Obesity

Decreasing the Incidence of Childhood Obesity
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The Incidence of Childhood Obesity
The obesity is a condition related to excessive body fat and weight. The body mass indices measures are used to screen children and young adults in the determination of whether they are obese or overweight. Obesity in children is ruled out when the body mass index is at or above the 95th percentile and overweight is established in situations where children are at 85th percentile and less than 95th percentile. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention cites that obesity in children is a pressing concern. For example, obesity rates has tripled since 1970s. Presently, one in every five school-going children suffers from obesity. Four years ago, the CDC established that obesity had declined by 43% for children aged 2 to 5 years; this figure was a favorable decline in the decade ending in 2012 (CDC, 2017). The nutritional data and surveys done over a 2-year cycle starting in 1999 showed that approximately 20% of children in the United States were obese and an additional 29% were overweight. Further scientific studies confirmed that at the end of the two-cycles, 26% children had obesity and 35% were diagnosed with over-weight problems (Lisa, 2018). The above figures of obesity in children show that parents are not making genuine efforts to control the diet and health of their children. The goal of this paper is to offer an examination of a population health concern, particularly childhood obesity.

The paper will proceed to offer two measures to curb the problem namely public health campaigns and policy changes.
Obesity in Children
The effects of obesity on children and many and over-arching. For example, the Center for Disease Control argues that children with obesity are likely to suffer from other chronic conditions. These conditions include; sleep apnea, asthma, diabetes 2 type, and joint problems. Additionally, children suffering from obesity are teased and bullied more than their normal or average weight peers. As a result, they are likely to be victims of isolation, low self-esteem, and depression (CDC, 2017). The other consequence is that children with obesity are likely to have overweight and obesity problems in late adult life. Adults with obesity further have high likelihoods to develop heart conditions, cardiopulmonary diseases, metabolic syndrome, arthritis, and type 2 diabetes (NCBI, 2016). The above indicators of obesity point to the fact that the condition has long-term immediate effects on the physical, psychological, emotional and social health of children. The above effects mean that radical efforts and well-thought clinical approaches should be undertaken to prevent and minimize the incidence of obesity.
References
CDC. (2017). Facts on Childhood Obesity. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/obesity/facts.htmLisa, R. (2018). US Childhood Obesity Rising Again. The Reuters Official. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-kids-obesity/u-s-childhood-obesity-rates-rising-again-idUSKCN1GB2X5NCBI. (2016). Childhood Obesity Incidence in the United States: A Systematic Review. The National Center for Biotechnology Information. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4753627/