This epidemic starts from the alarming rate of childhood obesity. Is this epidemic brought on by the parent or society? When riding down any street or glance at any park how many children do you see out playing? How often do you hear of children eating a fruit or vegetable for a snack?In our schools we have soda machine and vending machines filled with junk food. Children today do not get much physical activity because of the sedentary entertainment that technology provides. It’s so easy for a parent to put their children in front of a T. V.
in the comfort of their home rather than taking them to a park. A surprising 50-70% of obese children will be obese as adults. Obesity rates have almost tripled in the last 30 years (“It’s A Nebraska Problem”). In 1980, 6. 5% of children between the ages of 6 – 11 years were obese whereas 19.
8% of children were obese in 2008 (Hellmich).These figures are similar to that of adolescent’s ages 12 – 19 years where obesity increased from 5. 0% to 18. 1% (Hellmich). The excess weight significantly increases our kids’ risk factors for a range of health problems, including diabetes, heart disease, asthma, and emotional and mental health problems.
In today’s society’s children are likely to be the first generation to live shorter, less healthy lives than their parents. Researchers found adolescents are more likely to eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day if their parents do (Parents Blamed).Teens whose parents eat fast food or drink soda are more likely to do the same (Parents Blamed). Nearly half of adolescents 48 percent whose parents drink soda every day eat fast food at least once a day, while only 39 percent of teens whose parents do not drink soda eat fast food at least once daily (Parents Blamed). Forty Five percent of teens whose parents do not eat five servings of fruits and vegetables daily eat fast food at least once a day, while only 39 percent of teens whose parents eat five servings a day eat fast food at least once daily (Parents Blamed).The average American eats out 3.
7 times per week. There are multiple reasons why this problem is growing. Watch five minutes of television and you will see three or four fast food commercials advertising “jumbo” meals at a very cheap price. So, a big contributor is the food we consume. Today’s diet is a high fat, high sugar diet.
With America having rough economic times and the low prices of fast food, it’s cheaper for many families to eat fast food over grocery shopping.Places like McDonald’s and Taco Bell have the “dollar menu” which allows you to get large amounts of food for only a dollar. This is more cost effective than going to a grocery store to buy all the food to make a burger or taco. To make matters worse, with the prices being so cheap, people buy more of the “junk” food for their kids than they should have ex. 3 burgers and 2 fries for $5.
Grocery stores normally have items like cookies, cakes, and donuts on sale ex. 2 for $5 whereas items like nuts and vegetables are rarely on sale.Therefore, a parent who is trying to make their dollar stretch will more than likely buy the cookies that are on sale because they get more bangs for their buck. So, many kids only have access to junk food to snack on or eat for dinner.
Society knows obesity is a major problem, for example, First Lady Obama has a program to fight child hood obesity. Yet, in many schools, physical education class and recess have been squeezed out because of increasing educational demands and tough financial times (Hellmich).Children spend 7-8 hours a day in school and almost 10 months in school a year. Our children are in school more than they are at home. Physical activity can improve the following in children; blood flow and oxygen to the brain, mental clarity positively affect the portion of the brain responsible for learning and memory, improve connections between nerves in the brain, thus improving attention and information processing skills, strong bones and muscles, decrease the likelihood of developing obesity, risk for type two diabetes, heart disease reduce, anxiety and depression (“Schools”).With all these benefits a tax increase for our children health should be a no brainer! Children today may only have gym once every two weeks or once a month if a holiday or school function interferes.
For many of these kids gym is the only time they will be active. Today’s generation comes home from school and plant themselves in front of the TV, computer, or video games. They have no incentive to go outside and play. The average American child watches 19 hours of TV per week (Hellmich).
Parents are also a big part of the problem. They aren’t putting their kids in sports or encouraging them to go outside and play or even play with them. As you see, this is a problem that needs to be addressed in a hurry. The future of our country is going to be adults with high medical bills, shorter lives, and an unhappy existence.
This is an easily treatable problem, but it falls on the parents, teachers, and government leaders to find the solution to get the adults and children back in a happy healthy state.
