Childhood Obesity

Childhood and adolescent obesity has been increasing at alarming rates over the past few years. In fact, reports show that overweight children aged 6 to 11 more than doubled in the past 20 years, going from 7% in 1980 to 18.8% in 2004.1 The rate among overweight adolescents aged 12 to 19 more than tripled, increasing from 5% to 17.1%. This obesity epidemic is particularly apparent in industrialized nations where many people live sedentary lives and eat more fast-foods, which are normally high in calories and very low in nutritional value. Overall, approximately 25 million U.S. children and adolescents are overweight or nearly overweight.

One of the greatest health risks affecting American youth today is childhood obesity. An individual who is considered obese has a disproportionately large amount of fat stored in the body, beyond the point of simply being overweight. While the definition of exactly how much fat constitutes obesity is still in flux, obesity is having excess weight enough that serious health risks are incurred by the individual. Many health professionals consider the vast amount of overweight people in our country to be of such epic proportions that it is actually known as an epidemic of fat. This condition is especially dangerous to children, and the number of obese children is growing at an alarming rate. Far from just being an issue of aesthetics or conformity, obesity may be the single biggest overall threat to the health of children in developed Western countries. While our popular culture is obsessed with the image of the thin and fabulous, this same culture is breeding generations plagued by obesity and the complications that are associated with this condition. Childhood obesity is a very serious health concern due to the medical risks and social implications, therefore the possible causes of obesity in children should be studied and identified, while a wide range of treatment options should be carefully considered.

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