Introduction
Obesity is a growing health problem among children. America and other developed countries have higher risks of the problem. This paper presents the problem of obesity, two ways of combating the problem of obesity, intake of nutritious food, doing physical exercise, and comparison and contrast between these two ways of reducing obesity.
The problem of childhood obesity
The problem of obesity is an increase among children. The obese children show health problems and social problems in life that would cause mental and physical disturbances. In order to protect children from obesity, one should know the different causes for obesity and various steps to prevent the problem of obesity. The main causes of childhood obesity are unhealthy eating habits, lack of exercise, the unhealthy lifestyle of the family, the structure of genes received from parents, and consequences of other medical illnesses. Children who are obese have risks of affecting “hypertension, dyslipidemia (for example, high total cholesterol or high levels of triglycerides), type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, and respiratory problems and some cancers (endometrial, breast, and colon).” (Campbell para 11).
Two ways of combating childhood obesity
Today, the parents of obese children are more concerned about the problem. They find different ways to reduce obesity. The most important ways of treating childhood obesity are intake of nutritious food and performing physical exercise. “More than 1 million American youngsters used personal trainers to lose weight, improve fitness or improve their sports skills. Some statistics show that about 30% of children ages 6 to 11 are overweight while about 15% are obese.” (Mikhaiel para 1).
Intake of nutritious food
Intake of nutritious food is the best way to prevent obesity. It includes not only consuming nutritious food but avoiding high-calorie-containing food and refraining from candy, soda, and other fast foods. It also consists of making a schedule for taking nutritious food like intake of nutritious food four times. Children have the habit of eating any amount, any food, and at any time. Children use their pocket money for buying snacks. They consume snacks at different intervals. This is the main cause of obesity among children and this habit should be prevented by making them willing to take nutritious food as suggested in the schedule.
Performance of physical exercise
Doing physical exercise is found to be successful in the prevention of obesity among children. Children like sports and games. They have a tendency to spend more time playing. Children who are more active in games show a significant decrease from getting obese. Therefore, childhood obesity reduction programs in schools should have a special focus on increasing the time allotted for the children for games and sports. It benefits not only in reducing obesity but children becoming more active, fresh, and happy and get more concentration.
Compare and contrast between the two ways of reducing obesity
Intake of nutritious food and performance of physical exercise are two main steps to reduce childhood obesity. They are parallel to each other. Intake of nutritious food keeps the body stronger and performance of physical exercise also keeps the body stronger and structured. Children would be happy to do these steps since these are very interesting things to children. At the same time, there is a contrast between these two steps. The first way is the increase of food containing more nutrition. The second way is to increase physical exercise to reduce the obesity developed by overeating. Those children who take a high amount of nutritious food and other foods also can get affected by obesity. Irregular exercise also brings no effect on the body. Therefore, the children have to follow strictly the instructions given by both the dietician and physical trainer.
Conclusion
Childhood obesity is a health problem reported from different corners of the world. Developed nations are more vulnerable to this problem. This paper has presented the problem of obesity, causes, and higher risk factors, two important ways to combat the problem of obesity, and the comparison and contrast between these two ways.
Works Cited
Campbell, Jacqueline E. Obesity Epidemic in Children. Ezine Articles. 2009. Web.
Mikhaiel, Max Hany. More Children Hiring Personal Trainers-Combating Childhood Obesity. Ezine Articles. 2009. Web.