Monday, January 26, 2009
Childhood Obesity
This topic has always interested me and when I looked it up, I was amazed. Childhood Obesity has been a recent and growing problem throughout the world. In the United States alone, 1 out of 3 children are considered overweight. My opinion on why this is happening is because of junk food and new technology. Children who eat junk food gain an extra 150 calories a day. Children around the ages 11-18 visit a fast food restaurant 2 times a week. Studies show that children consume around 29-38% of their food from fast food places which could add anywhere around 6 pounds! Fast food is not the only reason why children are becoming obese, new video games and t.v. are a big cause. Kids younger than 6 watch around 2 hours of TV a day and teenagers get around 4 hours a day and this is not including the computer and new video games. Some of the risks of being obese can be deadly. High blood pressure, which can cause heart attacks from hypertension, high cholesterol, and asthma are all risk of becoming overweight. Asthma alone kills 11 people every day and 4,000 people die every year. My opinion on this topic is that children should be having more home cooked meals, spend only one hour watching TV a day, and spend at least 2 hours playing outside. Go for a walk, jog, run, play some sports, try to join a school club or team, or just have fun playing with your friends. Now after reading this, go outside and go play!
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I think that school sponsered sports would be a great way to help kids lose weight. Unfortunately, many kids feel that they need to spend their time doing excessive amounts if homework instead of being active.
ReplyDeleteI think that its a great idea to go outside and play becuase being inside causes you to be lazy. People should also eat at home because when you eat fast food you get what you pay for which is usually a cheap meal thats unhealthy.
ReplyDeleteI think that childhood obesity is a growing epidemic. Fast food and over dependence on technology are my two largest concerns when it comes not only to weight gain, but a lack of family values. I think the culture we live in does not put enough stress on family relations (such as eating dinner together) and spending time outside. Nice Topic!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that asthma was linked to obesity. Childhood obesity is definitely a growing problem, and like Steven said, I think schools should sponsor sports. Schools could go even farther with wellness programs in the cafeteria. Nice job :)
ReplyDeleteWow, I had no idea childhood obesity was becoming such a problem. It's sad to think that kids are actually dying at such a young age due to their weight. I was aware that extra body weight caused some unwanted health issues, but I was certainly not aware of all of them. Some of the statistics you mentioned are really shocking as well. I couldn't even imagine not playing outside as a kid. Growing up, a kid should be involved in some sort of exercise. Whether it be a sport, playing outside with friends, or even just the daily gym class, it is really important to get children into the habit of staying active. If you don't start at an early age, you will become accustomed to sitting in front of the tv or playing video games, and never get to fully enjoy life.
ReplyDeleteI also agree. This is a serious problem, particularly in the United States. When I see people who sit inside eating and playing video games it makes me mad when they get fat and try to act like it isn't their fault.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good topic I would be interested in learning more about.
Good thought Lance!
While I agree that technology and poor eating habits are contributing to obesity, I think that another huge factor is the lack of excersice that kids get. I agree with what you had to say about technology contributing to obesity, but we also need to realise that the fact that kids are playing vidio/computer games instead of playing outside is also leading to childhood obesity.
ReplyDeleteChildhood obesity is a serious problem in the United States. If you look at other countries you will see that America is by far most obese country. These days you cannot walk down the street without seeing someone who as at least a little bit obese. I do think that America is taking actions to reduce the percent of obesity with fun and activities that make you exercise, for example the wii fit.
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