English

Childhood Obesity

Childhood Obesity is indeed a persistent problem in the world, but for whom. It was for me at one point and I was so far from being aware. When the Wii Fit was released my cousin got one and he called me over to play. As I was making my character the hi-tech machine took my weight and height then a rainbow meter appeared with the labels underweight, healthy weight, and overweight. My cousin’s meter was in the dead middle of the green healthy weight section while mine on the other hand was in the dark red danger zone that is the overweight. I never knew I was overweight but at that moment I was glad that I found out, I knew something had to be done. First, I never even knew what childhood obesity was but no ten year old does. Childhood Obesity is when a child is well above his or her normal weight and can lead to serious health problems such as diabetes and high blood pressure. Those are just some of the major problems, Childhood Obesity can also lead to bullying, low self esteem, and even depression. According to the Online Medical Web Reference Program,” One out of every five children are obese and the numbers are growing.” No child could ever be aware of this on their own and it took me a while before I understood the bigger picture. In the past I was just an average boy. At school I loved to play kickball during recess, and I really had no trouble at all making friends. Little me was overweight but because he was friends with everyone no one bullied him, that was not the case for some of my classmates. I witnessed with my own eye kids being bullied just because they were overweight. They were teased, rejected from activities, and even robbed just because their bellies were too big. The worst part is that the kids were not even aware of the damage that they were causing. In relation to that kids did not even fully know why they were getting teased. You cannot apply a solution to a problem when you do not even know what the problem is. Later in life I realized that a kid cannot just be obese on their own because they do not take care of themselves. We can argue that fast food chains make not only our kids but America fat but in the end there is always a choice. In the end the problem and solution lies within the parent or guardian. A parent has to provide stable eating habits, not only for their children, but for themselves as well. You are vulnerable to things like diabetes and high blood pressure just as much at both stages of your life. Unhealthy eating habits can scar us for life, so it is important to always watch what you eat and also watch what you feed your kids. Finally, I saw that the solution to Childhood Obesity is within the support of the family. Traci Baker a professional in the field of IU Health Bariatric and Medical Weight Loss said, “You have to make weight loss and healthy eating habits a family tradition so the child picks up on the