CHILDHOOD OBESITY OVERWEIGHT

Childhood obesity in the United States is proving to be a topic of major concern. Throughout the past decades, this issue has been overlooked and simply unattended to. Other health issues such as second-hand smoke and cancer have indeed been the more popular topics addressed. However, people are starting to notice a change in the leaders of tomorrow. Quite frankly, these children are becoming extremely unhealthy and overweight. In the past, it was out of the ordinary to see a child that was obese.

However, overweight children in the United States are actually starting to become a norm (Koplan, Liverman & Kraak, 2005). This is where the problem begins to unfold. Parents are becoming increasingly concerned about their children’s health due to the fact that obesity hinders a wide range of factors. Imagine a child that cannot participate in any extracurricular activities such as baseball, soccer, or basketball due to his or her weight.

Then, try to explain to that child that due to being overweight, he or she might have an increased chance of heart disease, strokes, and high blood pressure (Vessel & Mackenzie, 2000). Above all, imagine being a child and learning that one of their peers has just died due to the fact that he or she was obese. One must begin to realize that the lives of children in the United States are at stake.

Science in the past has told the public that each generation is living longer than its precedent. The tide has turned sadly enough as scientists are predicting that this verity is now untrue (Kimm & Obarzanek, 2002). With that being said, if lives are beginning to shorten, one might conclude tha