Visual Argument

English 102
Professor Jolly
1 May 2007
Assignment Four
Teen Obesity
We as Americans tend to have this idea that being overweight as a child or a teen is no big deal. We ignore the problem by stating, he or she will grow out of being overweight as they get older. This is not always the case. The fact is, a percentage of children and teenagers on the United States are obese and many in the percentile will become overweight or obese in adulthood. The importance of having a healthy body should be taught to children at an early age. Over 16 percent of children and teens in the United Sates are obese and more than 30 percent are overweight.
Obesity is an excessive accumulation of body fat, which results in individuals being at least “20 percent heavier than their ideal body weight” (Haakonson p.1). Obesity is usually cased by an individual’s eating more food than is necessary for him or her. Obesity is growing problem among children and teens. It is a common eating disorder associated with adolescence, being overweight or obese can weaken physical health and well being as well as shorten life expectancy. Children are more likely to be involved in bullying other normal weight children or in more cases than others, may become the individual that is being bullied.
In the 1980’s the obesity rate was lower than 6 percent. On the following page is a graph of overweight children now compare to then. This is due to more physical activity in children. I can remember waking up on Saturday mornings to the sound of kids playing outside. This usually took place at about 7a.m. Kids in my generation were usually outside playing before eating breakfast and play would go on all day until being called inside by a parent. Today the neighborhood streets are damn near empty all day. It is very rare now to see children at play on a Saturday morning and we owe this is due to the discovery of cable, video games, computer, cd players and television. The average American child spends several hours each day watching television; these are hours that could be used for physical activity.
Health risks associated with being over weight are high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease etc. to name a few. These health problems will usually follows the child into adulthood if the problem is fixed. “In the past few years, Type 2 diabetes has risen dramatically among children and adolescents” (Kendall p. 1). Experts believe this increase is due to the high rate of overweight and obesity. Social and psychological consequences are evident. Children or teens tend to become with drawn from society, many will become friends with other individuals that look like themselves, and isolate themselves from others. This can lead to self esteem and identity problems.
The cause of obesity different from person to person, they include genetic, and the environment (restaurants, convenient stores, movie theaters etc.). Children with obese parents are more likely to be obese. “Over-nutrition has replaced under-nutrition as the largest nutrition-related problem facing both children and adults” (Kendall p.2). Although the percent of calories from total fat have declined over the years, the total amount of calories has increased. Meaning, that even though some foods may not contain a lot of fat, it still may be high in calories. Many of today’s children are usually part of a two parent working household, meals sometimes consists of something quick and high in calories.
An important part of treating obesity among children and teens is for parents and healthcare professionals to be sensitive and focus on the positive. Children should not feel threaten to do something about his or her weight, instead it should be encouraged. Involvement of the entire family should be the focus point; weight programs that involve the entire family have shown improvement in long term effectiveness. “The U.S. Surgeon General recommends moderate physical activity for children everyday for at least 60 minutes” (Marunde Muscle p.2). Today children are not getting enough physical activity and in many cases they are not being encouraged to do so. A lot of children think sitting in front of the television for hours eating chips and drinking soda is normal, this is because they have no one to tell them different.
I have a friend who taught physical education at a middle school in Tucson Arizona, I asked if all of her students took part in the class. The response was, class participation was the number one rule of the class. She not only encouraged all of her students of participate, but her, herself took part in the mile run every Friday. Those who were not able to run the whole distance was encouraged to complete the run the best way they could even if it meant walking. My friend always the last to cross the finish line this is because, she wanted to make sure everyone in the class finished the race, size did no matter. My proposal is for parents, physical education teachers, and other child care providers to get children and or teens involved in some kind of physical activity. Kids follow by example, they figure it mom or no one else in the family is not eating correctly or engaging in something physical why should they.
All physical education teachers primary goal should be to teach all students the importance of maintaining a healthy body, and stress the importance of eating healthy as well, the importance of physical activity even if it is just going out for a walk. Families should take time out on the weekends, even if it is just for an hour and do something together, like place basketball, kickball, or just find out what it is that your child likes to do and let him or her decide on the activity. If children are taught that there is more to life than video games, television, music, etc... I guarantee that the children of tomorrow will be a much healthier and happier bunch.