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Obesity- Causes and Effects

Obesity is an issue that is now considered as a global epidemic. In order to understand

childhood obesity, its causes and effects one needs to have a clear definition of what obesity

is. As per the definition by Cambridge dictionary obesity means, ‘A diet that is high in fat

and sugar can lead to obesity.’ Moving forward one can say that childhood obesity is one of

the 21st century's another very severe public-health problems. The concern is worldwide, and

impacts many low- and middle-income countries slowly, especially in metropolitan settings.

This paper would look into what childhood obesity is, while focusing on its causes and

effects while using statistics.

Adding on to the understanding of childhood obesity, one can draw an analysis

through the rate that kept going up at an unprecedented pace. Globally, the estimate of

children under five years of age obese in 2016 is recorded at over 41 million. Approximately

half of all children under five who've been overweight lived in Asia and one fifth lived in

Africa. 1Looking into the data collected proves that childhood obesity is not to be taken

lightly.

Now that we have established an understanding of what childhood obesity is and have

also looked into some statistical evidence, one needs to have a look at the factors that may

cause this problem.2To begin with one of the factors of obesity is the choice of food that an

individual makes, the diet includes foods that are high in sugar and in fat instead of healthier

and lighter options. Another factor is the limited availability and access of physical activities

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Data collected by World Health Organization
2
The factors used are from Victorian Government Dept of Health that looks in Australian children.
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that lead to children being less active as compared to earlier times. Furthermore children’s

screen time has increased on an average and they invest heavily on accessing laptops and

other video devices which over rule other past time activities.

A lot of times obesity is an issue that is rooted in families and is a genetic problem,

certain diseases may cause a child to be overweight and make it harder for them to lose

weight. A situation like this should be handled and looked upon with greater attention as

parents need to look into their child’s eating habits and work on it. Another factor could be

having overweight parents, for example overweight parents can cause a greater influence in

the child’s eating routine and habits which may keep them from maintaining a healthier

lifestyle. This may also cause over weight parents to be ignorant of their overweight child.

It is essential to comprehend and shed light on the effects of obesity. As per sources 3 a

total of 107.7 million children were obese in 2015, and 603.7 million adults. The obesity rate

in more than 70 countries has grown since 1980, and has increased steadily in most other

economies. While the incidence of obesity in children was slower than that in adults, in

certain countries the rate of increase in childhood obesity was greater than the percentage of

increase in adult obesity. Globally, high BMI accounted for 4.0 million fatalities, about 40

per cent of which resulted in non-obese people. Cardiovascular disorder accounted for more

than two thirds of deaths linked to elevated BMI. Since 1990, the risk of disease associated

with high BMI has increased; nonetheless, the extent of this upswing has been attenuated due

to reductions in underlying mortality levels from cardiovascular disease.

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Health Effects of Overweight and Obesity, New England Journal of Medicine 2017
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Along with the information shared above it was observed by Hilde Bruch 4 in 1973

that obese children tended to belong to families characterized by an influential, over-

protective mother, a weak father and a lack of attention, warmth and support for the obese

child. Subsequent work have suggested that obesity in adolescence could be correlated with

other unique family traits, such as social support, dispute, incoherence, loss of involvement

in social and cultural activities, and parental negligence. However other findings have also

been unable to confirm the theory that obese children come from households that consist of

potentially unhealthy characteristics. Therefore no strong history in family interactions has

been correlated with obesity reliably.

Drawing a conclusion from the above mentioned analysis and data one can safely say

that obesity as a problem is increasing in nations rapidly Now that we have identified some

of its factors and have also closely looked at its adverse effects it is upon the individual to

come up with ways to put this issue to rest. Obesity is a complex disease that that is spread

worldwide and needs to be catered to immediately. Furthermore one needs to raise awareness

to cater to this problem and through increased knowledge would families be able to look into

this issue seriously and avoid such diseases, and avoid public problems to rise.

Work Cited

4
S. Medical Journal of Australia. 2007.
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Betterhealth.vic.gov.au. 2020. Victorian Government Dept of Health. [online] Available

at: <https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au.

Dictionary.cambridge.org. 2020. OBESITY | Meaning In The Cambridge English

Dictionary. [online] Available at: <https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/obesity.

Gibson, L. and Byrne, S. Medical Journal of Australia. 2007. Vol 186 Issue 11. pp 591 –

595.

Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health, World Health Organisation

(WHO) retrieved from https://www.who.int. 2020.

Health Effects of Overweight and Obesity in 195 Countries over 25 Years Obesity

Collaborators. New England Journal of Medicine 2017;377:13-27. DOI:

10.1056/NEJMoa1614362

NursingAnswers.net. 2020. Causes And Effects Of Childhood Obesity. [online]

Available at: <https://nursinganswers.net/essays/causes-and-effects-of-childhood-obesity-health-

essay.php.