Welcome to our blog!
We are four college students who hope to expand your knowledge and gain an insight about your thoughts concerning childhood obesity. Here you will find some questions and comments regarding obesity among children in today's society and we hope to raise awareness and learn new information with the help of your engagement!_____________________________________________________________________
Question #1:
Why do you think it is important to tackle the issue of childhood obesity?
Modern technology has played an important role in the rise of childhood obesity (Mendelson, 2007). Since technology has advanced, children have spent more time on their phones, tablets, and game consoles than going out to play. This is concerning because as a child who grew up in the late 90’s, my earliest memories as a child was always going outside and being physically active, whereas it is rare to see children who go out today due to the vast amount of time spent on looking at a screen. The results of the amount of time glaring at a screen is alarming, especially for children, because if they end up not getting the adequate amount of physical activity during their childhood, it can be detrimental to their health in the future. Although technology has been trying to incorporate physical activity, such as Pokemon Go, parents should still set aside at least half an hour to go outside with their kids and get them to workout while having fun. Integrating activities such as going to the park or swimming should be implemented into childhood hobbies so much so that they are able to create their own workout habits to grow with them as they get older.
ReplyDeleteMendelson, R. (2007). Think tank on school-aged children: Nutrition and physical activity to prevent the rise in obesity. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 32(3), 495-499.
Childhood obesity is a critical topic because obesity has become an epidemic. As we know prevention is the first step to stopping the spread of a disease. If we help make people aware of childhood obesity, individuals will feel compelled to make a change. No child should have to suffer from obesity. Your parents and your caregivers should make it a priority to help your wellness. Children are impressionable, they radiate what they know. The thing we need to remember is childhood obesity can be prevented. As adults we need to take on the task of keeping our children healthy. There are simple ways to get out there and get active. According to a study done by McHugh, obesity is about more than being "fat." Obesity in itself is classified as an excessive amount of fat. This occurs because there is more calorie intake than calories expended. Obesity must be targeted outside of just a home, at school and in other places. Schools need to offer healthy lunches and opportunities for children to be outside. The reality is children spend more time away from home when they are growing up and going to school. It is the job of health professionals to provide health education that is relevant to todays youth.
ReplyDeleteMcHugh, B. (2016). The childhood obesity epidemic.Journal of the Australian Traditional-Medicine Society, 22(2), 94-98.
As a retail sales manager at a leading U.S. cell phone provider, many children walk in with or without their parents asking for cell phones and their pices. Even though cell phones are used as necessary communication, many children waste hours of physical activity by using their technology devices. According to National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1 out of 6 children aged 2-19 are considered obese. Other programs, as described in de la Torre’s paper (2013), WIC and health education have only done so much but not eradicated childhood obesity or a big impact. Research on De La Torres’ background also discusses the chronic diseases that can develop from being overweight or obese like diabetes and heart disease. Since children are the future leaders of our country it is imperative that we try to avoid a population in the future that suffers from chronic diseases.
ReplyDeletede la Torre, A. , Schaefer, A. , Sadeghi, B. , Green, R. , Kaiser, L. , et al. (2013). Ninos sanos, familia sana: Mexican immigrant study protocol for a multifaceted cbpr intervention to combat childhood obesity in two rural california towns. BMC Public Health, 13, 1033.
Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Kit BK, Flegal KM: Prevalence of obesity and trends in body mass index among US children and adolescents, 1999–2010. JAMA. 2012, 307: 483-490. 10.1001/jama.2012.40.