Lauren Bowen
Ms. Boone
English 1101H
20 November 2013 Supersized Children Childhood obesity has become severely popular in the past couple of years. It is starting to become a trend that people are following, but not a good trend. Diagnoses of severe medical illnesses, including type two diabetes are skyrocketing, and childhood obesity is in fact becoming the number one underlying cause. This horrifying and most of the time disgusting medical problem is on the rise and people are not doing even nearly enough to stop it. Why is this happening and why so fast? The rising number of children diagnosed with obesity can be associated with diet, lack of physical activity and medical conditions. One of the most important causes of childhood obesity is diet. What a person puts in their body can make the world of a difference on how they function or perform on a daily basis. Most children are overweight for the same reason as their adult counterparts: they consume more calories than they expend (Gale). Many children have parents that are always on the go, so choosing a fast food meal always seems practical, but is it practical for the growing child’s body? Fast food contains more calories and unhealthy additives than a normal meal you would cook at home. Most families have learned to make fast food a daily choice, but they do not realize what it could be doing to their children. When an adolescent is growing they need a healthy diet to help take part in their body’s transition to adulthood later on in life. Eating healthier, non-processed foods plays a huge part in lowering the risk of childhood obesity. The decrease of physical activity in children contributes to childhood obesity. Children these days are more consumed with the new technology and online media that has become available to them. Children and adolescents spend an average of five and a half hours a day using media that includes TV, video games, computer activities, and the Internet (Green et al.). Instead of getting the outside activity and exercise they need, they rely on indoor events to keep them occupied. Parents should limit the amount of time children spend watching TV and using electronics each day. With just an hour a day of combined exercise, the likelihood of a child becoming obese in the future will decrease. This can also produce good habits for the children to use later on in life. Children are often diagnosed with undesirable medical conditions and genetics that can lead to them becoming obese. Studies show that children who have overweight parents are fifty percent more likely to also become overweight (Watkins). Although children cannot control what genes they have and what medical conditions they are diagnosed with, it is one of the largest links to childhood obesity. Some conditions are endocrine and thyroid problems. If these were the reasons a doctor would be able to find these problems with a few tests. Obesity is not the individual’s problem; it has to do with the whole family and what they do to help. Families play a huge role because while growing up children follow after their parents. Meaning they will develop the