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Childhood Obesity

Imagine a world where a school aged child can step out of their school and walk into a McDonalds. A world where soda companies make millions of dollars a year by placing soda machines in schools. A world where obesity is killing more people than smoking. What if I told you this world is not in your imagination but is the world we live in today? You Can't Escape the Headlines. You Can't Avoid the Facts. Childhood obesity has reached unbelievable heights. The future health of an entire generation is at risk.
Obesity is on the rise, and it is becoming more and more of a national health concern. The increasing number of obese children and youth throughout the United States has led policy makers to rank it as a critical public health threat. (American Academy of Pediatrics 10). Healthy eating habits should begin in infancy and continue throughout childhood, adolescence and beyond. Parents have an enormous influence on their child’s eating behaviors that can last a lifetime and can prevent or reduce the risk of obesity. Without a parent’s attention focused on what (and how much) the child is eating, your child can begin to move in the direction of obesity in the first years of life. Since the 1970s, the prevalence of obesity has more than doubled for preschool children aged 2-5 years and adolescents aged 12-19 years, and it has more than tripled for children aged 6-11 years old. At present, approximately nine million children over six years of age are obese. (American Academy of Pediatrics 15). With obesity becoming more and more of a problem each year, the American population is going to suffer from a catastrophic health
emergency.
Childhood obesity is an epidemic that is quickly attacking our children. It is a serious medical condition once thought to only affect adults, that is now affecting children and adolescents. It occurs when a child is well above the normal weight for his or her age and height. As part of regular well-child check-up, the doctor...