Childhood Obesity in Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Childhood Obesity in Society - Essay Example Causes There are numerous causes for obesity in general and childhood obesity in particular. In each of these, the society seems to have a role, however obscure it may be. The three most important are listed below. Dietary/ Food Habits: The effects of eating habits on childhood obesity are difficult to determine. A three year randomized controlled study of 1,704 3rd grade children which provided two healthy meals a day in combination with an exercise program and dietary counseling failed to show a significant reduction in percentage body fat when compared to a control group. This was partly due to the fact the even though the children believed they were eating less their actually calorie consumption did not decrease with the intervention. At the same time observed energy expenditure remained similar between the groups. This occurred even though dietary fat intake decreased from 34% to 27% (Caballero et al., 2003). A second study of 5,106 children showed similar results. Even though the children eat an improved diet there was no effect found on BMI (Nader et al., 1999). Why these studies did not bring about the desired effect of curbing childhood obesity has been attributed to the interventions not being sufficient e nough. Changes were made primarily in the school environment, whereas it is felt that they must occur in the home, the community, and the school simultaneously to have a significant effect (Kolata, 2007). Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill studied national beverage consumption patterns for over 73,000 Americans between 1997 and 2001 and found the following: overall calories from sweetened drinks went up... As the report stresses the effects of eating habits on childhood obesity are difficult to determine. A three year randomized controlled study of 1,704 3rd grade children which provided two healthy meals a day in combination with an exercise program and dietary counseling failed to show a significant reduction in percentage body fat when compared to a control group. This was partly due to the fact the even though the children believed they were eating less their actually calorie consumption did not decrease with the intervention. At the same time observed energy expenditure remained similar between the groups. According to the research findings the popular thinking is that diet sodas help people to lose weight, since they are low in calories, data from the San Antonio Heart Study found that the more diet soda a person drinks the greater is the likelihood that he or she will become overweight or obese. ‘On an average, for each diet soft drink our participants drank per day, they were 65 percent more likely to become overweight during the next seven to eight years and 41 percent more likely to become obese,’ said Sharon Fowler, MPH, faculty associate in the division of clinical epidemiology at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in San Antonio. Other, more recent unpublished findings from Fowler back this up. While parents and schools may need to do a better job of promoting regular exercise and better dietary choices, the viral distribution of these soft drinks doesn’t help.