Why is Childhood Obesity Increasing?

Almost two thirds of Americans are considered overweight or obese. Some feel that it has reached epidemic proportions here and around the world. The most concerning part of this is that 15% of children in this country are considered to be overweight. It was only a few short decades ago that this figure stood at 4%.

Diseases that were only seen in adults just a few short years ago are now being found in our children and adolescents. Obese children run a much higher chance of contracting diseases such as osteoarthritis or having heart attacks and strokes as they get older. Even the youngest members of our society are affected with 10% of preschoolers being overweight.

Childhood obesity is the leading cause of pediatric hypertension along with increasing the risk factor of a child coming down with diabetes and heart disease. But the most concerning consequence is the peer pressure and psychological pressure that can cause the child to go into periods of depression. These social and peer pressures are the main consequence of childhood obesity.

While it is true that not all obese infants grow to be obese children and not all obese children will become obese adults it is important to understand the risk factors. These can include a combination of genetics, family history, psychological and nutritional.

Family plays an important role. Statistic show that children born to parents that are obese have a higher chance of being born obese or developing the condition over time. There can be several factors that affect this. The parents could have a very sedimentary lifestyle that does not include the proper exercise, they could have poor nutritional habits or genetics could come into play.

If a child is inactive this can lead to obesity. Previous generations of children spent a lot of time outdoors and in turn were much more active. Now children spend much more time indoors on computers or in front of a television set. Becoming couch potatoes and putting on weight is not good for any child. If a child develops these bad habits at an early age it is more likely that they will become overweight and that will develop into obesity at some point. Children need physical exercise and as parents we need to make sure they are getting the proper amount each day.

Nutrition is another important factor. We live in a world of fast and processed foods that have little nutritional value. Children that eat this type of diet are not getting the proper nutrition that they need. One thing that is interesting to note is that with all we have learned over the last couple of decades in the field of nutrition the word is not getting out. One factor that may be to blame for this is information overload. People have so much information that they are confused as to how to interpret it. There are three websites that help people make sense of all this information and have issued some very helpful guidelines. They are The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), The American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association.