The Life Cycle of Childhood Obesity

The life cycle of childhood obesity

Obesity is not a word that anyone wants to hear or discuss especially in children.

Society is often blinded by the facts concerning the future health of our children.

Recently it has been calculated that seventeen percent of American children from the

ages two to nineteen years old are considered obese. This according to the centers for

Disease Control obesity rates in kids have tripled. Clearly, childhood obesity has an

escalating problem that needs to be resolved. Communication could very well be one of

the preeminent tools in our armory to fight this increasing epidemic. There are

approximately nine million children over six whom are considered to be "obese" in

America today. Therefore, there are serious public health concerns in our society as a

whole and we need to become educated about facts involving the lifecycle of childhood

obesity. The problem of childhood obesity is a divided into five parts of the lifeline of

childhood obesity, they are, healthy children, mildly obese children, moderately obese

children, severely obese children and last be not least the obese adult. The chart below

shows how childhood obesity broken down by ages.

The Causes of Childhood Obesity

A healthy child is born with no medical conditions and a clean slate so to speak. Healthy

babies are birthed into the world with endless energy. They have not been corrupted

with fast food, candy, junk foods or sugary sodas and chocolate milks. A perfectly

healthy baby grows and depends on nutrition from their parents. Infants get their calorie

intake from their mothers, often times by breastfeeding. As the infant grows their diet

grows. The child will develop eating patterns based on what their parents are letting the

child eat. Eating patterns are learned early in the life cycle.

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A mildly obese child may spend more time watching television or playing video

games and fast food is the meal of choice. The commercials for the fast food industry is

targeted towards children, this has been focus of many lawsuits. The industry spends

billions of dollars on their advertisements using toys and burgers, parents being busy

not really having time to cook a well balanced meal, often times hits the drive threw on

the way home, it is easier and time effective. The convenient fast food is not only

convenient but is also one of the top reasons for childhood obesity. This convenience

being done two to three times a week, with little physical activity to get rid of the extra

calories and other bad eating habits, the child then becomes moderately obese.

Moderately obese children is a result from a mildly obese