-
Essay / Actions Needed to Prevent Childhood Obesity in the United States
In the United States, the number of obese children has increased significantly over the past three decades. According to Cunningham (2014), the percentage of overweight children increased from 4.2% to 15.3% in 1963 and 2000 respectively. Obesity is a disease in medicine that can be measured as an excess[1] of body weight. The main causes of this disease are believed to be caloric imbalance and lack of physical activities (Dehghan, 2005). Robinson (2001) suggests that another possible reason is watching television. Exacerbation of excess weight during childhood can lead to more serious diseases in adulthood such as hyperinsulinaemia, poor glucose tolerance and diabetes (Lobstein, 2004). Therefore, the purpose of this article is to evaluate the following ways to prevent this disease at school: meal programs and physical activity programs. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"? Get the original essay The first possible solution for schools to prevent childhood obesity in the United States is a healthy diet based on balance calories. School feeding programs can potentially have a large influence on the diets of children and young adults, as they consume a considerable portion of their total daily food intake (Gleason and Suitor, 2001). The SNDA-III study (Gordon & Fox, 2007 cited in Story, Nanney & Schwartz, 2009) showed that although U.S. schools mostly provide school meals that meet standards for essential nutrients, such as protein, calcium, vitamins A and C, and iron, only about a third of them meet the USDA standards for total fat. Minimizing fat by following the recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for the United States can lead to a reduction in excess calories. The minimum number of calories in food for elementary school students should be 664, and for secondary students, 825 (Gordon, 2007 cited in Story, Nanney, & Schwartz, 2009). Another solution to prevent childhood obesity is a physical activity program. Physical activity can be described as caused by skeletal muscle contraction, which is any movement of the body that consumes body energy above the basal level (Bauer, 2011). In the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) assumes that children should spend at least 60 minutes per day exercising. The majority of these exercises should be supplemented with moderate or vigorous intensity aerobic physical activity (Bauer, 2011). First of all, these two solutions will be compared in terms of efficiency. According to Brown and Summerbell [3], a number of studies carried out to prevent obesity are increasing. From 1990 to 2005, 23 studies were carried out. During 2006 and 2007, 15 other studies were identified. The number of studies carried out in secondary schools is increasing. For example, during the first studies, only 6 out of 23 schools were secondary schools. However, 15 schools participated in the experiments, including 7 secondary schools. About a third of the studies were based on diet alone, a fifth of the study was based on physical activity, and 9 out of 20 studies combined a healthy diet and physical activity. In 2004, the University's Institute of Medical Sciences and Social Care, on behalf of the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), carried out a series of surveys on.