Review on Childhood Obesity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Review on Childhood Obesity - Essay ExampleMoreover, the effect this disease has on children is far more complicated. Clearly, there is a dearth in the literature regarding childhood fleshiness. In devote to address this problem, this essay will review the current literature available regarding childhood obesity and its central causes. It aims to provide a sketch regarding the topic, and mark the starting point for possible research directions that could be taken to better understand the disease, and hopefully treat and prevent it in the future.Child obesity is one of the most(prenominal) challenging issues facing healthc atomic number 18 providers today. It has become an epidemic not only in North America, tho in the whole world as well. According to statistics, approximately 22 million children under 5 years of age are overweight across the world, where the number of overweight children and adolescents has doubled in the inhabit two to three decades, including in developing countries and regions where an increase in Western behavioral and dietary lifestyles is unembellished (Deckelbaum & Williams, 2001). According to Ganz (2003),Overweight is the most common health problem among young people in the fall in States today. In the past three decades, the proportion of overweight children and adolescents has increased 2- to 3-fold. Currently, 15% of children are overweight, with a equivalent number who are heavy enough to be at risk for obesity. Overweight in childhood confers a greater risk for adult obesity, as well as a number of opposite chronic health conditions. Clearly, overweight is a major heath issue facing our nation.In addition, the ledger article, Childhood Obesity Future Directions and Research Priorities (Hill, 1998), also warns of the expectation that the next generation of children is likely to be fatter and less fit than the current generation due to the low priority given to childhood obesity in the ordinary agenda. The authors argu e for the need to prioritize research agendas in the future, particularly in the etiology, treatment, and streak of childhood obesity and the need to move the issue of childhood obesity higher in the public agenda.Schonfeld-Warden & Warden (1997), in another study entitled Pediatric Obesity An Overview of Etiology and Treatment, also indicates that the primary reasons for the increase upward trends of child obesity are the combination of sedentary behaviors and diet. He argues that fat content in American diets has increased because more foods with higher fat contents are now available. Unfortunately, finding an in force(p) treatment for the disease is a daunting task. According to Tanios (2000), there are three reasons why it has been nasty for people today to treat obesity, he enumerates (1) the disinterest society has had on the disease because it was never considered as a major health problem before (2) the availability of refined foods abundant today and (3) the propensity for the disease to be inherited. Obesity, and child obesity in particular, is therefore a complex disease, and underlying causes for it are poorly understood. Nature vs. Nurture The Interplay of FactorsIn order to understand the complexity of child obesity as a disease, it is imperative to first identify the cause of the disease. There are two general arguments that let off the cause of obesity. On the one hand, there is the contention that obesity is caused by a