Appetite for Destruction

Appetite for Destruction

“Augustus Gloop! Augustus Gloop! The great big greedy nincompoop! Augustus Gloop! So Big and Vile! So greedy, foul, and infantile”. In the movie, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, an extremely obese boy named Augustus Gloop finds a golden ticket located in a chocolate bar. This ticket allows him to tour Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. While touring the factory, Augustus lets his love for food get the best of him, causing him to fall into Wonka’s pond of chocolate. He is then sucked up into a tube, where he becomes stuck because of his tremendous weight. Sadly enough, there are actually kids in the United States who are Augustus Gloop’s size. This situation is the result of childhood obesity, which has become a major issue in the United States today because children and adults are uneducated about the results of weight gain.

Chubby or Obese?

Obesity is defined as an accumulation of unnecessary fat that is stored in the body. It is also a chronic disease that has serious long term health issues that develop over time. Obesity has recently reached an outrageous level in the Unites States. This issue has increased the most in children with 20%-25% of them being obese or overweight. Unfortunately, children do not know about the many dangerous effects of obesity.

Hungry for Health Problems?

There are numerous amounts of chronic diseases that can occur due to obesity such as: type-2 diabetes, insulin resistance, stroke, and high blood pressure. It is important to monitor the amount of food that is taken in because obesity increases the chances of developing a coronary artery disease, as well as a heart attack. Obesity not only causes its victims to suffer; it can also be fatal. According to the Get America Fit Foundation, “Obesity is known as the second leading cause of preventable deaths in America.” Along with the consequences of several health issues and possibly even death, are the emotional consequences that may occur as well, especially in children.
Eating the Pain Away

Children have to face unfortunate situations all the time. Sometimes these situations are unexpected, such as the loss of a parent or sibling. When this occurs, the child has to find a way to deal with his or her sudden change of emotions. Some situations in which children may turn to food are: hopelessness, depression, confusion and anger. These feelings tend to influence eating habits, causing the child to overeat. Overeating then leads to the child becoming overweight or possibly even obese.

Let's Pick on the Fat Kid!

Once the child is obese there are even more emotional situations that may occur. The children that are obese are more likely to be victimized by bullies than the children that are an average weight. Bullies often inflict physical, relational, or verbal abuse towards the children that they choose to be their victims. The result of bullying may include: loneliness, an increase in anxiety, decrease in self-esteem, depression, and possibly even behavior problems.

Obese Parents, Obese Children

In order to prevent these effects one must understand the possible causes of obesity; however, the factors that lead to obesity are not always preventable, such as genetics. Genetics have been found to increase the chances of a child becoming obese, especially if one or both of the child’s parents are obese. Sex is also an unpreventable factor of obesity. On average, men tend to have more muscle then women. Men also use more calories than women, because muscle burns more calories than any other type of tissue. This leads to women being at a greater risk of weight gain than men, even with the same amount of calorie intake. Certain medical conditions can also promote or cause obesity. These conditions tend to be less common factors of obesity, but they are still possible contributors. Some conditions include: Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, certain medications, Prader-Willi Syndrome, Cushing Syndrome, and Hypothyroidism. Although these causes cannot be prevented; there are ways to work around them to prevent further weight gain. One way to do this would be to note the factors that contribute to weight gain that can be prevented.

Lazy Phases

The most common preventable causes of obesity are lack of physical activity, and overeating. Today’s youth has become known as “The most inactive generation in history”, according to the Get America Fit Foundation. The cause of this has been due to the decrease in the physical education programs in schools, as well as the lack of available or safe recreational facilities in some communities. However, some schools apply too much academic pressure on children. There are homework, tests, and grades that children have to worry about which causes a lot of stress. This academic pressure requires the child to spend too much time sitting and does not leave enough time for the child to engage in physical activities. In fact, some children spend so much time working on school work that by the time he or she finishes, there are other things that he or she would rather do; such as computer games, video games, television, and other indoor activities. This means that there are fewer calories being burned, which leads to weight gain.

Parents Take Notes

With the rapid increase in childhood obesity today, something needs to be done to bring this problem to an end, starting with parents. Parents need to contribute to solving this problem along with the help of others, who have an influence on children. This way obesity will no longer be a problem in today’s youth as well as the youth of the future. The question is how can this be done?

Let's Move!

The first thing to do is consider all of the possible solutions. One possible solution is to support First Lady Michelle Obama’s new program “Let’s Move!” This new program has been designed to promote healthy eating habits and more exercise in children all over America. She has even convinced Congress to require schools to include more vegetables and fruits and less unhealthy items in the school lunches that they offer. However, the only problem with this possible solution is that it requires a lot of money and would take years to accomplish. Obama’s plan would require an amount of twenty-five million dollars to be set aside for school kitchens to be remodeled, and another ten billion dollars over ten years to provide children lunches that are healthier. The only problem is where the money will come from. There is no extra money to be provided for school lunches. Obama also suggest an increase in exercise. This however, would require communities to have safe locations for people to be able to walk and exercise, which would require even more money.

You Commited a Sin. Now Pay Up!

Another way to solve this problem would be to consider applying a sin tax on fast food and other unhealthy foods. A sin tax would be a way of forcing consumers to pay more for things that are considered “sinful”, which in this case would be unhealthy foods. This tax would be an attempt to discourage people to not buy unhealthy food. The only problem is that this method has been tried before and has failed. President Obama himself was actually the one who has attempted this procedure. He raised the tax on tobacco products from thirty-nine cents to a dollar and one cent. This however, only makes the people who smoke pay more for cigarettes. It does not inform them of the dangerous health risks associated with smoking, and the affects that smoking has on other people. This is why the best solution would be to educate the entire United States population.

Education for the Nation

The hardest part of this solution would be figuring out a way to educated everyone. The first way, that a large percentage of the United States could be educated, is by more commercials on obesity.

There are a ton of commercials on weight loss programs and dietary pills, but they are not always healthy solutions to losing weight. There should be more commercials describing the health risk of obesity and ways to lose weight in a healthy way. Only problem is that not everyone owns a television, which is why it may also be beneficial to have communities get together to create programs, that adults and children could attend, to learn all about obesity. In order to eliminate the challenges of this problem and to create a successful future, the community, family, and health care workers will have to come together as a team. However, the most important influence on childhood obesity is parents.

Make Me Healthy Mom

What parents allow their children to eat drastically influences the children’s eating habits. Now and days, more parents are bringing home restaurant prepared food, especially from fast food restaurants. If parents were taught how to cook healthier foods in one of the programs, in just a short amount of time this problem could be avoided. The creation of a program may become expensive, which is why funding could be done through fundraisers and sponsors. With the help of these programs, obesity can go from a major problem to minor problem in just a matter of time. There would be less health risk and less preventable deaths.

If everyone could work together, more could be accomplished, because with a little encouragement comes a great change.

Stop Dancing Around the Issue

The video, "Childhood Obesity 'The Dance'", was created by the Metrowest Community Health Care Foundation on February 6, 2007.

This video explains the issue with childhood obesity perfectly. In addition, it lists the possible physical and mental outcomes of obesity if not prevented. It also encourages parents to pay attention to their children, so that they can prevent obesity before it's too late.

I really liked this video because of how well it expressed the importance of childhood obesity. I also felt that it was very creative and motivational.

What Can Be Done to Prevent Childhood Obesity?

"Understanding Childhood Obesity", was written by J. Clinton Smith, in the Understanding Health and Sickness Series, in 1999.

In chapter six of Smith's book, he explains what can be done to prevent childhood obesity. He begins this chapter by explaining how children's calorie intake has increased over recent years, while their physical activities have decreased. He talks about constraints faced by schools, obesity prevention strategies, as well as, state and federal programs that have been created. He also explains how parents are concerned with their children's weight and how they want to do whatever they can to prevent obesity. He then concludes with the suggestion of targeting those who are at a high risk of becoming obese.

I chose this eBook because I liked the way Smith broke down his books into chapters. I felt that this information was very benefial and informative. It also gave good examples of how to prevent childhood obesity.