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Thinking of an epidemic, AIDS, Ebola and all kinds of incurable and widespread diseases will usually be the first examples that come to people’s mind. Yet obesity has become the “new epidemic” that has infected countless numbers of people from different countries, races, and social classes. Currently, the group of people that is in the most danger of obesity is children and adolescents ranging between the ages of 2 and 19. In the past quarter century, the number of overweight children has grown from one in twenty to nearly one in five, infecting 12.7 million, or 16.9 percent of the young population (Karson). Governments and parents are struggling with the cause and prevention of this ‘new epidemic’, at the same time eager to find a solution. As a result, new ways to lose weight are developed every day from low-fat milk to fat-burning exercise, however, kids are still getting bigger and sicker.
Childhood obesity has now become a pressing public health challenge with many probable causes and no specific solution. If left untreated childhood obesity can cause serious damage both physically and mentally. There are many misconceptions surrounding the issue of childhood obesity. Understanding these misconceptions will help in solving the real problem behind obesity. One common misconception of obesity is that it is directly related to the increasing amount of fat in people’s bodies. For children and teenagers, gaining a substantial amount of fat and weight is not completely bad. This group of individuals must gain weight as they grow. Having an adequate amount of fat during early antenatal development is critically important for the maximum growth of key organs. Throughout the growth period in which an infant becomes an adolescent, the differences between healthy weight gains and unhealthy weight gains should be keenly observed. It therefore follows that the onset of obesity will require the expert eye of a pediatrician or family physician. A five-pound weight gain in one five-year-old child may be healthier for one, but not for another child of the same age (Moglia). Fat is important for children’s early development, whereas an excessive amount is problematic.
Many variables specific to each individual should be considered when diagnosing obesity in children. Another explanation of childhood is even further from the truth. In this case, the cause of obesity is classified into two categories: having a voracious appetite and lack of exercise. In other words, the universal solution to childhood obesity, or even obesity, in general, is to eat less and exercise more. This simple way of looking at the problem is equivalent to putting more weight on the shoulders of obese children. It makes one conclude that obesity is led by laziness, unambitiousness, and lack will willpower. In fact, burning a twenty-ounce coke requires a child to bike for an hour and fifteen minutes, one cookie equals approximately twenty minutes of jogging and one medium french fry corresponds with an hour and twelve minutes of swimming (Juna). It is obvious that children are not going to exercise their way out of obesity, considering how time-consuming it could be. One failure generated by this explanation is the energy-balancing ideology that has been pushed on overweight children. It entails calculating calories in and calories out. Coupled with high-intensity daily exercise has become the norm to the weight loss journey yet not much difference is made. Moreover, obesity is showing up in infants that are only six months old, who cannot be expected to go on a diet or do exercise (Moglia).
Among the many causes of childhood obesity, energy balance is the most obvious, but definitely not the most notable one. Identifying the primary cause of obesity requires in-depth research beyond what meets the eye. Exercise alone without a proper diet cannot solve the epidemic of obesity in children. Examining where children consume the most food, the school cafeteria is definitely at the top of the list. Karson points out that “an estimated 55 million American children attend elementary or secondary school, where they spend, on average, six hours a day. Most will eat at least one meal at school, along with snacks” (Karson). It is evident that schools are responsible for a crucial role in children’s diet; however, most of them fail to provide students with a healthy and balanced meal.
Alternatively, children who eat lunch at school are being provided high-calorie food with little nutrients. French fries, cheeseburgers, pizzas chips are some of the most popular lunch items found in schools all across America. Schanzenbach and Diane Whitmore did research on elementary school-aged students from different races and income levels regarding their nutrition intake and obesity rate compared to whether or not they eat at school. The result suggested that children who eat school lunches consume an extra 60 or so calories per day, in the most extreme cases school lunches could add 120 extra calories to students’ diet (Schanzenbach). From the statistics of the research, Schanzenbach also addressed the relationship between weight and calorie intake, she claims that as few as 40 additional calories per day could increase obesity rates among children by two percent while school lunch could potentially double or even triple that number. Based on the research data, Schanzenbach concludes that students who eat school lunches gain more weight after starting school than students who “brown bag” their lunches (Schanzenbach). It is clear that schools are unable to create a healthy environment for students, instead add more calories to students’ diet, accelerating the obesity rate. Food processing companies have also been in the limelight in contributing to childhood obesity. Besides trying to sell processed food to children through school, the food industry also grasps every opportunity to market its brand and target children for unhealthy products.
According to the Interagency Working Group on Foods Marketed to Children “children and adolescents see roughly four thousand televised food commercials each year. Nearly 98 percent of these ads feature fast foods or processed foods high in sugar, fat, and salt” (Karson). Considering the astonishing amount of advertisements for unhealthy food watched by children, it is nearly unavoidable. Food commercials are seen everywhere and are designed to be specifically appealing to young kids. Children are therefore always surrounded by these food adverts both at school, at home, and along their roads. Making a good food choice therefore becomes a big problem for these kids. Karson points out that “the Coca-Cola Company spent close to $3.5 billion in advertising on average each year, over $2 billion is aimed directly at the nation’s youth. On top of this, the fast-food industry spends more than $5 million every day marketing its food to children and teens” (Karson). The financial commitment and giant quantity show that big food makers are deliberately trying to maximize the influence of their food products on the young generation for their own interest. The advertising budget of food companies is used to pay for high-priced celebrity endorsements or collaborate with social media platforms.
Through radio, magazines, celebrity endorsements, toys, collectibles, clothing, contests, and games children are continuously exposed to countless food ads. Those ads may contain their favorite cartoon media characters, such as SpongeBob or Shrek, and brand mascots, such as Tony the Tiger, might be emblazoned on the packaging of many sugary cereals and unhealthy snack food to further sway children’s preferences (Karson). Target what kids are most attracted to and use them as mediums of advertisement which is crossing the line. Researchers at the University of Madison-Wisconsin and the University of Michigan confirm that “children as young as two and three started to recognize brands. Preschoolers recognize brand names and symbols, and they are increasingly willing and able to make judgments about products and people based on associations with those brands” (Dell’Antonia). This sophisticated, relentless, and aggressive way of marketing junk food to children is immoral. The consequence of immersing kids in junk food shapes the way they think about food. When they become adults, their shopping patterns will remain basically the same. The stimulation created in the form of advertisements will leave us with one of the greatest public health at our time. The reason why children should be kept away from processed food is that processed food is usually high in sugar.
More specifically added sugar that was put in foods during preparation or processing or added to foods at the table, most commonly found on the food label as high fructose syrup (Ervin). The difference between added sugar and natural sugar is that natural sugar found mainly in fruits or nuts is always consumed along with fiber. Because of the fiber contained, food will not be absorbed so easily and blood sugar will rise lower and for longer. On the other hand, when drinking a can of Coke which does not have any fiber it is absorbed immediately through the portal system to the liver. Therefore, the liver will experience a big sugar rush which leaves it no choice but to turn the added sugar into fat using insulin hormone. This concept emphasizes the consumption of natural sugars to added sugars, reducing added sugars in children’s diets would be a revolutionary step in lowering the childhood obesity rate. Added sugar not only transform into fat after entering children’s body, but it is also highly addictive. A high level of insulin hormone will block the brain from the signal of satiety, advising children to always come back for more (Karson). According to researchers at Princeton University “when the animals ingest large amounts of sugar, their brains undergo changes similar to the changes in the brains of people who abuse illegal drugs like cocaine and heroin” (Black). Scientific research and biological facts have proven that food can be made hyper-palatable using added sugar. This method attracts teenagers the same way drugs control users by abducting their brains. The addictive nature of added sugar has changed the diet of children and adolescents fundamentally in a harmful way.
The World Health Organization recommended that ten percent of people’s daily diet should be sugar. Yet Ervin’s data regarding consumption of added sugar among boys and girls aged from two years old to nineteen years old suggested that “Boys consumed an average of 16.3% of their calories from added sugars, while girls consumed an average of 15.5% of their calories from added sugars. And the percent of calories contributed by added sugars increased linearly with age for boys and girls”(Ervin). The territory of sugar has on children and adolescents’ daily diet is expanding along with their age as they have been exposed to more processed and nutrition-empty food. Furthermore, the added sugar in the three meals of a typical high school student measured to be forty-one tablespoons. Whereas the American Heart Association’s daily allowance of sugar is only six to nine tablespoons (Ervin). Childhood obesity doesn’t happen in one meal, it happens in a thousand. Whereas sugar is with every meal, added to children’s diet in a quantity way above what is necessary or the standard guideline. Sugar is not only one of the main causes of childhood obesity but also the driving force of many health issues such as chronic and metabolic diseases as an aftershock of obesity. According to the CDC, “chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease are now the leading cause of death and disability in the United States, expected to soon overtake smoking as the leading cause of preventable death” (Karson). The prevalence of obesity also comes with the rise of diabetes, it is scary to think teenagers could be the patient of such a life-threatening disease. Type 2 diabetes used to be called adult-onset diabetes, unheard of among teenagers, diagnosed primarily in middle-aged, overweight adults.
Today teenagers represent a full third of all new cases. Thirty years ago cases of Type 2 diabetes among adolescents were zero, along with the proliferation of obesity, in 2010 fifty-seven thousand six hundred and thirty-eight cases were identified (Karson). The hazard of obesity is quickly encroaching on the health of children and adolescents at a very young age, ruining children’s lives in an unstoppable manner. More and more children and adolescents have become victim of diabetes and other chronic diseases, and most of them fail to realize these diseases comes hand in hand with severe disorders that could destroy children’s future. Robert H. Lustig a pediatric endocrinologist and an expert on childhood obesity observes that “childhood obesity is like what happens if suddenly a massive number of young children started chain smoking. At first, the public health impact is hardly visible to most people. But years later it would translate into emphysema, heart disease, strokes, and cancer, all of which have a huge effect on life expectancy” (Karson). People should not wait to see the disadvantages before they start acting. Being able to recognize the ultimate damage childhood obesity have on children and what is behind the added weight will help people understand how children’s entire life could be changed by being obese.
A 2005 study in the New England Journal of Medicine reported that “American children today will be the first generation in two centuries to live sicker and die younger than their parents” (Karson). The immediate effect and future impact of childhood obesity on children and adolescents’ health can be easily ignored or underestimated, yet the long-term disadvantage of obesity for children is compatible with smoking, interfering with their quality of life and their mobility. As a physical condition, obesity not only possesses negative effects on children and adolescents’ health but also poses threats to their mental health no less than physical syndromes. One reason why obesity could cause mental issues is that individuals who are dissatisfied with their bodies are more likely to engage in higher levels of unhealthy eating behaviors (Blanco). Given that overweight teenagers are most likely to demonstrate body dissatisfaction, their mental state is, particularly of concern. Moglia suggests that“those psychosocial problems could lead to poor body image, low self-esteem, social isolation, recurrent anger, early forms of eating disorders, clinical depression, and negatively acting out in school and other social settings” (Moglia).
The mentality of overweight teenagers is put at high risk because of the disappointment they have for themselves and the fat clinging to their bodies. The shame and humiliation they go through are worse than the effect of fat on their biological systems. Childhood obesity is an ongoing battle for all that is involved. Despite feeling hopeless watching the weight stack against children’s health, many people and departments are taking action as a society and improving the condition for better and healthier eating. Robert Woods Johnson’s article confirms that “childhood obesity rates have declined in some cities, counties, and states” after trying to enhance the environment (Johnson). These places have made broad, sweeping changes to make healthy foods available in schools and communities and integrate physical activity into people’s daily lives. Some of their strategies include implementing state-level legislation or local wellness policies to create healthier schools and child-care centers (Johnson). Fresh, healthy, and affordable foods are brought to children as well as their parents. These interventions will help form a long-term healthy lifestyle. There are also revolutionary food fighters, who are not waiting on government action. Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver and football star Steven Gerrard have joined forces with leading figures in health and education to ask the Government to fight obesity through cookery teaching in schools. During Oliver and Gerrard’s campaign, they educated children about what is actually inside the products they eat daily, the toxic effects of sugar, and how to feed kids with real food on a budget (Mandal). The campaigners reason that “Teaching children through the National Curriculum how to prepare nutritious meals for themselves and their families would be an important step in tackling the rising obesity epidemic” (Mandal).
In contrast, without these skills, people are less likely to carry out meaningful control over their diet and food intake and tend to rely on pre-prepared or takeaway foods (Mandal). Impacting knowledge of healthy eating in a nationwide campaign with celebrity influences towards the schools, and families, not only helps obese kids fight their battle but also prevents obesity from occurring. Childhood obesity remains an unsolved puzzle, but many pieces are being found and pieced together to trace some of the leading causes and mental and physical disorders of this public health challenge. Examining the latest research, it is clear that the food industry has placed private profit and special interests ahead of public health. This failure resulted in the incapability to properly modify the school nutrition system and ban junk food advertising to children, jeopardizing their health. Yet between the complexity and health risks of childhood obesity lies some hope, which is generated by activities that strive to build a brighter and greener future for children. Remarkable progress is being made, but there is a long way to go and a lot left to do in order to save children entirely from obesity. What if fast food chains are banned from all public schools? What if every time a celebrity endorsed a soft drink they also have to pitch a vegetable? What if every harmful processed food came with a warning sign from a surgeon general? How many lives of children could be saved?
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