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Danny Nguyen

Professor Pitzerullo

April 15, 2019

ENGL-1302

Child Obesity

Obesity is a severe health condition that is increasing worldwide, most importantly in the

US. A disease caused by the large consumption of any diet high calories and the lack of nutrients

in the fast food consumed. The critical conditions begin with low-income children and as they

grow, the progress of obesity increases. There are multiple solutions to prevent this factor from

causing child obesity especially the children of low-income families.

The disease known as obesity is a leading cause of death of adults in the US, according to

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The poor fast-food consumption that

children continue to consume is the main factor that will lead to health issues in the future.

Children with obesity have a higher risk of having critical health conditions and dreadful

diseases, such as diabetes, asthma, bone and joint problems, and sleep apnea (CDC). Diabetes is

increasingly affecting children who are of overweight. The affects that diabetes can lead to is

heart diseases and kidney failure. “Children who have obesity are more likely to have high blood

pressure and high cholesterol, which are rick factors for cardiovascular disease” (CDC). The

negative effects and conditions may not appear immediately, but, as the disease progresses it will

become much severe as it grows larger.

Children began to get addictively attracted to such fatty foods, for example, burgers and

greasy French fries with no nutrients in them. Mouthwatering fast food can become like an

addictive drug to young kids. A risk factor that causes kids to eat unhealthy and instead eat
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things like McDonalds is primarily because parents are mainly working long hours, and do not

have much time to prepare meals for their kids to eat when they’re not home to be actively

available to do so. Parents would rather just stop by any fast-food restaurant on their way home

to purchase any quick and easy fast food for their kids, instead of cooking. Stressed parents

rather reach for fatty food to feed themselves and their families, in results to that, it leads to the

lack of access to eating healthy food in the process. This is a risky habit that parents adopt in

order to provide for their kids. These factors are not only unhealthy for kids, but it can lead to a

horrible outcome as they grow older and began relying on fatty food to keep themselves bellyful.

Another factor that highly contributes to child obesity is the amount of advertisement

seen throughout the entire world today. These advertisements that are published all on television

and on the internet that persuades customers to fall into an unhealthy food pattern. Many

company lure customers by simply having multiple ads with “juicy hamburgers” as I’ve seen on

almost every fast-food commercial. Commercials rarely ever-present healthy foods because such

foods are not attention grabbing, but instead, as Americas addition to fast food, it wouldn’t be

much satisfying to Americans. The commercials not only show fatty foods, but also has special

features that get kids attention with little toys presenting with the meals. The main priority from

theses commercials is to convince kids and teens watching television and on social media apps.

According to “The International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity”,

“children and adolescents are now the target of intense and specialized food marketing and

advertising efforts”. Appealing to the youth is the goal most advertisements try to accomplish;

therefore, it takes advantage by luring those such as kids and teens in to going out and

purchasing unhealthy fatty foods. The technique is used by an emotional appeal, giving

consumers like parents to go retrieve such things their kids want and as the same for teens.
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Preventing child obesity is quite simple, it begins with parents teaching their kids through

videos, the cause and effect that could happen if kids were to become obsessed with fatty food.

For example, like starting them off at a young age by showing them videos of healthy foods the

greens and veggies. As they grow older and attend school, they can have a little understanding of

what to eat when their parents are not around. It creates a positive interaction around food and

meals when educating children. Another prevention that can be applied at school when parents

are not present, would be to show multiple videos frequently during school hours like lunch time.

In addition, it will help educate and show the kids what fatty foods are and how it will affect.

This gives the kids a deeper understanding of fast food. Allowing kids to see firsthand of what

fast food is and the result if it was consumed repeatedly in large amounts. Showing videos for the

kids to watch during school would be both beneficial for the kids and less costly for the schools

as well. Children’s need to be taught right from wrong at an early age is not impossible and can

be accomplished easily.

Small school funds which are left extra for the schools can get put towards the prevention

of child obesity to keep the program up and running. The prevention can become an extra

exercise during school hours, for example, taking 20-30 minutes throughout the day to go over

educational films on eating right and healthy. Many schools have started to help prevent kids

from consuming fatty food by serving and giving easier access to heathier foods like vegetables,

fruits, and juice during lunch. Although the schools serve healthier foods during lunch, most kids

tend to veer away and would rather choose to eat junk food that are unhealthy instead. By

showing educational health videos, it would help motivate those who consume bad food to eat

more veggies and fruits. Pushing them to take advantage of the healthy food selections provided

for them at the school’s cafeteria, even if they might not always be available at home.
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