The children of today are becoming more obese, for the fact that they are
obtaining laziness. They are spending more time in front of the television then
they are getting their daily exercise. Their growing bodies need exercise to
lose baby fat before it gets to be a serious problem. The growth of technology
has formed a major impact on the obesity of today’s children. This technology
has substituted normal childhood play exercises with computer games that take
less physical effort. Because of technology in today's society the problem with
child obesity has become tremendously intensified. First, what is child obesity?
The term child obesity means a “child is a person between birth and puberty
and obese is extremely fat: corpulent”(The American Heritage Dictionary
265,856). This disease is caused due to a lack of exercise and over-eating by a
child. Child obesity can cause many medical problems for a child that suffers
from such a disease. Obesty is a widespread disease that is growing incredibly
worse as technology increases. Furthermore, it is obvious that the lack of
exercise has a major part to do with child obesity; scientists blame the
television for a substitute to outdoor sports. Kids are spending more time watch
television than they are doing physical activities. “The findings strongly
support the notion that the most important lifestyle factor in childhood obesity
is television watching”(Monmaney). The television brings the child’s
imagination to life, giving them entertainment to do without the running and
exercising of outdoor sports. The more television a child watches the more obese
the child will get. Next, the problem is getting so out of hand that the
government is going to have to start getting involved. Satcher and Shirley
Watkins, the undersecretary of agriculture for food, nutrition and consumer
services said that, "'TV increases obesity, stifles creativity and shortens
attention spans among young people'" (Bauder). This is their reason for
joining the campaign for a "TV-Free America." It is estimated that an
obese child watches an average of four hours and nine minutes of television each
day. That is four hours that a child could be bonding with their family or
taking action in some physical activity. Thus, problem with child obesity starts
as young as infancy. If the child's parents do not stress exercise the child
will find an alternative way to occupy their time. For example, playing a game
cartridge rather than shooting hoops or flying a kite. The game cartridge
provides cheap entertainment with very little fitness involved. "Ross
Andersen recommends that parents find alternatives to watching television for
their children" (Joseph). A parent should do anything possible to get their
kids away from the television. Ether by making daily plans with timed intervals
limiting the amount of television the child can watch or signing them up for
YMCA sport activities. Even if the parent has a busy work schedule, make time to
benefit the child. Although, there are numerous amounts of prescription drugs
for child obesity, the side affects are too risky for the younger child. The
easiest way to solve this well-known disease is by stopping the problem before
it starts. “’If you can intervene with overweight children before they are
fully grown, you can often help them grow into their weight and prevent them
from becoming overweight adults. Some overweight children don’t need to lose
weight as much as they need to gain weight at a slower rate.’” (Discroll)
Moving on, some children do not need to lose weight, but need help growing into
the weight they already have. They can use help to slow the rate at which they
gain weight, making it easier for them to grow into it. Plus, the health risk
faced by children with the disease of child obesity is immense. “More than 70
percent of all cases persist into adulthood”(Mellin). Obesity during adult
years is associated with increased rates of diseases such as hyperinsulinemia,
coronary heart disease, angina, atherosclerosis, various cancers, orthopedic
problems, and gout along with many other short-term and psychosocial
consequences of obesity in children. Thus, with the technology in today’s
society the problem with child obesity has largely intensified. The management
of obesity and overweight in children is an important issue. Before obesity can
be treated in children, it would be helpful to have a marker to identify
children who would likely become overweight or obese in adulthood. The parents
and children can get a jump on what they need to do to beat this disease. The
fight will not be easy but with the encouragement of the family they will be
able to beet it together.