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Free Example of The Child Obesity Problem Essay
The end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century has seen enormous technological development and an expansion of globalization campaign. The life of people across the globe has continued to be enhanced by these developments with an increase in efficiency in the production world. As a result, people have invented ways of making their lives as comfortable as possible. One area that has experienced tremendous technological transformation is the medical world. However, irrespective of these developments, human health continues to face numerous challenges in terms health. One of these challenges is obesity among children.
During the Second World War in the 1940s, the United States military complained about the weight of young people that were being recruited to join the military. Most of these young people were underweight and they could not be recruited to go and fight for their country. However, recent reports indicate an opposite trend. In reference to Kalb (2010), there have been concerns about the weight of young people who are willing to join the military since many of them are overweight and they cannot be recruited into the military to go and fight for their country. On the other hand, there have been serious concerns in the medical world over the number of children that have been diagnosed with diseases such as diabetes and heart attack that are associated with obesity (Schlosser 242). As if this is not enough, the number of children between the ages of 6 years to 10 years who have lost their lives as a result of their weight is on the rise.
Government spending on children has also increased in the recent past. More money is being channeled into the healthcare of children and specifically to deal with their health in terms of weight (Schlosser 242). These concerns are able to create a clear picture in the mind of the society in regard to the looming calamity that the American people have been facing each and every day. Whereas the 1990s was characterized with the fear of HIV/AIDS as a killer disease, there is a possibility that the number of children who are affected by obesity who will die in a near future will surpass the number of deaths of cancer and HIV/AIDS combined. Nearly every child in the United States is at a risk of being affected by obesity.
Child obesity can be termed in the modern America as one of the most serious calamity that threatens every sector in this nation. Statistics that have been produced recently indicate that 75% of young people who are between the age of 17 years and 24 years are ineligible to join the military, not because they lack educational qualification but because they are obese. Statistics also show that obesity cases have more than tripled in the last 30 years and these cases are still rising. Overall, it was argued that 60% of the United States child population was obese or were on the path of becoming obese. According to Burns et al. (2009), about 25% of children between the ages of 2 years to 6 years suffered from obesity (17). This figure slightly rose among children between the ages 6 years to 11 years with an average of 37% having been affected while 38% of children between the ages 12 years and 19 years were affected (17).
There is no one that can ignore these figures. The government has realized that obesity is a serious threat and the time has come that the society too realizes that its future is being threatened by obesity. With this in mind, an understanding of the causes of obesity in the United States would act as an important approach towards finding an appropriate solution to this calamity. To begin with, fast food is no doubt whatsoever that it is the major cause of obesity among children. The current American society has been characterized with efficiency and time keeping. As a result, this society is endowed with a particular form of swiftness that does not only enhance its productivity but also creates an opportunity for health calamities. Schlosser (2001) asserts that more and more Americans are finding it easy to consume food that can be prepared easily and faster (3).
One of the issues that worsen the situation is the fact that the production of fast foods has become an industry that is stooped to making profits at the expense of the lives of people. Worse still is the fact that those that have been targeted are young children who are unable to make informed choices about what is healthy to them and what is not. According to Schlosser (2001), since the 1970s, the entry of a lot of women into the workforce as a result of the feminist wave that rocked across the United States in the 1960s and 1970s has necessitated people to seek for services that were previously performed by housewives such as cooking (4). However, those that have been on the receiving end are children. It is important for one to understand that whereas both children and adults were affected by fast foods, children were more affected as compared to adults. Similarly, the number of adults who were in a position to control their intake of fast foods was far much higher as compared to children.
Children in America have been found to choose fast foods as an option for their diet as a result of the way these foods have been presented to them through the adverts in the media and they way they have been displayed in restaurants. These foods that comprise mainly of meat and potatoes have been found to be sweeter to the tongue, yet the fat content in them poses a serious risk to human health and in this particular case the young children (Schlosser 111). Therefore, whereas the issue may be taken lightly by the society, the risk that it poses to the young children and overall continuation of the future society cannot be fathomed. Nevertheless, the government and the society cannot sit back and watch how the issue of obesity unfolds. Something has to be done, at least to slow it down if at all it cannot be eradicated. The question that one is left asking is; how can obesity problems be solved in the current society of the United States of America? What approach should be taken in a quest to eradicate this problem?
