Childhood Obesity: Cause and Effect

Childhood Obesity: Cause and Effect

December 3, 2012

Childhood Obesity
Gone are the days of children playing hide and seek outside, walking long distances to and from school, walking to a friend’s house to play on the weekends and walking to the bus stop to go to mall with friends and in essence exerting physically. It is rare to find a child carrying a sack lunch to school which would include a healthy lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, an apple and perhaps a cookie or chips being the unhealthiest part of the lunch. Child Obesity is the result of poor nutrition at home and our school system as well as the lack of children playing outside, physical education programs being cut from our schools and technology causing the child to be in front of a computer and sedentary versus outside playing. Awareness of proper nutritional choices for children needs to begin at home and reinforced by offering correct food choices and educated in classrooms to our children in our schools. The results of obese children, specifically teenagers, range from bulimia, poor self-esteem and body dysmorphia as well as physical and emotional health issues. Between the mental and physical issues caused by childhood obesity the problem is one that needs to be dealt with on a global level.
Both genes and environment contribute to obesity, but the interaction is far from simple. Childhood obesity is a multidimensional condition with many interrelated causes. There is considerable evidence that obesity is at least partly genetic. Certain ethnic groups are more susceptible to obesity and obesity-related disorders. Some genes are associated with a higher body mass index. However, the important change in obesity rates over the past 10-20 years speaks against genetic implication and in favor of strong environmental influences. Because of famine in our past, genes that help people to gain weight easily are an asset because they are less likely to starve to death and can pass those genes on to their children. As a result, it is believed that many people now carry these famine resistant genes. But in an environment like ours, where food is abundant and exercise is optional, the genes become a liability (Daneman & Hill, 2006-2007).
Adolescents are particularly susceptible because they follow the direction of peers, parents and society. Children have little or no control over what and when they eat. They tend to have the same eating habits and physical activity as their families which are another, environmental, reason why obesity often runs in the family.
The problem of childhood obesity in the United States has grown considerably in recent years. Between 16 and 33 percent of children and adolescents are obese. Obesity is among the easiest medical conditions to recognize but most difficult to treat. Unhealthy weight gain due to poor diet and lack of exercise is responsible for over 300,000 deaths each year. The annual cost to society for obesity is estimated at nearly $100 billion. Overweight children are much more likely to become overweight adults unless they adopt and maintain healthier patterns of eating and exercise (Obesity in Children and Teens, March 2011). Clinical Psychologist and Adolescent Therapist Suzanne Russell Thornberry states that, “Combining regular exercise with weekly talk sessions in therapy has the best outcome for treating childhood depression and poor body image in obese children (Moreno, Pigeot & Ahrens, 2012). The serotonin release exercise induces is quite productive in treating depression as well as creating a long term goal to accomplish positive weight loss daily and weekly and essentially building positive long term life choices” (S. Thornberry, 2012). When children become goal orientated regarding healthy food choices and exercise regularly the choices become habitual.
Other environmental factors are the cause of childhood obesity as well. There is mounting evidence that the environment in the womb helps to “program” a child’s metabolism. Contact to gestational diabetes or maternal obesity, high birth weight, and intrauterine growth retardation with rapid “catch-up” growth are all associated with obesity in children. However, breastfeeding in early stages may reduce the risk of obesity, as may other health practices like getting enough sleep and eating only when hungry. It is important to point out that there is a small group of children that develop obesity as the result of another medical condition. When assessing a child, the doctor needs to rule out problems such as genetic disorders, endocrine disease, and neurological damage. Certain medications, such as steroids and antidepressants, can also contribute to weight gain or make it difficult to lose weight gained. And some children find it hard to lose weight or become overweight after cancer therapy or neurosurgical procedures. (Daneman & Hill, 2006-2007).
There is increasing evidence indicating that obese adolescents are significantly affected by stigmatization, as they are judged by others to be “unattractive, ugly, lazy, and stupid. As part of stigmatization, obese youth are more likely to be bullied, isolated, and ostracized than average weight peers (Moreno, Pigeot & Ahrens, 2012). Obese children are exposed to negative biases and stereotypes from other children, educators, and parents. During this adolescent developmental period when social relationships are vital in shaping self-identity, the humiliation can impede the adolescents’ social, emotional, and academic achievement. Weight humiliation and mocking are associated with disordered eating patterns, drug use, alcohol use and depression. Teasing of children ages 10-14 overweight in appearance and parental weight criticism are linked with dieting, restrictive eating and poor body image, binge eating, and bulimic behaviors (Moreno, Pigeot & Ahrens, 2012).

Obesity affects more than children’s appearance and the fit of their clothing; it has serious consequences for their health and well-being. When not treated in childhood, adults as well as some children who are obese are more likely to have health problems such as high blood pressure, raised cholesterol and insulin levels, impaired glucose tolerance, type 2 diabetes, bone and joint problems, obstructive sleep apnea, asthma attacks, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, kidney problems and polycystic ovary syndrome. Obese adolescents also encounter psychosocial problems such as poor self-esteem and depression (Daneman & Hamilton, 2006-2007).
Healthy food choices are essential as a child grows. One of the benefits of exercise in controlling obesity is that is does not limit the intake of necessary nutritional elements and, hence, does not compromise growth and development. Moreover, the advancement of physical fitness through exercise may de-emphasize dietary modification behavior in the age group that is prone to develop eating disorders. Exercise in our youth sets the groundwork for a lifetime of physical activity (Amisola & Jacobson, 2003). Once a child learns the value and positive feelings of exercise they will want to exercise to not only control weight but to alleviate stress which is at an all-time high in our children.
Adequate nutrition during adolescence is particularly important because of the rapid growth teenager’s experience. They gain 50 percent of their adult weight and 50 percent of their bone mass during this decade of life. Many studies report that teens consume few fruits and vegetable and are not receiving the calcium, iron, vitamins, or minerals necessary for healthy development (McNeely, C., & Blanchard, J., 2012). Their diets tend to be made up of high-calorie fatty fast foods putting them at a larger risk for obesity.
The biggest health issue on the rise in obese children is diabetes. The research and data shows that statistically 14 percent of all teenagers are overweight. This figure has nearly tripled in the last 20 years. This means that 14% of our teens are at risk for heart disease, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. Type 2 Diabetes has also increased dramatically in teens as a direct result of teen obesity. Additionally, teens who are dealing with teen obesity have a very high probability of being obese as adults further increasing their risk of other serious health problems (Teen Obesity, 2012).
Technology is also a contributing factor to adolescent obesity. The cause of teen obesity is generally lack of physical activity combined with unhealthy eating habits. Society has become a very sedentary. We spend hours sitting in front of computers, video games, or televisions. One survey showed 43% of adolescents watched more than two hours of television per day. (Teen Obesity, 2012) Both parents are busy working sometimes more than full time just to make ends meet. Too many meals are made up of fast food restaurants and eaten on the go in the car creating a sense that what we eat is not important just that we eat as fast as possible. Children have lost the desire and it not as safe for them to play outside. They would rather talk to each other online, text or zone in front of the TV for hours.
Television viewing has been implicated as one of the major factors in the development of obesity in children and adolescents. TV watching is also associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus and atherosclerosis risk factors. With the proliferation of technological devises that are used for entertainment such as high-definition TV, videogames, VCR, DVD, computers, the availability of multiple cable television channels, and hand-held video games, it is not surprising that children are more sedentary. Furthermore, TV viewing encourages unhealthy eating and activity behaviors by giving teens opportunities to sit idle while consuming their favorite snack for several hours each day. Metabolic rate decreases significantly with television watching, making the individual who is frequently in front of the TV prone to increases in weight. Together, these factors create a situation that promotes the development of obesity and the other associated health risks that accompany this condition (Amisola & Jacobson, 2003).
Adolescent obesity has a psychosocial impact on the child that could lead to psychological issues or vice versa. Childhood sexual and physical abuse, neglect and depression could cause weight gain in the future. Understanding the cause of the obesity could help psychologists with interventions at an earlier age before obesity and the repercussions of obesity become harder to deal with later in age. For the children who already suffer from obesity, it is important to identify common psychological problems that they are challenged with. The stigmatization of obesity continues, which puts certain obese children at greater risk for low self-esteem, suicidal thoughts and/or behavior, poor quality of life, poor peer relationships, and disordered eating behaviors (Moreno, Pigeot & Ahrens, 2012). Obesity is a taboo subject to discuss whether we are talking about the physical or emotional repercussions of childhood obesity. However it is necessary to discuss with obese children how they feel emotionally and they experiences they are facing to understand and prevent psychological and sociological anguish.
Changes can be made environmentally to help alleviate adolescent obesity. When it comes to childhood obesity the changes needed have to occur with the entire family. Parents need to lead by example. If a parent exercises than a child will be interested in exercise and physical activity will continue into adulthood. The family should adopt healthy eating habits which include portion control, eating foods that are fresh and nutritious, not skipping breakfast and increasing daily physical activity. In order to implement health habits families need time, money and knowledge. If all families, not just those who are highly motivated and have the necessary resources, are able to develop lifelong healthy habits, we need to work together as a society and educate others (Daneman & Hamilton, 2006-2007).
Childhood Obesity is caused by lack of physical activity combined with unhealthy eating habits and somewhat by genes. Reducing childhood obesity seems at first glance to be a overwhelming task: we are in the midst of ever-increasing rates of overweight and obesity in children and youth, and we are still scraping the surface of understanding cause and effect. But collectively, we have achieved other enormous societal changes that seemed impossible at the start: recycling, car seat and seatbelt use, and smoking reduction, to name only a few. Various levels of government have already made a start, with measures such as banning junk food in schools and creating bike lanes. If we agree that childhood obesity is worth fighting, we can – eventually – overcome it.) (Daneman & Hamilton, 2006-2007). If children are not less active and the inactivity is not causing the obesity then perhaps they are eating more food than usual. The statistics on how fast our society is becoming obese and how many people globally, not just American’s, are making improper choices for food and therefore the rate of obesity rising in other countries is alarming. Life is moving at a much faster rate in our society due to technological advances. With everything at our fingertips we tend to act more sedentary. Teenager’s texting each other in another room rather than getting up and walking to the other room to converse is causing them to be lazy. Combine that attitude with poor eating habits and we have all the reasons for obesity to occur. The effects of childhood obesity will certainly carry over into adulthood if left untreated and old habits unchanged. Health care costs will continue to go up. Poor self-esteem will lead to a less productive individual and perhaps a more depressed human being. Bulimia, anorexia and body dysmorphia is also at an all-time high. The issue of childhood obesity needs to be addressed as a society on a global level. The sooner the better!

References

Amisola, R. V. B., & Jacobson, M. S. (2003). Physical activity, exercise, and sedentary activity: Relationship to the causes and treatment of obesity. Adolescent Medicine, 14(1), 23-23. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/215205236?accountid=32521
Daneman, D. & Hamilton, J. (2006-2007). Causes and consequences of childhood obesity. About kids health. Retrieved from http://www.aboutkidshealth.ca/En/News/Columns/PaediatriciansCorner/Pages/Causes-and-consequences-of-childhood-obesity.aspx
McNeely, C., & Blanchard, J. (2012). The Teen Years Explained: A Guide to Healthy Adolescent Development. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Retrieved from http://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/center-for-adolescent-health/_includes/Obesity_Standalone.pdf
Moreno, L. A., Pigeot, I. & Ahrens, W. (2012). Epidemiology of Obesity in Children and Adolescents: Prevalence and Etiology. Retrieved from Suzanne Thornberry library.
Obesity in Children and Teens (March 2011). American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. Retrieved from http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/facts_for_families/obesity_in_children_and_teens
S. Thornberry (personal communication, November 23, 2012)
Teen Obesity (2012). Teen Help.com. Retrieved from http://www.teenhelp.com/teen-health/teen-obesity.html

References: Amisola, R. V. B., & Jacobson, M. S. (2003). Physical activity, exercise, and sedentary activity: Relationship to the causes and treatment of obesity. Adolescent Medicine, 14(1), 23-23. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/215205236?accountid=32521 Daneman, D. & Hamilton, J. (2006-2007). Causes and consequences of childhood obesity. About kids health. Retrieved from http://www.aboutkidshealth.ca/En/News/Columns/PaediatriciansCorner/Pages/Causes-and-consequences-of-childhood-obesity.aspx McNeely, C., & Blanchard, J. (2012). The Teen Years Explained: A Guide to Healthy Adolescent Development. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Retrieved from http://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/center-for-adolescent-health/_includes/Obesity_Standalone.pdf Moreno, L. A., Pigeot, I. & Ahrens, W. (2012). Epidemiology of Obesity in Children and Adolescents: Prevalence and Etiology. Retrieved from Suzanne Thornberry library. Obesity in Children and Teens (March 2011). American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. Retrieved from http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/facts_for_families/obesity_in_children_and_teens S. Thornberry (personal communication, November 23, 2012) Teen Obesity (2012). Teen Help.com. Retrieved from http://www.teenhelp.com/teen-health/teen-obesity.html