Leszczuk 1

Lily Leszczuk

Dean Leonard

English 1201.507

4 July 2019

Americas Rising Obesity Problem

Growing up I have always noticed how a lot of my friends and family seem overweight.

This makes me wonder if some of the blame can be placed on America and the parents who have

simple access to unhealthy food for their children. The main reason I believe people gain weight

is from overeating and not getting proper nutrition and exercise. Living a sedentary lifestyle in

America is not uncommon. I am especially interested in this because I have seen parents order

kids' meals with kid-sized Coca-Cola’s to drink. The thought of a 3-year-old drinking such a

sugary high carb beverage makes me cringe. In my opinion, the child should be given water or

milk. This leads to question, does teaching these kids bad eating habits at a young age contribute

to adult obesity? In most cases, unhealthy food tastes better to the public then well-balanced food

that provides high-quality nutrition. Could this be a rising cause in childhood obesity? It is not

healthy for children to drink soda all the time, eat a lot of candy, and only having macaroni and

cheese or chicken nuggets for their main meals. This has become very ordinary among all the

toddlers I have observed throughout my life. Is childhood obesity more common than some

individuals may believe? I once heard someone from another country say that America’s small

drinks are the size of their countries large drinks. In order to understand what I will be

researching, one must first understand what obesity is. The Journal of Family Medicine and

Primary Care outlines that Obesity in children can affect emotional health and physical health.
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“Many co-morbid conditions like metabolic, cardiovascular, orthopedic, neurological, hepatic,

pulmonary, and renal disorders are also seen in association with childhood obesity.” (Sahoo).

This means obesity causes physical problems and mental problems. “The Center for Disease

Control and Prevention defined overweight as at or above the 95th percentile of body mass index

(BMI) for age and “at risk for overweight” as between 85thto 95th percentile of BMI for age.”

(Sahoo) This means if a person weighs a lot more than they should for their weight and height

class than they are considered overweight. A person is considered obese if they have a BMI at or

above 30. As a person with a very small BMI, and a Dad with diabetes I worry for America. If I

am constantly surrounded by people who are overweight and obese it makes me want to show

how, America plays a big contributing role in childhood obesity.

A study done by the CDC from 2015-2016 measured the obesity of children in the United

States beneath the age of 19. It showed that almost 1 in 5 children were affected. So obesity does

prove to be a problem. The number of obese children was almost three times lower in the 1970s.

This proves that obesity is a rapidly growing problem. NBC News points out that as of 2018

Duke University, Wake Forest University, and several other Universities and places, found that

over 40% of 16-19-year-olds in the United States were obese. They also found that 15% of 2-5-

year-olds were obese and 26% were classified as overweight. Statistically, America is

exceptionally overweight.

Genetics is one factor that contributes to childhood obesity that cannot change (at least

not yet.) If a child’s parents have sluggish thyroids and burn calories slowly, the child will likely

have the same problem. This is a predestined trait that cannot be changed. The CDC also points

out other factors that cause obesity such as sleeping habits, eating habits, and exercise habits. In

other words, not sleeping enough causes weight gain, constantly eating unhealthy junk food
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causes weight gain, and lack of exercise means that more calories are being eaten than calories

that are being burned off, which also causes weight gain. Other factors include metabolism and

feelings of safety. Slow metabolism likely makes it harder to lose weight and easier to gain

weight. People who do not feel safe might gain weight from stress. These are all contributing

factors in childhood obesity. Americans eat oversized portions, binge watch television shows

instead of sleeping, and do not care about exercise as much as they should. Since there are so

many obese individuals in America, two obese parents will likely raise an obese child which

creates an even bigger obesity problem in this overweight country.

The CDC also points out specific socioeconomic factors that can be determined from

childhood obesity. Obesity affects almost 14 million children in the United States. Out of those

children, Hispanics have higher obesity prevalence than non-Hispanic blacks, non-Hispanic

blacks have higher obesity prevalence than non-Hispanic whites, and non-Hispanic whites have

higher obesity prevalence than non-Hispanic Asians. This information shows that race could play

a role in childhood obesity. If this is the case maybe America is not the problem. Maybe the real

cause of obesity is race, genetics, and cultural eating habits that come from being a certain race.
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Fig. 1 American Children Are Struggling to make the right eating decisions.

Regardless of what specifically contributes the most, America still struggles with obesity.

NBC News points out that despite America’s efforts to decrease the growing obesity rates in

adolescents over the past two decades, they are not improving. Michelle Obama attempted to do

something about the growing obesity rates with her “Let’s Move” campaign, which encouraged

exercise and healthy eating. Her efforts may have been futile because “What is lacking is an

effective strategy to address these drivers with sufficient intensity, consistency, and persistence.

It is not enough for a child to receive more healthful meals at school (which is not always the

case) if she encounters a gantlet of junk food after school and in the home.” (Fox) Since

Obama’s campaign for healthier food children have been packing lunches more, which can lead

to weight gain if the packed food is not nutritious. America is not improving, “Despite intense

focus on reducing the U.S. childhood obesity epidemic over the past two decades, our progress

remains unclear,” (Fox). So in the foreseeable future, things are not looking great for America.

The statistics show that kids who grow up overweight will continue to be overweight in

their adult life. A report published in the Journal Health Promotion Practice showed that after

surveying parents in Arkansas, 53% did not believe that their children were obese, despite

reports warning them otherwise. So the ignorance of parents in America also plays a contributing

role in childhood obesity. If parents do not believe their kid is overweight despite being told

otherwise, they will not be able to help the kid before it gets worse (Sahoo).

The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) documentary on “Our Supersized Kids” has a lot

to contribute on causes of obesity in America. Obesity is a rapidly increasing problem in

America. This generation is likely to live unhealthier and die younger than the generation before
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them. We are starting to see children with more and more obesity-related medical problems at

younger and younger ages. Type-2 diabetes, high cholesterol, and hypertension were all

uncommon for people under the age of 20. That is no longer the case. Obesity is an epidemic in

our country partly caused by fast foods, greasy foods, and sugary drinks.

There was a little boy named Elijah featured in the documentary who ate every meal and

his Mom thought “he was bigger” but she “didn’t really think it was a problem.” She thought he

was big boned and eating every meal was excellent. A doctor’s visit said otherwise, Elijah’s BMI

showed his weight increased faster than his height. He became borderline diabetic and his mom

had no idea. This is just one example of how most parents don’t realize their kids are overweight,

or how serious it is. Over half the people in America seen every day are obese or overweight. If

half the people seen are obese, America might start to normalize obesity and not worry about it

as much as it should be worried about (PBS).

The documentary also pointed out that two out of every three 10-year-olds will grow up

to be obese adults. If these weight problems can be caught while the children are still growing,

there is a chance to prevent more unhealthy weight gain and weight associated problems before

they are adults. It is hard for parents to accept that their habits and bad eating practices can

negatively affect their children and cause them health problems. Out of the children studied in

this documentary 35% of African Americans, 40% of Latinos, and 29% of white children were

obese. . Elijah’s family was Latino which provides more evidence that race in America could

also play a role in obesity (PBS).

Some people might disagree that America is the problem. The highest obesity rates have

been observed in developed countries like America, but now there is a rise in obesity rates for
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underdeveloped countries as well. Obesity is a worldwide problem mainly affecting low and

middle income countries (Sahoo). The obesity problem affects children as much as it does adults.

Children who are obese have a higher chance of becoming an obese adult than children who are

not. This can lead to many health issues like heart disease and diabetes in countries other than

America. Additionally, obese children have elevated blood pressure and increased insulin

resistance. Children with increased insulin resistance have a harder time processing sugar and fat

than children who have less insulin resistance. Elevated blood pressure is never a good thing.

Having normal blood pressure is important for cardiovascular health.

In the Caribbean the number of overweight children is on the rise. In Dominica childhood

obesity went from 6.0% to 9.7% in the span of 9 years. In St. Kitts it went from 7.1% to 10.6%

in the same time frame. These studies were for children aged 6-10 in the Caribbean’s. This is

proof that obesity rates in children have climbed in many other places besides America (Walaa).

After meticulously studying the dietary intake of Caribbean children, there were cases in

which children weighed the same amount as other children and over the course of 18 months ate

the same amount as other children, but gained more weight. Even though they ate the same

amount, the only connection as to why they gained more weight is that the children who gained

less weight ate more fruit. So what people eat can also affect their weight (Walaa). Despite

obesity being a problem in other countries besides America, the percentage of obese children is

not nearly as large in other countries as it is in our home country. So while it is true that obesity

is a worldwide problem, America is still struggling with it a lot more than other off world

countries.
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Although this book mostly explains how the food industry got consumers to love salt

sugar and fat, it does have useful information on how Americans contribute to obesity. This book

also talks about how American consumers demand unhealthy products. One example is that a

few years ago Campbell tried to do something about the growing obesity rates in America and

cut down on the amount of sodium in their products. This resulted in many customer complaints

saying their soup did not taste good anymore. The Campbell soup sales went down significantly.

Kraft had a similar problem; they tried to cut down on fat, sugar, and salt in their products during

the year of 2003, which was met with anger from consumers who demanded their old unhealthy

products (Moss).

The book “Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Industries Hooked Us” by Michael Moss

offered insight on how we as consumers feel about changing our diets to prevent obesity.

Although this book mostly explains how the food industry got consumers to love salt sugar and

fat, it does also have useful information. This book talks about how consumers demand

unhealthy products. One example is that a few years ago Campbell tried to do something about

the growing obesity rates in America and cut down on the amount of sodium in their products.

This resulted in many customer complaints saying their soup did not taste good anymore. People

were outraged and boycotted Campbell soup. The Campbell soup sales went down significantly.

Despite trying to help America, Campbell soup was given the cold shoulder by salt addicted

consumers. Kraft did something similar and tried to cut down on fat, sugar, and salt in their

products in the year 2003. This was met with anger from consumers who demanded their old

unhealthy products. Similar to Campbell soup, Kraft also experienced a humungous decrease in

sales. Both companies experienced colossal sale losses because they tried to help America

prevent obesity by changing their products. This shows that America is not ready enough for
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change. Consumers are more worried about taste in American food than they are about nutrition

and that is another reason why obesity rates are climbing.

From all of this we can conclude that America does play a big contributing role in child

hood obesity. Government and University research does not lie, and the facts are not looking

good for America. More than half America is overweight and childhood obesity is rapidly

increasing for our country. America is causing childhood obesity by not educating parents and

consumers as much as they should be. Another reason America is causing childhood obesity is

because consumers are more worried about taste than proper nutrition and are unwilling to

change their diets to prevent weight gain. While other countries may be facing similar obesity

problems, the rapidly increasing obesity rate of America is far more of a problem. Obesity causes

many health problems that can make children and adults live a shorter life. Although some

companies and people have tried to help prevent obesity, it all comes down to the parents.

American parents are overfeeding their children and refuse to acknowledge that they are causing

their children health problems.

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Works Cited

“Childhood Obesity Facts | Overweight & Obesity | CDC.” Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html. Accessed 17 July 2019.

“Excuses Surrounding the Childhood Obesity Rates: Debunking causes of Childhood Obesity”

Fitness Blender, N.D. Accessed 17 July 2019

Fox, Maggie “Even Small Children Are Getting Fatter.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News

Group, www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/americans-kids-are-obese-it-s-getting-

worse- n851246. Accessed 17 July 2019.

Moss, Michael. Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us. Random House Trade

Paperbacks, 2014. Accessed 17 July 2019.

Mumena, Walaa A.; Francis-Granderson, Isabella; Phillip, Leroy E.; Gray-Donald, Katherine.

“Rapid increase of overweight and obesity among primary school-aged children in the

Caribbean; high initial BMI is the most significant predictor” BMC Obesity. 1/30/2018,

Vol. 5, p1-N.PAG. 7p. DOI: 10.1186/s40608-018- 0182-8. Accessed 17 July 2019.

“Obesity Facts | Healthy Schools | CDC.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/obesity/facts.htm.

Accessed 17 July 2019.

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“Our Supersized Kids.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/video/ksps-

documentaries-our-supersized-kids/. Accessed 17 July 2019.

Sahoo, Krushnapriya, et al. “Childhood Obesity: Causes and Consequences.” Journal of Family

Medicine and Primary Care, Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd, 2015,

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4408699/. Accessed 17 July 2019.