Childhood Obesity a Big Problem Essays

Childhood Obesity a Big Problem Essays Childhood Obesity a Big Problem Essay Childhood Obesity a Big Problem Essay While all of these reasons are part of why more than nine million American adolescents are obese today, there are two groups who have the power and the influence to make a drastic change in how seriously kids take their health; those people are parents and teachers. The nation-wide problem of obesity can be solved by having more classes on nutrition and physical activity in high schools. A recent study by Healthy Child Care Magazine discovered that children from the ages of 4 to 10 are more willing to eat at fruits and vegetables If their parents do (Healthy Child Care, 1). This shows just how much of an influence parents are on kids in this age group. Eating more fruits and vegetables can go a long way in improving a childs health. According to a study taken by Preventive Medicine Magazine, overweight girls reported 0. 7 fewer [fruits and vegetables] a day than girls who reported their weight to be about right (Nostrum, 1 This study provides clear evidence that there Is a direct correlation between eating fruits and vegetables, and a childs weight. Hillier need to eat more healthy foods In order to prevent obesity In adolescence, which can lead to obesity in adulthood (N. A. C. H. 1). The statistics provided by Healthy Child Care, which were stated earlier, show that parents have a good amount of influence on kids until they are right around 10 years old, meaning that they have the responsibility to teach their child good eating habits and feed them properly when they are this age and still have a lot of control over them. While parents have a good amount of Influence on kids from the ages of 5 to 10, however, the Influence they have on their kids tends to dwindle as the kids get older (Harvest, 1). A recent study by the Social Report discovered that more than half of teens today believe they do to see enough of their parents (Harvest, 1). Based on these statistics it appears that parents have more control over what their kids eat when they are younger than they do once they become teenagers. One example of this can be shown In a recent study by Arizona State university. The School of Human Evolution and Social Change at the multiversity Interviewed many Tamales Trot a southeastern unlace states community which has very high obesity rates, about what they believe to be a healthy diet. We find that parental models are very consistent with biomedical understandings reduce fat, reduce sugar, portion control, etc. ). Regardless, childrens diets are extremely high in calories overall as well as in high sugar and fat food items, (Brewers, 1). In this quote parental models is a term used to define how parents believe their children should be eating. Compared to what medical studies show to be a healthy diet, they were found to be pretty similar. This is a good example of how parents are seeing less of their kids, as 57 percent of the kids in this study were teenagers and over half of teens today believe that they do not see enough of their parents (Harvest, ). When a kid does not see his/her parent(s), the parents have much less control over what their child can eat. These statistics further backup the notion that it is far more difficult for parents to monitor teenagers diets than it is to monitor the diets of children younger than that. This is where schooling comes in. Because parents have a much larger influence over kids before they hit their teen years (Harvest, 1), it would be more productive to teach more nutrition and physical education classes in high school and middle school rather than in elementary school, and it can work. A cent study done by the Centre of Allied Health Evidence discovered that there was convincing evidence that school-based interventions are effective, at least short-term, in reducing the prevalence of childhood obesity, (Gonzalez-Square, 1). School-based interventions here is referring to small amounts of time that schools spend to teach kids about proper nutrition. This comes in a variety of ways, most notably in a small portion of a health class or in a school-wide presentation. This study shows that obesity prevention methods in school can work, there Just needs to be more of them. While nearly every elementary school and middle school across the country have required physical educa tion classes for every grade (College Board, 1), physical education requirements drop off as kids get older. According to the National Conference of State Legislature, only 23 out of the 50 states require physical education in high school in 2005, and of those 23 states, only two states have duration requirements to go along with it (NCSC, 1); those two states are Illinois and New York. New York only has an obesity rate of 24. 4 percent, well below the national average of 26. Percent (Hit, 1). For comparison, Mississippi only requires physical education at varying grade levels, with no requirements in physical education to graduate high school (NCSC, 1). As a result, Mississippi leads the nation with an obesity rate of 32. 8 percent (Hit, 1). As you can see, there is a very strong correlation between high obesity rates and states that do not require physical education in high school. P. E. Classes should be kept up in elementary schools but need to be reinforced in a lot of high schools, and there is definitely room for it. Most high schools today require that English and Social Studies to be take for 4 years, and Math and Science to be taken for three years (College Board), leaving a lot of room for more required classes throughout high school, as these account for 28 credits out of the roughly 46 credits needed to graduate at a 4-year high school (College Board). This leaves plenty of room for more physical education classes, along with a few nutrition classes, to be added to the list of requirements. The statistics from New York are very encouraging when trying to get an idea of Just how much physical education needs to De Implemented Into cocoons. I nee Idea AT navels not Just required Pensacola education classes, but having a required amount of time spent doing physical activities is appealing. Doing this would make sure that teens are being active daily and for a healthy amount of time. As most people know, too much physical activity can be unhealthy. But allowing the high schools to monitor not only how much exercise teens are getting, but also if they are doing the exercise correctly, would be a very efficient way to make sure that teens are staying physically active. Other states should take a page out of Illinois and New Works book and have recommended hysterical education classes in high school. By this point it is clear to most people in this country that obesity is a problem. With the constant temptations of fast food mixed in with the lack of encouragement kids are getting from parents and schools, its no wonder that obesity rates have tripled since 1980 (N. A. C. H. 1). From the statistics discovered in this paper it seems pretty clear that parents have a great deal of influence on obesity rates for kids before they reach their teen years. But once they reach their teen years, when kids are less influenced by their parents, it is the schools responsibility to make sure that kids maintain an active and healthy lifestyle.