Childhood Obesity, Include Statistics

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Childhood Obesity
Introduction
Childhood obesity is one of the most severe medical conditions that affect a large number of adolescents and children across the globe. A child whose weight is more than the normal range is called obese (Mitanchez & Chavatte-Palmer 1156). With the passage of time, childhood obesity has taken a serious form, and it is believed that unhealthy eating and sleeping habits of children contribute to the problem. Many kids become obese because of their excessive dependence on junk foods like pizzas, burgers, French fries, soft drinks, and others. The others may gain extra weight due to being lazy. In either way, childhood obesity is a severe complication and needs to pay immediate attention to. Children who gain a lot of weight at an early age are likely to develop high blood pressure, diabetes and other diseases, which is why parents should bring their kids to the doctor as soon as possible. It should be noticed that not all kids carrying extra pounds are obese or overweight. Some of them may have larger than the average body frame; every child carries a particular amount of body fats, which is likely to be different from the other kids of his age. The chance is that a child’s height is more than his fellows or friends, which is why he will not look obese. The body mass index (BMI) provides guidelines for weight in relation to the height, and this is the only accepted measure of obesity in children. When a kid is carried to the doctor, he will use the growth chart to figure out if the weight is in accordance with the height of the child or not. If it is not, he may prescribe some medicines or ask parents to change the eating and sleeping habits of the kid.
Literature Review
According to Stephen R. Daniels and Aaron S. Kelly, weight problems run in families. It means not all kids are obese due to their unhealthy diets. Some of them may inherit the illness from their parents, elder siblings or forefathers. Across the United States, every two out of ten children are obese or overweight, and the number is likely to increase in coming years given that more and more children have started quitting on homemade foods and increased their dependence on junk meals. Obesity is a widespread epidemic that has been taking a toll in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia and other parts of the world (Daniels & Kelly 283).
In his article titled Childhood Obesity: Solutions to a Growing Problem, Jason P. Schaub mentions that obesity in children puts them at the risk of cardiovascular and nervous disorders. The only way to save their lives is ...