Childhood Obestiy

One of the greatest health risks and effects of America is childhood obesity. Obesity is an enormous amount of body fat. Childhood obesity mostly starts between ages 6-11 which has doubled since the early 1980's (Collins). Between 5 to 25 percent of children are obese in the United States. Childhood obesity has many factors that result in nutritional, psychological, familial, and physiological factors.

There are many factors that need to be looked at with childhood obesity. Therefore, "If someone is obese, it means they are seriously overweight as a result of having too much body fat" (Collins). A child needs the basic needs of life to be fit and healthy. "We need food for the basics of everyday life to pump blood, move muscles, think thoughts" (Willett). Some parents don't have a clue to what causes their children to be obese. As Thompson says, "Obesity could be tied to a person's metabolism, a sluggish nervous system, obesity genes, not enough nerve messengers, and the signals from fat cells. If diet and exercise is not stressed, the body could have some problems that could be life threatening.

The family plays a big part in the child's being obese. The parent should keep a check on what the child is eating and the type of exercise that the child is doing. The risk of becoming obese is greater when children have two obese parents. When the parents are overweight, the child is most likely to become obese. The average child spends many hours watching television, playing video games, and being on the computer. Obesity is greater among children and adolescents who watch many hours of television, playing video games, and being on the computer. Parents should limit the usage of children watching television. It has been said before that when a person is bored that they turn to food. Heredity plays an important role in obesity with children. If obesity runs in the family, the child could be at high risk to be obese. Children who eat non-nutritious foods, watch several hours of television, and are inactive are also most likely to be obese.

Children are not assessed the same way, as an adult would be. The body mass index is a chart that is measured for height-to-weight. Collins writes that, "The body mass index can be used to measure both overweight and obesity in children and adults." The BMI not perfect is a height and weight system that is used for both male and female. Muscular people fall into the overweight scale, when they are fit and very healthy. Collins also points out that, "divide person's weight in kilograms by height in meters squared." There is a formula that is used to calculate an overweight child. "To determine your BMI using pounds and inches, multiply your weight in pounds by 704.5, then divide the result by your height in inches, and divide that result by your height in inches a second time" (Collins). Childhood obesity is measured by BMI for their age, and is compared to other children their age.

Obesity