In the following article, we will talk about one of the mostworrying topics across the United States – the obesity in childhood. More and morechildren are becoming overweight and then obese. Since 1980s, the number ofobese children has tripled. There is a big difference between being overweightand being obese, but being overweight means that a child can eventually becomeobese. Nearly 25% of the children in the United States are either obese or overweight. Childrenand their parents should pay attention to what the childreneat, because with the obesity comes a huge number of various health problemsthat are not easy to treat, and some of them are liver problems, diabetes etc. The measure of a person`s weight inrelation to their height is called Body Mass Index (BMI) which should be over30 for a person to be obese.
Causes of the obesity in childhood
Nowadays, children don`t go out to play with their friends and theydon`t do exercises. They sit in front of a TV or at the computer and consumeunhealthy food, which is the main reason for obesity in childhood in the UnitedStates. Moreover, mothers who don`t cook too good tend to take their familiesto regular or fast food restaurants, which is one more reason why children aregaining so much weight.
Facts and statistics
Some statistics show that in 32 states across the United States,child obesity was over 25 percent and in 6 states over 30 percent. Only inthe state of Colorado the child obesity was below 20 percent, which isagain a lot. These numbers are concerning because children really shouldn`t be obeseor overweight, nor the parents should allow them to get there. Otherstatistics show that the obesity in children between 6 and 11 years has increased for 17%, whereas the obesity in children between 12 and 19 years went up almost 18%. In thefour years time there were some shocking statistics that almost 12% of adolescentsand children across the United States were obese and over 16% were overweight butwith a tendency to become obese. These are really moving facts.
Parents` dealing with obesity
Parents need to teach their children what is healthy and whatis not, what is good and what is bad. But they themselves need to know thattheir children are usually imitating their actions. However, there are a lot ofparents who don`t want to deal with the problem itself. They are blaming theschool education for not teaching their children about the negative sides ofobesity and overweight and they don`t want to understand the needs of theirchildren. Sometimes the children are eating just to hurt their parents. So,if you are a parent, don`t let your child`s health slip through your fingersjust because you don`t have time for it or you think it is someone else`s job.
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