Childhood Obesity in the United States

When excess fat is accumulated in the body, it begins to have an adverse effect on health. Obesity is the medical condition that results from this. It increases the likelihood of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, certain cancers, and osteoarthritis. For someone to be considered obese, their body mass index must exceed 30kg/m2. The BMI is obtained by dividing a person’s weight by the square of the person’s height (Obesity and overweight Fact sheet WHO, 2015).Childhood Obesity in the United States

Obesity is caused by one or a combination of the following factors; excessive food intake, genetic predisposition and lack of physical activity. Most people who live a sedentary lifestyle are most susceptible to obesity. The condition is widespread among certain communities in the developed world as opposed to others because of social and cultural settings. One such group where obesity is prevalent is in Native American Children (Bleich et al. 2008).

Native American obesity statistics

The frequency of obesity among North American Indian children is so high that it has become an epidemic. The major factor that contributes to childhood obesity is the low economic power that ultimately translates to poor health. Most Native American children belong to low and middle-income families which heavily on cheap foodstuffs obtained from local stores and fast foods joints. The nutritional value of such food is usually low, but the energy content is colossal. Also, such food always tastes great and so children easily fall into poor eating habits especially when their guardians fail to monitor them. Another cause of Obesity among Native American children is overfeeding to cope with psychosocial stress associated with threats to cultural identity (Haslam, 2005). Most of them get teased in school for being different, and they struggle to understand who they are in such a diverse society. Childhood Obesity in the United States

Studies of energy expenditure suggest that a low metabolic rate may have contributed to the aggregation of obesity in Native American families. This factor is a genetic predisposition. People of different decent have varying rates at which they break down food. Those who have low metabolic rates store more food as compared to those with a higher metabolism. The same gene types that cause low metabolism may be responsible for the development of obesity-related diseases such as type diabetes among Native American communities.

Native American obesity rates

According to the World Health Organization, the worldwide prevalence of obesity doubled between 1980 and 2014 with a greater chunk of this increase being children. This was caused by an increase in processed foods that were cheaper and widely available. In 2014, it was estimated that 41 million children under the age of 5 years were either overweight or obese. Most of these children belong to ethnic minority groups that reside in urban zones in the United States and Canada (Biol, 2012). Obesity results in more deaths worldwide as compared to the number of health complications that are arising from being underweight. In North America today, there are more obese people than those suffering from malnutrition.