2
Childhood Obesity
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Course
Date
Childhood Obesity
Introduction:
Childhood obesity is one of the health concerns in the United States of America as it puts the lives of many children at risk of developing serious health conditions.
One of the reasons why obesity has become prevalent in the US is the widespread adoption of fast foods for most of the meals that children and adolescents eat.
The need to control the effects of obesity among children in the US prompted the adoption of relevant policies that would reduce the level of fast food consumption (Stokes et al., 2018).
Studying obesity in terms of its symptoms, diagnosis, and cure is one of the approaches that can be taken in reducing its health impacts on children living in the US (Stokes et al., 2018).
The current action plan targets the United States of America as a community for studying and implementing various curative and preventive measures to reduce the effect of obesity among adolescents and children.
Section 1: Symptoms
While obesity can occur in children without showing adverse symptoms except for weight that is above normal, in some cases, binge eating, abdominal obesity, and shortness of breath manifest (Xu & Xue, 2015).
In more adverse situations, obesity in children manifests in form of sleep apnea and (COPD) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Various types of diseases such as bowel, prostate, urine, and breast cancers also manifest as symptoms in adverse stages of obesity.
Other conditions associated with obesity in children, which can be treated as symptoms include type 2 diabetes, problems of gal bladder and liver, depression, gastro-esophageal reflux disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, pain in the knees, and pain in the lower back (Xu & Xue, 2015).
Obesity affects various organs and parts of the body by reducing their functionality (Xu & Xue, 2015).
In this case, the effects of obesity are studied specifically in adolescents and children living in the United States of America.
Section II: Diagnosis
Various factors contribute to the development of obesity in children.
Some of the environmental factors that contribute to obesity in children include reduced dependence on home-cooked foods, the ubiquity of fast foods, increase in food advertising, increase in the number of sugary drinks in the market, the explosion of processed foods that are low-cost, and ease in accessing unhealthy snacks from vending machines in various children-inhibited settings.
Whereas obesity can also be genetically acquired, other societal factors such as acceptance of technologies that reduce physical activities such as computer games expose children to obese conditions.
Other communities such as Kuwait also try to resolve the issue of a growing number of obese children in the country (AlRodhan et al., 2019).
Awareness creation is one of the approaches that have been adopted in reducing the effects of childhood obesity in Kuwait.
Section III: Cure
Whereas childhood obesity has been one of the most persistent health problems in many countries around the world, several strategies can be adopted as curative approaches.
One of the most effective ways of curing obesity in children is improving the diet that the entire families with obese children are dependent on.
Such families should adopt low-carb and low-fat diets (Aldolaim, 2019).
Physicians can also recommend the appropriate physical exercises, limitations to screen time, and other clinical approaches for weight loss
Section IV: Prevention
Preventive approaches can be implemented in ensuring the future generations do not suffer from childhood obesity.
I can prevent the problem in my community by encouraging healthy living options.
Awareness creation can be used as a strategy for encouraging healthy eating behaviors (Aldolaim, 2019).
Good parenting initiatives such as encouraging children to engage in regular physical activities can increase the chances of reducing body fat (Aldolaim, 2019).
Parents can also reduce the length of time that children and teenagers engage in sedentary activities such as watching television, playing computer video games, and surfing the internet (Aldolaim, 2019).
Section V: Timeline
The action plan needs the establishment of adequate timelines for various activities to ensure the childhood obesity problem in the United States of America is effectively addressed.
Activity
Timeline
Campaigning
Public campaigns that include the use of the mainstream media to inform members of the public about the need for leading a healthy lifestyle is a continuous and time-limitless activity.
Education
Educating members of the public to adopt curative measures for their obese children should take at least five years.
Funding
At least three financial years should be considered for organizing the money needed to fund the campaigns, education, and building of the required infrastructure.
Building
Building the required infostructure should take four years.
Implementation
Implementation of curative measures should take four years while prevention measures should be time-limitless.
References
Aldolaim, S. (2019). Parental Perceptions of Childhood Obesity: Systematic Literature Review. Journal of Childhood Obesity, 04(01). https://doi.org/10.36648/2572-5394.4.1.70
AlRodhan, Y., AlAbdeen, Y., Saleh, E., AlFodari, N., AlSaqer, H., Alhumoud, F., & Thalib, L. (2019). Obesity and maternal perception: a cross-sectional study of children aged 6 to 8 years in Kuwait. Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, 25(7), 465-472. https://doi.org/10.26719/emhj.18.060
Stokes, A., Collins, J., Grant, B., Hsiao, C., Johnston, S., & Ammann, E. et al. (2018). Prevalence and Determinants of Engagement with Obesity Care in the United States. Obesity, 26(5), 814-818. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.22173
Xu, S., & Xue, Y. (2015). Pediatric obesity: Causes, symptoms, prevention, and treatment. Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine, 11(1), 15-20. https://doi.org/10.3892/etm.2015.2853