Childhood obesity: causes, effects, and interventions

¶ … controversy regarding childhood obesity, as this is a pressing matter and as there are more and more cases involving children becoming obese as a result of a series of factors involving poor nutrition, little to no exercise, and a general failure to understand why it is important for them to adopt attitudes that can maintain them healthy. The percentage of children becoming obese has experienced a steady increase in recent years, this standing as proof with regard to how conditions have become critical. The increase of the number of obese children is directly proportional with the advancement of technology and fast food, taking into account that children become more and more attached to technological devices and find it easier and more enjoyable to eat fast food.

Numerous pediatricians, parents, and policy-makers have gotten actively involved in discussing the topic of childhood obesity and in finding strategies they can use with the purpose of raising the public's awareness concerning the problem. "Over the past three decades, the share of children who are considered overweight or obese has doubled, from 15% in the 1970s to nearly 30% today, while the share of children who are considered obese has tripled." (Paxon 3) The mass media plays an important role in shaping the public's opinion and during the last few years it has actually emphasized the gravity of the problem in an attempt to have people acknowledge that reform needs to happen. Even with this, results have been limited and childhood obesity continues to be a pressing problem.

Many individuals tend to focus on obesity as being a threat to their children's physical appearance instead on focusing on how it affects their health. This is largely because the contemporary society promotes material values and because children often tease each-other with regard to their particularities. Obese children are likely to be taunted in many children communities and both them and their parents become obsessed with the idea of physical appearance as being the principal reason why it is important for a person to lose weight. The fact that these people ignore the health factor in the problem is particularly important, as some might actually perform the wrong actions in an attempt to lose weight: many children end up starving themselves because they want to be 'normal' and they only manage to further aggravate the problem.

According to Olga Vaca Durr (xxi), a study performed in the 1960s involved several children being provided with pictures of other children with diverse disabilities and children who were obese. These children needed to choose between who they would most enjoy having as a friend and who they would least enjoy having as a friend. "The researcher discovered that the majority of the children rated the obese child as the child they would least want as their friend." (Vaca Durr xxi) This makes it possible for someone to understand the pressure on obese children and their parents. These individuals are, in some cases, willing to do everything in order to be accepted by their peers, even if this means that they have to resort to unhealthy methods of losing weight.

A child's mental health is also affected by him or her being overweight. Overweight and obese children are more likely to be bullied in school and in playgrounds, as other children tend to discriminate on account of one's physical aspect and obsess children are among the groups most commonly being picked on. "Negative effects of childhood obesity include physical, medical, educational, and social/emotional areas." (Vaca Durr xxiii)

The reality is that obesity is a terrible disease that needs to be fought on two fronts. Although most people are inclined to consider the physical appearance idea when discussing with regard to childhood obesity, they also need to focus on the health problems triggered by the malady. In order to be able to effectively fight obesity, one thus has to concentrate on trying to understand its complex nature. By being involved in the fight against obesity a person needs to take into account the multitude of factors it involves and the fact that he or she has to look at the problem from different angles before trying to devise a solution. Doing otherwise is likely to end disastrously, as trying to take on controversial diets or to engage in sports activities that might put too much stress on the body are not necessarily beneficial for one's physical and mental health. Obesity causes a series of health problems such as "heart disease, high blood pressure, hardening of the arteries, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, high cholesterol, asthma, sleep disorders, liver disease, orthopedic complications, and mental health problems." (Paxon 4)