This document discusses childhood obesity and its rise in the United States. Some key points: - Over 1/3 of US children are considered obese, nearly tripling since the 1970s. Obesity is linked to health risks like diabetes and high blood pressure. - Obesity is rising across all ages, races, and genders. It costs over $100 billion annually in medical costs. - In Georgia specifically, thousands of toddlers, third graders, middle and high schoolers are considered obese according to various programs. - To curb obesity, a healthy diet and exercise are needed from an early age to prevent health and financial issues into adulthood.

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Eric Degen
British Lit
Mrs. Maxwell
October 4, 2011
Childhood Obesity
Have you noticed the copious amounts of overweight and obese people in the world
today? Overweight is defined as having excessive body weight for a particular height from
muscle, bone, water, or a combination of these factors, as stated by J. Roach. Roach also states
that obesity is defined as having excess body fat. Overweight and obesity isa result of caloric
imbalance, which means that one is not burning off as many calories as they are receiving per
day. Therefore, the calorie build up causes body fat. Being obese is not only in one age group,
race or sex. Obesity can occur to anyone at anytime. In conclusion, it is essential to monitor ones
calorie intake, as well as to have a good diet and regular exercise.
Obesity has been monitored for several decades. Recently, there has been a huge spike in
the chat that was found on the national obesity website. Obesity is climbing at a very unhealthy
rate. For example, the number of overweight children and adolescents in the United States has
nearly tripled since the early 1970’s. This is an astonishing fact and thousands of people would
have never known. This shows that people do not know much about their health or about the
United States health statistics. Today, more than one third of children and adolescents are
considered to suffer from the medical term obesity, states Roach in his article of statistics about
childhood obesity. Roach expresses his concern about the health of the children in the United

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States by trying to get the word out to help these children in need. This statistic shows that
parents are slacking and they need to encourage their children to get active and participate in
sports. Therefore, it is going to take drastic changes in diet and a different active schedule to get
these children into a healthier body.
There are thousands of ways to die in the modern day United States. The March 2004
Journal of the American Medical Association reported that poor diet and physical inactivity soon
could overtake tobacco as the leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States of
America. This means that obesity could have more casualties that drunk driving or any other
forms of car crash. Unhealthy weight gain due to poor diet and lack of exercise is responsible for
more than 300,000 deaths in America each year. There is no reason for someone to die from
eating the wrong foods and or lack of activity. In conclusion, America should do whatever it
takes to help reduce the number of lives we lose every year to obesity and cardiovascular
problems due to being overweight.
Being obese does not only make one feel bad about themselves and give them low self
esteem but it also has very serious medical conditions that go along with it. During their youth,
overweight children and adolescents are more likely to have risk factors associated with
cardiovascular disease, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and type two diabetes.
People do not understand the risks that are involved in being obese and not being active in
anyway. If people were more informed about the risks vs. the reward of being obese, we would
not have nearly as many obese people. Obesity is among the easiest medical condition to
recognize but is one of the most difficult to treat. There are copious amounts of drugs and pills
that clam to make one lose weight in a certain amount of time. Those pills and drugs don’t do
anything for you but make one spend their money and still be obese. The only way to lose weight

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and not be obese is to monitor what one eats with a good diet plan and have regular active
exercise. Childhood obesity has been linked to diabetes, high blood pressure, depression,
anxiety, and poor academic performance, states Alan. Therefore, if children know the facts about
obesity they would not sit inside all day and waste their time on a video game.
When one compares different age groups to other age groups, one can find several
interesting statistics. Over the past three decades, the childhood obesity rate has more than
doubled for preschool children aged two to five and adolescents twelve to nineteen and it has
nearly tripled for children six to eleven years old. This statistic shows that every year more and
more children are becoming obese and overweight. There are several plausible explanations for
this sudden rise in the obesity rate, such as several hundred breakthroughs in technology, as well
as the convince of fast food restraints. The obesity epidemic has affected both boys and girls and
has occurred in all ages, race, and ethnic groups throughout the United States of America. This
proves that it does not matter where one grew up or it does not matter how old you are. Obesity
is everyone and will continue to increase unless one can help the obese. At present,
approximately nine million children over the age of six are considered to be obese at the medical
standard. This is truly a very sad and bad statement that other countries use to judge the United
States. In summary, neither age nor gender affects the obesity rate in the United States of
America.
Not only is being obese very harmful to one health, but it is also very expensive.
Overweight children are much more likely to become overweight adults unless they adopt and
maintain healthier patterns of eating and exercise. This statement is very true because once
someone gets obese; they become much more timid and to scared to go to the gym because they
are worried about what people will think about them. Obese children need to change their ways

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otherwise they will end up as obese adults. The annual cost to society for obesity is estimated at
nearly $100 Billion dollars says Barnes of the Stop Childhood Obesity program. $100 billion
dollars is a huge waste of money if it just goes for medical equipment and such for obese
patients. Not only does it cost a lot to become obesity but it also cost a lot to have surgeries for
obesity. The estimated average hospital length of a stay for obese individuals is 85% longer than
a normal weighted individual nationwide. There is no positive side to being an obese individual
except the intimation factor.
No where is exempted from obesity, not even the state of Georgia. 15,000 (15%) of
children aged two to four just in the WIC program are obese. It is truly amazing how there are
fifteen thousand toddlers that are overweight just in the state of Georgia. One would think that
the parents would do a better job of trying to keep their kids active. 28,000 (24%) of just third
graders are obese in Georgia. Out of 117,600 third graders in the state of Georgia, there are
28,000 that are obese. 43,000 middle school students are obese in the state of Georgia. Middle
school students should not be obese because a gym class is necessary for them every year.
62,000 high school students are obese in Georgia. High school students should not be obese
because of everyone trying to be popular and trying to fit in. Therefore, school systems in
Georgia need to specialize on obesity and overweight and try to help kids get into a healthier
way of life.
Just about everything has gone up with the economy, including the price of health care.
Hospital costs due to obesity related diseases in children increases from $35 million during 1979
to1981 to $127 million during 1997 to 1999. This proves that it is a very horrid thing to be obese
and try to pay for all the medical bills. Part of this reason is because people are too lazy to get up

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off the cough and be active and try to lose some weight to try to save some money. Inclusion, if
one is obese; it is advised to lose weight for the finical side of obesity.
Obese people will blame there obesity on thousands of different possible escape goats.
For example, two in five Georgia middle school students (44%) and high school students (43%)
watch television for three or more hours on a school day. Not only does watching television
contribute to making oneself obese, but it also distracts from doing their homework; resulting in
poor academic performance. Four out of every six people eat fast food twice a week. Due to fast
food being so convenient and cheap, one would mistake it as a good substitute than a home
cooked dinner. Not only does technology contribute to obesity and poor academic performance
but fast food also helps people gain weight. In summary, obesity is not what one should look
forward to or try to encourage.
In conclusion, being obese not only puts one at risk for very serious medical problems but
it also is a serious drain on a financial level. When I was a little boy, my father was very obese
and would not stop eating. I did not know what to do to help him get on the correct path to fix his
life. Therefore, I told my father that I wanted to be like him and be obese. He finally realized that
his obesity was not just affecting himself, but it was affecting everyone around him. He is now in
the best shape of his life and is as healthy as a vegetable. What can we do to help prevent obesity
in the world today?