Overweight Children Essay Sample

Introduction

Childhood obesity is a worldwide problem in the 21^st century. The number of children who suffer from this disease is increasing at alarming rates. There are many factors that contribute to the development of childhood obesity. Scientists distinguish the following ones: environmental factors, culture, genetic factors, lifestyle preferences and upbringing.

Unhealthy Food

One of the main causes of childhood obesity is unhealthy food. Often, children prefer high-calorie and highly sugary foods instead of healthier alternatives. Of course, it is up to parents to control what their children eat. But quite often they cannot prevent them from buying the candy bars or bags of potato chips that are available everywhere or from buying meals at fast food restaurants like McDonalds and KFC, where unhealthy food is readily available. So, it is not just up to parents but also society to help children eat healthy.

Lack of Physical Activity

The other important reason why there are a lot of overweight children is the lack of physical activity. It’s been proven by many scientists that sedentary behavior like watching TV and playing video games are associated with an increased prevalence of obesity (Swinburn, 2002).

Nowadays many children prefer these more sedentary activities over going for walks or playing physical games outside. Video games, communicating with their friends virtually, and watching TV have supplanted play tag and hide-and-go-seek. For example, one investigation found that children in the U.S. spend more than 25% of their waking hours in front of television sets (Robinson, 2001). 

Society is continually creating new entertaining devices for children which on one hand can help certain elements of their neurological development, but which, on the other hand, can have a negative influence on their health. Of course, parents must encourage and perhaps even force their children to limit their time watching TV or playing video games at home rather than walking or playing outside. Of course, it can be challenging for parents to constantly be monitoring their kids, what with all of the extra responsibilities in and out of the home that they must attend to. Many parents do not make their kids exercise or stretch. Moreover, some of them forbid their children from playing sports, riding bikes, or playing outside alone because they worry about their kids. But the problem is that doing this can also be harmful.

Conclusion

There are many other factors that cause childhood obesity, but, as with big societal changes being unlikely to happen quickly, parents are the main ones responsible for their children’s health. They should do whatever they can, including limiting their children’s time in front of TV, computer, and phone screens to help their kids fight obesity. They should remember that prevention is a key strategy for controlling and decreasing the number of overweight children (Muller, 2001). Parents ought to control what their children eat, what they do, how they play, etc. And they shouldn’t forget to set their own bright example for their progeny.