Childhood Obesity: Who to Blame?
Within the last few decades, obesity has emerged as a top health epidemic in the United States. The people that are struck by this disease are not only adults; a huge percentage are now children. By 2012 the number of obese adults was 34.9 %, and the number of obese children was 16.9 %. Childhood obesity has several different culprits to thank for its rapid disbursement, including the parents of the children. Many parents don't even realize that they are fueling the fire of obesity until it is too late. Children’s environment, diets, and lack of exercise each contribute heavily when it comes to the child’s likelihood of becoming obese, and can be easily controlled by an aware parent. Our “American ways” dictate …show more content…
In today’s society, many parents value convenience over the health of their own children. As parents spend more and more time at work and face higher time constraints, they are forced to find quick and easy solutions for meals. Fortunately for them, it seems that every time you turn a corner, you can choose from greasy burgers, sugary desserts, and crunchy tacos. These meals might sound appetizing, but are contrarily highly processed, high-calorie, and full of fat. Any customer could easily take in 1,500 calories with one meal alone without even realizing it; not to mention that that is around two-thirds of a school aged child’s recommended daily caloric intake! The price of these meals makes them even more appealing to customers. Big fast food corporations try to make meals as cheap as possible. But with the price going down, the nutritional value usually follows. In addition to making foods with hardly any nutrition, these restaurants almost always try to make you upsize your meal. While ordering food at a fast food restaurant, one generally hears something similar to “would you like to …show more content…
Throughout the day children enjoy foods such as chips, candy, and sodas in between their actual meals. Kids snacking throughout the day accounts for up to 27% of their daily caloric intake (Farley). Sadly, the numbers are still rising! If given the chance to choose, most always the child is going to pick the food that has the least amount of nutritional value. It seems that everywhere they travel, there is always a snack time. There are multiple snack times at school, snack time after soccer practice, snack time before bed, etc. Snack time can be a good thing if the snacks given are those with low fat amounts and high nutrition counts! That is where the parents come into play. Children do not have the ability to go to the grocery store and buy healthy snacks for themselves because young minds are not developed or educated enough for them to know what is healthy and what is not. It is up to their parents to guide them on the right track to a healthy lifestyle. With a simple restock of the pantry, children can be one step closer to a healthy
Within the last few decades, obesity has emerged as a top health epidemic in the United States. The people that are struck by this disease are not only adults; a huge percentage are now children. By 2012 the number of obese adults was 34.9 %, and the number of obese children was 16.9 %. Childhood obesity has several different culprits to thank for its rapid disbursement, including the parents of the children. Many parents don't even realize that they are fueling the fire of obesity until it is too late. Children’s environment, diets, and lack of exercise each contribute heavily when it comes to the child’s likelihood of becoming obese, and can be easily controlled by an aware parent. Our “American ways” dictate …show more content…
In today’s society, many parents value convenience over the health of their own children. As parents spend more and more time at work and face higher time constraints, they are forced to find quick and easy solutions for meals. Fortunately for them, it seems that every time you turn a corner, you can choose from greasy burgers, sugary desserts, and crunchy tacos. These meals might sound appetizing, but are contrarily highly processed, high-calorie, and full of fat. Any customer could easily take in 1,500 calories with one meal alone without even realizing it; not to mention that that is around two-thirds of a school aged child’s recommended daily caloric intake! The price of these meals makes them even more appealing to customers. Big fast food corporations try to make meals as cheap as possible. But with the price going down, the nutritional value usually follows. In addition to making foods with hardly any nutrition, these restaurants almost always try to make you upsize your meal. While ordering food at a fast food restaurant, one generally hears something similar to “would you like to …show more content…
Throughout the day children enjoy foods such as chips, candy, and sodas in between their actual meals. Kids snacking throughout the day accounts for up to 27% of their daily caloric intake (Farley). Sadly, the numbers are still rising! If given the chance to choose, most always the child is going to pick the food that has the least amount of nutritional value. It seems that everywhere they travel, there is always a snack time. There are multiple snack times at school, snack time after soccer practice, snack time before bed, etc. Snack time can be a good thing if the snacks given are those with low fat amounts and high nutrition counts! That is where the parents come into play. Children do not have the ability to go to the grocery store and buy healthy snacks for themselves because young minds are not developed or educated enough for them to know what is healthy and what is not. It is up to their parents to guide them on the right track to a healthy lifestyle. With a simple restock of the pantry, children can be one step closer to a healthy