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Preventing Obesity in Children

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PREVENTING OBESITY IN CHILDREN
Preventing Obesity in Children
Kindra Henderson
Kristen Scott
English Comp.

PREVENTING OBESITY IN CHILDREN

Obesity is a recent health epidemic that has dire consequences for America’s health, especially for its children. The causes contributing to this epidemic include sedentary life styles, caloric intake, and major changes in the eating patterns of American families. Among these changes in eating habits is the amount of food Americans consume, how often they consume those foods, and the types of foods themselves.

Preventing Obesity in Children: Americans are the fattest people on the planet and continue to expand. According to a survey of adult men and women in the United States during 1999-2000, published in JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 30.5% of Americans are obese, up from 22.9% ten years earlier, and nearly two-thirds (64.5%) are overweight (Flegal, Ogden, & Johnson, 2002). Excess weight isn’t just a matter of looks. Obesity magnifies the risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and other ailments thus overtaking tobacco as the leading cause of chronic illness (Brownell & Horgen, 2004, p. 4). An especially disturbing aspect of this trend is that children are increasingly obese. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2002) reports that the percentage of obese children aged 6 to 11 almost quadrupled from 4% in 1974 to 15% in 2000, and the percentage of obese children aged 12 to 19 increased from 6% in 1974 to 15% in 2000 (United States, 2002). Obese children have a 70% chance of becoming obese adults with a much higher risk of serious illness than those of normal weight (Brownell & Horgen, 2004, p. 46). Furthermore, obese children suffer many serious health problems today. Pediatricians now routinely treat atherosclerosis and type II diabetes,

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