
Anti-fat attitudes in children have been reported in past research, with children displaying attitudes similar to those found in adults. For example Cramer and Steinwert (1998) found stigmatization in children as young as 3�5 years of age, who perceived overweight children as being both mean and an undesirable playmate. Given the close proximity in which children socialize and form friends, understanding the scope of a mere proximity effect among children is of great importance. Anti-fat prejudice was particularly apparent among children eight years of age and younger, though the mere proximity effect was not moderated by age. The finding that older children expressed fewer anti-fats could be explained in two ways. First, it is possible that older children simply have fewer anti-fat prejudices than young children. However, it may be the case that older children realize that discrimination is wrong and as such are less likely to overtly demonstrate such prejudices. This latter possibility could account for why the mere proximity effect was not moderated by age.
Teasing and social stigmatisation of fat adolescents seem to be more severe than among younger children and the consequences are especially troubling. For both boys and girls in the middle school and high school, regardless of ethnic groups, being teased about weight is linked with low self-esteem, symptoms of depression, thoughts of suicide, and even suicide attempts. It was teasing rather than the children�s actual weight that predicted depression and suicide risk.
Sztainer et at (1998) in their study on stigmatisation experience faced by African American girls have found stigmatisation as a frequent occurrence. Girls described stigmatised experience the most frequently reported of which were direct and intentional, such as name calling and teasing. Study participants also described hurtful comments and behaviors by family members and peers, which appeared to be less intentional. Increased understanding of the situations faced by girls of African American origin and their response patterns is bound to lead to more empathic and effective interventions with overweight individuals and their families; increased sensitivity toward overweight youth among non-overweight peers, family, members and teachers, and more in-depth and comprehensive research on the psychosocial consequences of growing up overweight in a thin-oriented society (Sztainer et al, 1998).
The Essay on Child Obesity 5
Thompson Jordan Topic: Child Obesity and Concerned Parents. A big topic here is because many children are obese. There are ways to fix and overcome these struggles. Parents need to listen up and get some advice for this. Who do we blame here? Research question: Asking how parents can change their kids eating habits. Giving suggestions to parents on what to feed kids. Certain problems that are ...
Self-esteem and Obesity
The relationship between self-esteem and obesity has not received a great deal of empirical evaluation using strong research methodologies. Thus, it is not clear whether self-esteem is consistently related to obesity, whether the relationship is global or specific to physical appearance, whether the relationship differs by demographic variables such as age, gender or race/ethnicity, or whether self-esteem moderates weight changes during weight loss treatment programs. In a literature review conducted by French et al (1995) these questions were examined using empirical evidence from 35 studies on the relationship between self-esteem and obesity in children and adolescents. Thirteen of 25 cross sectional studies clearly showed lower self-esteem in obese adolescents and children. Five of the six cross-sectional studies that included a measure of body esteem found lower body esteem in obese compared to normal weight children and adolescents. Results from six of eight treatment studies showed that weight loss treatment programs appear to improve self-esteem. However, it is unclear from the study whether increases in self-esteem are related to enhanced weight loss. Many studies were methodologically weak primarily due to small and select samples and lack of appropriate comparison groups.
Does an obese child or adolescent finds his/her physical appearance depressing? This is difficult to tell and vary from study to study and person to person. However, if an obese person is depressed, or distressed, it may be due to the stigmatization by others, or to the stresses of trying to fit the norms of thinness by dieting. Negative evaluation of an obese person by the society is internalized as self-rejection because we mostly see ourselves as others see us. The attempt to fit society�s norms of appearance may be more stressful than not fitting them. Constant attempt to diet and lose weight may be a distressing aspect of being overweight, rather than the fact of being overweight itself. Another factor, which put tremendous stress on an obese persons psychological state, is their physical appearance, which builds up psychological stress and consequently lower self esteem.
The Research paper on Adolescent Case Study
I. Identification A. Kathy Johnson is a 14 year old female, a freshman at Parkway High School, and resides at 789 Parkview Way, Bossier City, LA 70000. II. History of Family A. The subject lives with her biological mother and stepfather.The child's biological father resides in Bossier City as well, but he has not maintained a relationship with the child since he divorced her mother in 1981. The ...
Dieting and binge eating by an obese child may lead to psychological distress, as they have to deprive themselves of foods they are normally fond of such as chocolates, burger, chips, pizza etc and also the dieting interference social activities that revolve around eating in pubs or joints may be depressing for the one�s who are on diet. Dieting will be even more stressful for the child if it does not result in weight loss.
Conclusion
The obesity epidemic finds its origin in the behavioural choices of individual consumers who ingest more calories than they burn. Obesity prevention interventions should effectively influence individual consumers� nutrition and physical activity choices. Environments may strongly restrict or enable different food and physical activity choices or may be designed in such a way that behaviour follows more or less automatically upon entrance. Studies that integrate the associations between environmental conditions and personal choices are needed to further build a more comprehensive theory of determinants of obesity related behaviour. No single intervention by itself can be successful in arresting the unprecedented growth of obese children. Comprehensive interventions must focus on increasing physical activity, improving nutrition and environmental change in support of individuals making positive changes in their lifestyles.
Apart from treatment for prevalent obesity, measures must be undertaken for its prevention as well. As a national issue of utmost concern, childhood and adolescent obesity should be fought head long, with active participation of schools, non-profit organisations, health care providers and institutions, government agencies and industry. Comprehensive intervention must focus on increasing physical activity, improving nutrition and environmental change in support of individuals who are making positive changes in their lifestyles. Government support to these individuals is paramount to initiate a declining trend.
Government policies can and should support these individuals. Substantial involvement of government at all levels is necessary to initiate change of the harmful environment that lies at the root of the childhood obesity epidemic. Although stigmatisation will occur when obese children were singled out for treatment or intervention measures, one cannot ignore the fact that the basic truth about fat and stigmatisation to avoid becoming obese at the first place. Prevention and treatment is the only way to avoid stigma faced by the obese and there is no second question about it.
References
Cramer, P & Steinwert, T (1998) Thin is good, fat is bad: How early does it begin?, Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, Vol. 19 pp. 429�451.
Crossman, A., Sullibvan, D.A and Benin, M (2006) The family environment and American adolescents� risk of obesity as young adults, Social Science and Medicine, Vol.63, pp.2255-2267
French, S.A., Story, M., & Perry, C.L. (1995) Self-esteem and obesity in children and adolescents: a literature review, Obesity Research, Vol.3, issue 5, pp.479-490
Kim, D, and Kawachi, I (2006) Food taxation and pricing strategies to thin out the obesity epidemic, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Vol.30, issue.5, pp. 430-437
Mozlin, R (2005) Childhood obesity: A public health crisis, Optometry, Journal of the American Optometric Association, Vol.76, issue, 12, pp.685-691
Ross, P.A., and Scott, G.M (2006) Childhood obesity: a growing problem for the paediatric anaesthesiologist, Seminar on Anaesthesia, perioperative medicine and pain, Vol.25, pp.42-48
Sztainer, D.N., Story, M., & Faibisch, L (1998) Perceived stigmatization among overweight African-American and caucasian adolescent girls, Journal of Adolescent Health, Vol.23, issue 5, pp.264-270
Wardle, J., & Cooke, L (2005) The impact of obesity on psychological well-being, Best Practice & Research Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, Vol.19, issue 3, pp.421-440
