Childhood Obesity: An Economic Disadvantage

Childhood obesity is a health issue in the United States. To overcome this crisis it will involve the cooperation of parents, teachers, elected officials, and those most affected, America’s children. While stopping childhood obesity is the issue at hand, educating parents and figures of authority in a child’s life is one of the first steps to slowing down obesity. America’s adults have reached high percentages of obesity. This is no longer a conversation to be discussed, but an epidemic that must be remedied. Unfortunately, adults tend to transfer eating habits to their children, so it is a difficult cycle to break. As healthcare professionals, it is incumbent to understand why the problem exists and devise innovative policies and solutions to initiate effective damage control and preventative strategies. There are several reasons for childhood obesity that center on the social and economic advantages or disadvantages of children; because of this, it will take strategies that consider adverse conditions. Fighting childhood obesity has become a national issue and several initiatives are in place to decrease obesity among adults and children.

The Fat Truth in the United States

The obesity rate in the United States (U.S.) is not only high among children, but the adult obesity rate is an unhealthy one as well. Every state’s obesity rate in 2013 was over twenty percent. The highest rate was found in Louisiana at thirty-four percent and the lowest was in Colorado at just over twenty percent (Lavizzo-Mourey, 2014). Thankfully, except for the state of Arkansas, the obesity rate in the U.S. has remained level for the first time in thirty years. Though this progress is hopeful news, these rates are significantly higher than in 1980 when the highest rate of obesity was only fifteen percent. Adults with the highest rates of obesity are between the ages of forty-five and sixty-four with Alabama and Louisiana showing the highest rates at forty percent. Colorado rate is the lowest among this same group at twenty-four percent. Unfortunately, rates like these impact two diseases of high occurrence in the U.S., diabetes and hypertension.

Obesity rates of children between the ages of two and four are highest among low-income families. In 2011, California’s obesity rate in this age group was almost seventeen percent which was the highest when compared to other states. Low-income children tend to have a higher obesity rate than other children in the same age group. For example, the overall rate of obesity in 2011 was twelve percent, while in low-income children the rate was over fourteen percent (States with Highest Rates of Obesity Among 2- to 4-year-olds from Low-Income Families, 2014). In Illinois, the obesity rate in this age group is almost fifteen percent and represents the eleventh highest when compared to national statistics. In the age group of ten to seventeen, Illinois obesity percentage is just over nineteen percent and ranks ninth. The long term implications of not successfully treating overweight children will compromise their quality of life, cause low self-esteem, and increase overall healthcare costs. However, obesity and its complications are reversible and preventable.

Social Economics Impact on Obesity

The social environment that children live and grow in is proven to have a direct relationship with their weight. The social environment includes not only the immediate family but neighborhoods, communities, and schools. Studies have shown that there are several contributors to the problem of childhood obesity in geographical areas where the poverty level is low. Poor communities usually have school resources that mirror the financial health of its residents. Poverty conditions tend to cultivate schools with limited resources to healthier food choices, companions who may support negative eating habits, limited physical activities and the lack of organized sports opportunities (Lee, 2012). There are usually several layers of social inequities that contribute to childhood obesity. Many urban communities are defined as food deserts; the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables is not within walking distance. Small grocers tend to carry packages items such as potato chips, candy, and soda. Close friends and family eat the same types of foods. A diet consisting of only packages foods not only has a negative impact on weight, but also contributes to hypertension and diabetes because of the excess salt and sugar and the excessive amount of chemical preservatives and additives. Unfortunately, limited finances at times equate to cheap food choices. Fruit and vegetables often cost as much per pound as do meat and fish. When the decision becomes either or many opt for meat protein. Unfortunately, this promotes gravitation towards foods which encourage unhealthy food behaviors

A child’s environment dictates his or her relationship to food. Lee’s article (2012) supports this when it states that “The ecological model of human development emphasizes that individuals are influenced by the environments in which they are embedded, including the family, peer group, neighborhood, and school” (Lee, 2012, p. 140). The relationship with food is developed in children during their adolescence through young adulthood years. In low-income families, this is when the incidence of obesity is susceptible. The social-economic position of a family is one of the factors which foster other social-economic disadvantages. When these disadvantages occur in the families, it socially affects the type of friends and companions and neighborhoods and schools that children have access to.

Healthy Children 2020

The crisis of childhood obesity has garnered the attention of health care providers as well as the United States government. First Lady Michelle Obama has initiated the Let’s Move website as her response to childhood obesity (http://www.letsmove.gov). This initiative recognizes the relationship between weight and physical activity. When parents participate and are strong advocators of movement, along with positive social setting studies show that this directly impacts a child’s body weight (Zhao, 2014). In 2011, President Obama assigned a task force to study obesity and to find solutions on how to reduce childhood obesity to five percent, as it was before 1970 (Summary of Recommendations, 2010). The result was a list of recommendations such as pre-pregnancy nutrition education, health care professionals encouraging breastfeeding, research into chemicals prone to cause obesity, and children spending less time on digital media are a few from an extensive list.

In addition to the Let’s Move website, another government-sponsored site is Healthy People 2020 (www.healthypeople.gov). It monitors and supports the overall health of people. One of its stated goals for the year 2020 under health and nutrition is to “Promote health and reduce chronic disease risk through the consumption of healthful diets and achievement and maintenance of healthy body weights” (Nutrition and Weight Status, 2013). Reinforcement of this message from educational institutions, community centers, and private agencies will help reinforce this message. Educating families is the most obvious line of defense to childhood obesity. For example, as of 2006 twenty-four states have specific healthy food and beverage standards for pre-school children in a daycare setting, and the goal for 2020 is to increase that number to thirty-four percent (Nutrition and Weight Status, 2013). The belief is that since childhood obesity starts as early as twelve months, to capture more children at this young age will help to reduce overeating long term.

America’s schools are an excellent place to initiate the fight against obesity and several states understand this. However, with rates of obesity so high, the initiatives should be even more aggressive to match the seriousness of this problem. Everyone should be held accountable, the health care industry, the food industry, educators, and the government through increase funding for various anti-obesity programs. The causes of the problem are multiple therefore multiple solutions are required.

References

Lavizzo-Mourey, R. L. (2014). F as in Forward? Retrieved from F as in Fat: http://www.fasinfat.org/

Lee, H. H. (2012). Multiple levels of social disadvantage and links to obesity in adolescence and young adulthood. Journal of School Health, 139-149.

Nutrition and Weight Status. (2013, November 13). Retrieved from Healthy People.gov: http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topicsobjectives2020/overview.aspx?topicId=29

States with Highest Rates of Obesity Among 2- to 4-year-olds from Low-Income Families. (2014). Retrieved from F as in Fat: http://www.fasinfat.org/lists/highest-rates-low-income-kids-obesity/

Summary of Recommendations. (2010, May). Retrieved from Let's Move: http://www.letsmove.gov/sites/letsmove.gov/files/TFCO_Table_of_Contents.pdf

Zhao, J. &. (2014). Environmental correlates of children's physical activity and obesity. Am JHealth Behav, 124-133.