Supersized Children: a Blind Form of Child Abuse
John Aagesen
Professor Burns
English 1020
7 May 2012
Supersized Children: A Blind Form of Child Abuse
Childhood obesity is a form of child abuse and act of neglect that directly correlates to poor parenting and lack of attention to young children’s diets. Furthermore, fast food advertising agencies should be just as guilty of child abuse as some parents, due to the fact they specifically market cheap, harmful, and unhealthy foods to today’s youth. Additionally, the government is partially to blame for kindergarten through 12th grade aged kids becoming morbidly obese because of the bill that Obama passed called, The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. The three groups of adults previously listed above have direct affects on children’s dietary habits and all play an active role in morbidly obese youth. Poor parenting, fast food companies, and the government are all to blame for the rising obesity rates in the United States; however, should these three groups of people with power be facing charges of child abuse or neglect? Should children who are forced to eat unhealthy food for lunch in public schools have to suffer lifelong health issues because of poor decisions made by adults, over which they had no control?
There are many health risks associated with being morbidly obese at a young age. According to L. J. Lloyd, being overweight as a child can lead to the risk of developing adult metabolic syndrome. The adult metabolic syndrome is a multiplex risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The studies in which Lloyd and his partners conducted have shown that overweight youth are more likely to develop the disease; however, there are some areas that remain unclear and question the relationship. One particular study which Lloyd researched at Nottingham University stated, “the four papers that considered metabolic syndrome as an end point, none showed evidence of an independent association with childhood obesity” (Lloyd 2). Interestingly, these four
Professor Burns
English 1020
7 May 2012
Supersized Children: A Blind Form of Child Abuse
Childhood obesity is a form of child abuse and act of neglect that directly correlates to poor parenting and lack of attention to young children’s diets. Furthermore, fast food advertising agencies should be just as guilty of child abuse as some parents, due to the fact they specifically market cheap, harmful, and unhealthy foods to today’s youth. Additionally, the government is partially to blame for kindergarten through 12th grade aged kids becoming morbidly obese because of the bill that Obama passed called, The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. The three groups of adults previously listed above have direct affects on children’s dietary habits and all play an active role in morbidly obese youth. Poor parenting, fast food companies, and the government are all to blame for the rising obesity rates in the United States; however, should these three groups of people with power be facing charges of child abuse or neglect? Should children who are forced to eat unhealthy food for lunch in public schools have to suffer lifelong health issues because of poor decisions made by adults, over which they had no control?
There are many health risks associated with being morbidly obese at a young age. According to L. J. Lloyd, being overweight as a child can lead to the risk of developing adult metabolic syndrome. The adult metabolic syndrome is a multiplex risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The studies in which Lloyd and his partners conducted have shown that overweight youth are more likely to develop the disease; however, there are some areas that remain unclear and question the relationship. One particular study which Lloyd researched at Nottingham University stated, “the four papers that considered metabolic syndrome as an end point, none showed evidence of an independent association with childhood obesity” (Lloyd 2). Interestingly, these four