Friday, June 22, 2012

A few facts on Childhood Obesity

Obesity is defined as having excess body fat, overweight is defined as having excess body weight in contrast to height. Obesity and overweight is the result of high caloric intake and low activity, which is also influenced by genetics, behavioral, and environmental factors (www.cdc.gov).
Childhood obesity has increased in the past thirty years.  Childhood obesity among children ages 6-11 in the US has risen from 7% in 1980 to 20% in 2008 (www.cdc.gov).  Obesity in adolescents from 12-19 years old increased from 5% in 1980 to 18% in 2008.

Immediate Risk Factors include:

  • Cardiovascular disease
  • High cholesterol
  • High blood pressure
  • Pre-Diabetes and Diabetes
  • Bone and Joint Problems
  • Sleep Apnea
  • Social and Psychological Problems
Long-Term Risk Factors include:
  • Heart Disease
  • Type II Diabetes
  • Stroke
  • Several types of Cancer
  • Osteoarthritis 
Do these facts surprise you?

Center for Disease Control. (2012, June 7). Adolescent and school health: Childhood obesity facts. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html
Posted by at

1 comment:

  1. Sheila RobinsonJune 27, 2012 at 4:01 AM

    Wow. I chose this subject yesterday for one of my short assignments. It is hard to believe that some children are not born obese, but their parents overfeed them and give them junk food which causes them to become obese.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)