Childhoold Obesity

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorCollege, Undergraduate November 2001

download word file, 4 pages 5.0

Why the prevalence of childhood obesity has increased in the United States? In the past decades the obesity in children has increased at alarming rates. Studies show that almost 25 % of the youth are considered to be obese; this percentage has double comparing it with the one 30 years ago. It is a problem that affects all of us, but specially Hispanics-Americans, African-Americans and American-Natives.

One of its major causes is the poor eating habits. My family has been affected terribly by the obesity, basically for this cause and the lack of information on a healthy and balance diet. About ten of my family members are highly over weighted. For Instance, my cousin Martha has two teenagers' boys weighting between 250 to 300 pounds. Martha loves her kids very much and suffers seeing them dealing with their obesity, however she has done many things wrong believing she was doing the best for them.

The fact that these kids are so overweight is partially her fault, because since she was breastfeeding them she overfed them. As if she thought that the more food she gave them, the more she loved them. While they were growing up and becoming a little "chubby"� she considered them to be healthy. As in our Hispanic culture, and equally happens in other cultures, there was a wrong beliefs that if a person was overweight he or she was considered to be healthy.

Martha is a hard working divorced mother who had struggled to bring her kids up. She says, sometimes in the morning rush she would live them a pizza or a hamburger for them to eat after school, until she arrives home late afternoon and make a heavy dinner. Which is Hispanic food, also considered to be high in grease, salt and condiments.