Childhood Obesity
Victor Barnard
Childhood Obesity One of the most vital yet vulnerable parts of our society is our younger generation. An up and coming issue today is childhood obesity mostly because children in this century have been consumed more by video games and television and less by physical activity and nutrition. By targeting an audience of parents, teachers, and children, steps can be taken toward increasing the amount of children who grow up overweight or obese. Steps such as implementing physical activity in school, educating children on the topics and providing nutritious meals. Implementing more physical activity for children would be a great first step towards healthier kids. Today, “the number of adolescents who are overweight has tripled since 1980, and the prevalence among younger children has more than doubled” (Jackson and Torgan). This is a startling statistic that will someday be even scarier if our country does not take advantage of health opportunities. Many schools in the United States have set aside some time during the day when the kids go to gym, and outside for recess. This may be a couple days out of the week, for maybe 15 to 30 minutes, leaving children very lethargic. Then, the children head home after school, and take a seat in front of the television, watching cartoons or playing video games until it’s time for bed. By adding more physical activity during or after school, children will get the exercise needed to keep them healthy. Having the opportunity to keep children moving throughout the day will also help to keep them awake and alert, maximizing their potential for learning. Another approach could be adding exercise clubs after school to postpone the television time waiting at home. Examples of after- school physical activity could be a running club, dance club, biking club, soccer club, etc. This would not cost the schools any extra money, and would be a great way to get children involved in nutrition, while interacting with other
Childhood Obesity One of the most vital yet vulnerable parts of our society is our younger generation. An up and coming issue today is childhood obesity mostly because children in this century have been consumed more by video games and television and less by physical activity and nutrition. By targeting an audience of parents, teachers, and children, steps can be taken toward increasing the amount of children who grow up overweight or obese. Steps such as implementing physical activity in school, educating children on the topics and providing nutritious meals. Implementing more physical activity for children would be a great first step towards healthier kids. Today, “the number of adolescents who are overweight has tripled since 1980, and the prevalence among younger children has more than doubled” (Jackson and Torgan). This is a startling statistic that will someday be even scarier if our country does not take advantage of health opportunities. Many schools in the United States have set aside some time during the day when the kids go to gym, and outside for recess. This may be a couple days out of the week, for maybe 15 to 30 minutes, leaving children very lethargic. Then, the children head home after school, and take a seat in front of the television, watching cartoons or playing video games until it’s time for bed. By adding more physical activity during or after school, children will get the exercise needed to keep them healthy. Having the opportunity to keep children moving throughout the day will also help to keep them awake and alert, maximizing their potential for learning. Another approach could be adding exercise clubs after school to postpone the television time waiting at home. Examples of after- school physical activity could be a running club, dance club, biking club, soccer club, etc. This would not cost the schools any extra money, and would be a great way to get children involved in nutrition, while interacting with other