Childhood Obesity An Epidemic Affecting Children And...

Childhood Obesity Childhood obesity is an epidemic affecting children and adolescents from different races and backgrounds. The childhood obesity prevalence in America has been considered a national health crisis. It is postulated that one out of every three children of ages (3-17) are either overweight or obese. It continues to be an issue even after the advancement of the many efforts towards ensuring the health of the children in our society. There is an increase in the rates of childhood obesity despite the spread of awareness about the risk of excess weight (Kamath, Celia et al 4619). The life threatening repercussions of this epidemic has turned out to create a compelling call for the National Health Administration to take stunt†¦show more content†¦In the St. Louis, the state of Missouri, by 2008, the state ranked the 27th in overall prevalence of obese numbers in children. According to the 2008 Pediatric Nutrition Surveillance System (PedNSS), 30% of low income children aged between 2-5 were overweight in Missouri. This all started in 2003 when the rate of children falling obese continuing to rise. According to a study done by Christina, about 43% of children in the United states have at least 1-2 chronic heal conditions which increases to a 54.1% when the child is overweight. This shows that being obese also increases the risks of fatality of an illness in an individual. A different study done by (Kamath, Celia et al 4615) revealed that prevention of the condition is better than trying to manage the condition as pediatric efforts do not play a huge role in reducing the BMI and changes are seen after a very long time. It however can be helpful to those who already had the condition for instance the children who have inherited the condition can be helped through pediatric efforts to manage themselves and maintain their health. Obesity has been projected to cause over 100,000 deaths annually in the United States. Childhood obesity is more predominant in other ethnic and racial groups than others are. The rates are known to be much higher in non- Hispanic girls. It is also common among the Whites / Native Alaskans and