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Obesity and Children

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Obesity and Children

Kimberly Jordan

English Comp 122

Hope Phillips Umansky

February 21, 2011

Childhood obesity has been on the rise by 20% in children ages 6 to 11 and that number is triple for children under the age of six. This is posing a serious issue with many health and social consequences that may often continue into adulthood. Research on childhood on obesity is showing that family eating patterns are a crucial factor and environmental and lifestyle are all contributing factors. The responsibility for this national epidemic is the question. Who is responsible for these children’s lifestyle and eating habits which all play an important part in childhood obesity? The first question to answer is what is childhood obesity? According to the Mayo Clinic (Mayo Clinic, Childhood Obesity 2010), “childhood obesity is a serious medical condition that affects children and adolescents. It occurs when a child is well above the normal weight for his or her age and height. Generally consumption of foods high in sugar and fats lead to obesity.” According to research, we all have and need fat tissue in our bodies. (UM, 2010) When there is too much body fat, the result is obesity (Dorland's Medical Dictionary for Health Consumers, 2007, Saunders). There are many factors that contribute to causing obesity including: physical activity, lifestyle, eating habits, environment, family and genetic inheritance (Mayo clinic, childhood Obesity 2010). The greatest impact on a child and their eating and exercising habits comes from their environment. A child that comes from a healthy environment learns good food choices and exercise habits. If a child comes from an environment where food choices and exercise aren’t important this can lead to obesity. A child that is encouraged to eat healthy and exercise will consume

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