One of the most perplexing and puzzling issues in today's world is childhood obesity. It has taken the form of an epidemic in various countries including United States for the past two decades. Since 1970, there has been a sufficient increment in the statistics of the adults and children which are going through malnutrition habits particularly, obesity. There are many families and tribes among us that are counted as being obese due to the lifestyle they have and the food routine they follow. It has been proved experimentally that nearly fifteen percent of all the children who are living in our surrounding are overweighed if not yet obese.

It is common for a person to observe obesity but it is certainly not as easy to treat. It is not a condition that you can get rid of in a feasible manner. If a child who is not capable of cutting down his or her eating habits and adapting to the healthy ways of exercising or eating natural products more often, it is likely that he or she will grow into an obese individual in adulthood.

What are the possible causes and effects of childhood obesity? How can you deal with it in a particular span of time?

The causes can be associated with a number of facts that include nutrition, family, heredity, genes or any of the physical activities. If a child has a parent who is obese then there are chances of him being an obese individual as well up to an extent of fifty percent. When both of the parents are confronting this issue, the percentage of risk even gets greater up to 80%. Genetics too play a fundamental role in causing obesity. It should be also kept in mind that bad eating habits, stressful conditions and lack of exercise could increase this issue.

The effects of childhood obesity are numerous. It could cause a person to have high cholesterol resulting in high blood pressure and pulse pressure. It could disturb the hormones regulating the sugar and calcium contents in the body causing diabetes and myxedema. Adults that are confronting obesity frequently encounter heart diseases and skin disorders as well. Obesity could also affect the individuals mentally and emotionally. Children often face lack of self-esteem and confidence that add up to the discrimination level socially. They rate their general quality of life even lower than the chemotherapic cancer patients. They are unable to perform everyday activities properly such as getting along with the friends in their group, keeping up with school activities, sleeping well, playing sports and walking long distances of more than one city block.

Rick Missimer

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