Childhood Obesity

Children in America are on the top of the list of children who are suffering from obesity.

One of our government reforms has been on the campaign to stop childhood obesity in our
school system. “Childhood obesity is increasing worldwide, raising alarm about future trends
of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer.”(Maziak, Stock, and Ward 2009) Childhood
obesity seems to be at its worse in developed countries that have access to greasy and fatty
foods like McDonald’s, Burger King, or Kentucky Fried Chicken. We will explore the causes
of obesity such as a parental influence, a gestational influence, and a societal influence. We
will also discuss different ways to prevent childhood obesity among our youth and how to find
healthy alternatives.

One of the causes of childhood obesity in young children could be from the types of food
that the mother ate while the child was still in the womb. Many expecting mothers believe that
they should eat more because they are eating for two people, which in many cases this can be
unhealthy for the mother. Gestational Diabetes can be passed along from the mother to the child
during pregnancy. In most cases Gestational Diabetes is resolved at the end of the pregnancy, but
for some mothers who are morbidly obese, they are at higher risk of keeping diabetes after the
pregnancy, compared to women with normal pregnancy body mass indexes. It is also said that
some obese mothers can pass diabetes on to their unborn children. (Tieu, Middleton, McPhee,
Crowther 2010)

Most women that breastfeed usually have a higher weight loss than women who formula
feed. I believe breastfeeding may be beneficial in slowing down the excessive weight gain in
children, which in turn reduces the risk of future childhood obesity and type 2 Diabetes. “Several
recent large studies have examined whether breast-feeding might have a protective influence
on subsequent childhood obesity. Most studies suggest a protective effect of... [continues]

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