From Table to Grave: Childhood ObesityJoin now to read essay From Table to Grave: Childhood ObesityMany diseases plague our nation today: cardiovascular disease, cancer, high blood pressure, and diabetes, which in itself can lead to blindness, neuropathy (nerve damage), and kidney failure. These diseases have invaded the lives of people for many years. People who have been diagnosed with these diseases have undergone extensive treatment, painful surgeries, and many have died. In the past, we have associated these diseases with adults. But today, these diseases are being found in children.
The increase of diseases in children is linked to childhood obesity. Over the past years, childhood obesity has grown tremendously in the United States. “According to the latest federal figures, the percentage of youngsters age six to eleven who are overweight has tripled since the 1960s. As many as one in five kids is overweight or obese” (Ellin XXXVI). Obesity in children is “now an epidemic in the United States” (Torgan 1). This epidemic is not limited to a particular age group or race, though it is more predominant in African-Americans; its occurring in youth and adolescents in every race, in both boys and girls. Without proper treatment, children are more likely to become obese adults and develop major health problems.
Obesity is defined as an excessive accumulation of body fat. Obesity is present when total body weight is more than 25 percent fat in boys and more than 32 percent fat in girls (Lohman 98-99). Although childhood obesity is often defined as a weight-for-
height in excess of 120 percent of the ideal, skin fold measures are more accurate determinants of fatness (Dietz 676-686; Lohman 100-102). Skin fold thickness is a
technique used to assess body composition by measuring a double thickness of skin at specific body sites. The triceps alone, triceps and subscapular (just beneath the shoulder blade), triceps and calf, and calf alone have been used with children and adolescents. When the triceps and calf are used, a sum of skin folds of 10-25mm is considered optimal for boys, and 16-30mm is optimal for girls (Lohman 101).
According to Torgan, “The number of children who are overweight has doubled in the last two to three decades” (2). Several factors have contributed to the rising numbers of obese children. Lack of physical activity is the leading cause of obesity in children. Children have decreased their involvement in physical activities, and have increased their involvement in sedentary activities. Time that was once used for exercising and playing sports is now being used to watch television, surf the internet, or play video games. For example, several studies by Dietz have found that increased television viewing increases the percentage of time children spend on sedentary activities. Without a corresponding reduction in caloric intake, obesity may result (“Television” 543-550). Many health care professionals prescribe impact type exercises for obese children; however, these children often suffer from joint pain or discomfort because of their excess weight, and often do not follow this advice.
Poor eating habits and the environment has also contributed to overweight children. Children are now consuming more foods that are high in calories. They are more inclined to eating when not hungry, eating while watching television, and/or eating
while doing homework. Eating well-balanced, home-cooked meals together as a family has become almost obsolete. Instead, they rely on fast food that is cheap and convenient. In an attempt to increase earnings, fast food franchises advertise appealing and tasteful foods that are high in calories. Additionally, we as consumers are more inclined to “super-size” or “king-size” a value meal order because it may be a better value for the money. But by doing this, we add more calories to a meal that is already high in calories.
Although most causes of obesity in children are modifiable, some are not. Genetics is a non-changeable cause of obesity. Greater risk of obesity has been found in children of obese and overweight parents. Since not all children who eat non-nutritious foods, watch several hours of television daily, and are relatively inactive develop obesity, the search continues for alternative causes. Heredity has recently been shown to influence fatness, regional fat distribution, and response to overfeeding (Bouchard, et al. 1477-1482). In addition, infants born to overweight mothers have been found to gain more weight and be less active by age three months when compared with infants of normal weight mothers. This suggests a possible inborn drive to conserve energy. According to Lohman, not all obese infants become obese children, and not all obese children become obese adults. However, the prevalence of obesity increases
of the general adult population. Among children living in urban areas, the risk of obesity increases, but the risk has not increased with increasing socioeconomic status. Even though most obesity in adolescents and in adults is modifiable without intervention, these results do not imply that low socioeconomic status can be a reliable risk factor of obesity in childhood, despite the importance of being exposed to children’s environments and other environmental influences. Obesity and diabetes Obesity and diabetes In the first half of this century, the contribution of body mass index (BMI) to a child’s obesity was documented, through a range of clinical studies (e.g., Chiba et al. 16, 17). The prevalence of excess body mass index (BMI) is a risk factor for a wide range of diseases. Although obesity is not widely understood, it is estimated that the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes is 3.7% (Stoeger et al. 18) and 4.6% (Bowers et al. 19, 20). As well, the incidence of Type 1 diabetes has been estimated to be between 10% and 20% (Bowers et al. 19). Moreover, there have been numerous studies on the association between obesity and type 2 diabetes. A study by Bowers et al. (19) showed inverse relationship with the diabetes prevalence rate among children 1–6 years of age in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition of Childhood. Moreover, Bowers et al. found increased risk of obesity among boys who had never used a BMI of less than 5.5 for at least ten years (Bowers et al. 20). Thus obesity could be an indicator of diabetes, an epidemic of type 2 diabetes. The role of diet to increase body weight The role of diet in increasing body weight as a risk factor for obesity in childhood and early childhood is well characterized. One of the great achievements of the study of energy intake in childhood has been to show that a higher caloric intake reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes. For example, higher total carbohydrate intake in early childhood has been shown to reduce the incidence of diabetes mellitus. However, higher total carbohydrate intake for high school and college students has not been shown to be an effective protective or beneficial strategy against diabetes. In a study of children enrolled in a large longitudinal study, a 12-week intervention program with higher caloric intake (7.04 ± 0.36 g/d) resulted in a 0.9 percent decrease in body weight (Stoeger et al. 19, 20). Another excellent control group studied how much energy was added when caloric intake was increased from 2 mg/d (2.1 g/d) to 5 mg/d (1.3 g/d); this resulted in a 1.9 percent decrease in the mean body weight (Fisher 21). Furthermore, a 12-week intervention program with an intervention high in carbohydrate intake was found to reduce the rate of body weight at least by 50 percent in children younger than 6 years (Stoeger et al. 20). This study showed that the beneficial effects of a balanced diet and low carbohydrate intake in early childhood could have been reduced by dietary reduction in all categories of dietary intake, which is consistent with a meta-analysis of 30 randomized trials (Stoeger et al. 21), who found similar effects (Bowers et al. 21, 20). Thus, the role of diet and energy intake in the role of metabolic syndrome Obesity, but not diabetes, is well established. A new study in rats that has shown that insulin resistance and insulin sensitivity can be increased in early childhood may have an important role in the development of developing obesity. The research group in the