Childhood Obesity
Alyson M. Strand
Public Speaking
Persuasive Speech
Sara Sorenson
12/06/2011
America’s Responsibility On October 19th, 2011 an 8 year old boy was removed from his home by officials from the state of Ohio. The parents are being tried for medical neglect. The child weighed 218 pounds at 8 years old. According to the Center For Disease Control, in 2007, approximately 13 million American children and adolescents were obese. The effects of childhood obesity are both physical and emotional, not to mention preventable. According to the National Conference of State Legislation, obesity is defined as a body mass index (BMI) at or above the 95th percentile of the 2000 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for age growth charts. Dr. David S. Ludwig, M.D., Ph.D., states in The New England Journal of Medicine in an article titled “Childhood Obesity---- The Shape of Things To Come”, the physical complications of childhood obesity; fatty liver disease, high blood pressure, gastroesophogeal reflux, orthopedic problems, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, diabetes, sleep apnea, asthma, flat feet, back pain, exercise intolerance, and chronic cardiac inflammation. Obese children who remain obese as adults also have high incidences of death in their middle ages of adulthood. The emotional and psychosocial costs are just as staggering and difficult to manage as the physical complications of childhood obesity. According to Dr. David S. Ludwig M.D., Ph.D., obese children typically are, socially isolated, have eating disorders, anxiety, and depression. If the obese child stays obese into adulthood they are less likely to complete college and are more likely to live in poverty Jessica Gaude held the Guinness Book of World Records in 2009 for the fattest child in the world. At 5 years old Jessica was 200 pounds, her weight doubled by the time she was 7 years old. She lost the ability to move as a regular person, her crushing weight too much for her seven year old
Public Speaking
Persuasive Speech
Sara Sorenson
12/06/2011
America’s Responsibility On October 19th, 2011 an 8 year old boy was removed from his home by officials from the state of Ohio. The parents are being tried for medical neglect. The child weighed 218 pounds at 8 years old. According to the Center For Disease Control, in 2007, approximately 13 million American children and adolescents were obese. The effects of childhood obesity are both physical and emotional, not to mention preventable. According to the National Conference of State Legislation, obesity is defined as a body mass index (BMI) at or above the 95th percentile of the 2000 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for age growth charts. Dr. David S. Ludwig, M.D., Ph.D., states in The New England Journal of Medicine in an article titled “Childhood Obesity---- The Shape of Things To Come”, the physical complications of childhood obesity; fatty liver disease, high blood pressure, gastroesophogeal reflux, orthopedic problems, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, diabetes, sleep apnea, asthma, flat feet, back pain, exercise intolerance, and chronic cardiac inflammation. Obese children who remain obese as adults also have high incidences of death in their middle ages of adulthood. The emotional and psychosocial costs are just as staggering and difficult to manage as the physical complications of childhood obesity. According to Dr. David S. Ludwig M.D., Ph.D., obese children typically are, socially isolated, have eating disorders, anxiety, and depression. If the obese child stays obese into adulthood they are less likely to complete college and are more likely to live in poverty Jessica Gaude held the Guinness Book of World Records in 2009 for the fattest child in the world. At 5 years old Jessica was 200 pounds, her weight doubled by the time she was 7 years old. She lost the ability to move as a regular person, her crushing weight too much for her seven year old