Childhood Obesity

Childhood Obesity

Childhood Obesity: The New Cancer of Society
INTRODUCTION
In recent years since the 1970s, childhood obesity has slowly emerged as one of the most troubling issues faced by parents. Children began to lose interest in outdoor activities, preferring to stay at home and play video games or surf the internet. Since they don’t leave the confines of their homes, they started to discover the wonders of fast food and junk food. With no exercise and an unbalanced diet, children slowly became overweight and became more prone into contracting serious and debilitating diseases. This paper examines why it is very hard to find a definite solution to the problem of childhood obesity and with the environment the new generation has today, it contributes to their otherwise inactive lifestyle.
MAJOR DEVELOPMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS
Childhood obesity can be acquired by children in a variety of ways, each having a particular consequence in the children’s development and body. There are slight chances a child would be obese depending on his or her genetic makeup. Obesity can come from endocrine and single gene disorders but this is a very rare instance as “1-2% of obese children are seen in a tertiary care setting. Worobey (2008) stated that it can begin exactly after the baby is born. He argues that while infants grow at a faster rate, there are cases and situations that would make the child grow significantly to an obese child. Weight gain may come from excessive feeding, maternal attitudes towards feeding and poor intake regulation. A change in the infant’s temperament is a possible contributing factor for early development of childhood obesity as parents may stress that their child is difficult to deal with when it comes to feeding time (Worobey, 2008).
Anderson and Butcher (2006) noted that children who eat more “empty calories” and reduce the remaining calories in the body through physical activity is most likely to be obese as compared to other children. The environment...

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