OPPapers.com

Childhood Obesity

“In the past 20 years, the percentage of children who are overweight has doubled and the percentage of adolescents who are overweight has more than tripled” (Fit WIC: Programs to Prevent Childhood Overweight in Your Community,” Special Nutrition Program, 2005). Childhood obesity is becoming a major concern for parents as their children are getting heavier and heavier. Obesity, which should be identified before any problems can occur, has many causes which has lead it to become an epidemic in the United States; however there are several preventions and treatments that parents can execute to help their children live healthy lives. Preventions and treatments require parents to educate themselves about obesity and possibly change their lifestyles as well.
Obesity is defined as the excessive accumulation of body fat. One’s total body weight would be more than 25% fat in boys and more than 32% in girls, if he or she were to become obese. A trained technician may obtain skin fold measures by triceps alone, triceps and sub scapular, triceps and calf, and calf alone. In triceps and calf, a sum of skin fold of 10-25 mm. is considered optimal in boys, and 16-30 mm. in girls (American Obesity Association, 2009). Besides the skin fold test, there are other ways to measure excess fat. A measurement called a Percentile of Body Mass Index, or BMI, is used to identify overweight and obese children. If a child is in the 85th percentile, he or she is at risk level to becoming obese. For adults, this means that one is overweight. If a child reaches the 95th percentile, which corresponds to a BMI of 30, obesity in adults, than the child is at a severe level. The 95th percentile identifies children that are very likely to have obesity persist in adulthood and is associated with elevated blood pressure and lipids in older adolescents, and an increased risk of diseases. The 95th percentile is also a sign that the child needs aggressive treatment (American Obesity Association,...