Essay about Childhood Obesity

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Ending Childhood Obesity

Abstract
This final investigates six published articles, programs, and government sites that focus on teaching children about the important of nutrition, exercise, and self-confidence. The programs such as Let’s Move!, NFL PLAY 60, and “All 4 Kids” focus on educating children and families alike to create households and lifestyles that are truly healthy. Each program has a slightly different definition of their mission but they all lead to wanting the same outcome, defeating childhood obesity. The NFL PLAY 60 focuses more on the physical activity aspect while Eat Right focuses on education families on which foods have the best nutritional value and how they can be served. This paper examines each program’s effort and also takes from other sources that are not quoted and/or focused on such as the CDC (Center for Disease Control) and Alliance For a Healthier Generation.

Question: What is being done to reduce/stop/prevent obesity in children?
Hypothesis: The age of inadequate nutrition and exercise is being addressed by many organizations to put an end to unhealthy lifestyles and childhood obesity. We are fortunate enough to live during a period where food is not hard to find and the price is relatively cheap. However, a lot of the food “created” today is excessively processed and has little nutritional value. It is sweet, salty, and savory and full of unnatural ingredients, fat, and sugar. If we lived in a time where your girth measured your wealth, many of us would be extremely wealthy, but we do not live like that. We have well educated doctors who know the importance of nutrition, exercise, and maintaining a healthy weight throughout our lives. If we know all this information about the importance of a well-balanced diet and that we must only consumer a specific amount of calories per day to maintain a healthy weight, then why are there so many obese people, especially children? One answer to this question is that “food” is too convenient. Now I put the word, food, in quotations because food is a very broad term these days. Food is not just vegetables, fruit, meat, dairy, and grains. It has fruit roll-ups, cheese crackers, sprinkles, syrup, fried chicken, Oreos, and so many other mouthwatering options. You can eat these right out of the package, most do not have to go in the fridge, and the saltiness or sweetness of these options are much more appealing than an apple or carrot. Now, some of us do know better than to eat the fake foods and we understand that “treats” are good in moderation. Besides, why not take advantage of the delicious treats we have created occasionally. Nevertheless, to replace our whole diet with these items is unacceptable. Our bodies are not meant to live of these processed foods and obesity is undoubtedly the end outcome. There is a good portion of us adults who live healthy lifestyles with occasional indulgences, but that is because we have educated ourselves on nutrition, most of us have probably experienced and been able to recognize and acknowledge what processed food does to our bodies. How is a child who is still learning their times tables supposed to be able to understand the importance of healthy eating? They are still learning so many life lessons, the food they eat should not be one of them. However, with too many processed food options available and busy lifestyles that do not have time to sit down and eat a meal together, let alone prepare one, nutritional and physical education have become much more significant. Today kids have unhealthy food options, their free time is spent playing video games from the comfort of their couch, school consists of long hours of sitting, and family time is spent at the movies or out dining. Kids who participate in afterschool activities such as sports or other extracurricular activities get the chance for physical activity, but never every child is fortunate
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