Sarah Jane Gloria
October 18, 2012
English 155
Ms. Turner
Diagnostic Essay
Childhood Obesity Childhood obesity has rapidly increased and emerged as a serious problem in the United States affecting one third of children and adolescents between the ages of five and eighteen that are overweight or are in great risk of becoming obese. Although weight gain varies from children to adolescents, the three main influences resulting in obesity with younger generations include; poor eating habits implemented by parents and their community, lack of physical activity, and environmental influences. As a society, we all need to work together to encourage a good and healthy lifestyle for children to inhibit them from becoming obese. Family influences play a significant role in the process of promoting well-being. Children whose parents promote a healthier lifestyle in the earlier stages of their life become more active and show more confidence as they enter in there adolescent stages of life. In contrast, if a child is obese, low self-esteem is embedded. Educating them in nutrition and providing opportunities to be a part of physical activities such as helping around the house, outdoor activities, dancing and sports are some of the great ideas that can help children stay healthy. For example, parents should not allow their children to sit home and play video games or watch television for hours. Instead, parents should create chores for them to do such as cleaning their room, mowing the lawn, or taking out the trash. If poor eating habits and lack of physical activity are demonstrated in the early stages of their childhood, there’s more of a likely chance that they will adapt to that lifestyle throughout their life. In a perfect world, every child would be in perfect health with eating whatever they want and not having to be physically active and still have seven percent body fat. In reality, that is not the case. In fact, the fewer calories that are not being burned up through exercise often results into fat. It is essential that children stay active not only to be healthy but in a psychological way, it helps children with self-esteem. Children who participate with other children in sports or any physical activity become more confident, competitive and more influenced to be a part of activities because they interact with other people. Lack of exercise increases health risk factors such as type II diabetes, heart problems, and hypertension. When it comes to