Junk Food and Obesity in Children
Don 't forget to look for the editorial!!!! Or else the paper is meaningless...
Junk Food X Obesity in Children There is an alarming rise in childhood obesity throughout the United States, making it an epidemic in this country. Over the past thirty years obesity has continued to increase and become a threat to the health of many children. Since the 1970s’ obesity has doubled in children from ages of 2-5, and young adults between the ages of 12 and 19. The most significant increase is seen between the ages of 6-11 where the numbers have tripled; approximately 9 million children over the age of six are obese. Obesity is defined by Webster’s dictionary as “increase body weight due to excessive accumulation of body fat”, though that concept is continually being refined. In humans, the current measurement of obesity is the body mass index (BMI). A person with a BMI over 25 is considered overweight; a BMI over 30 is considered obese. The American Institute for Cancer Research considers a BMI between 18.5 and 25 to be an ideal target for a healthy individual (although several sources consider a person with a BMI of less than 20 to be underweight). The term “junk food” that will also be discussed in this paper refers to any food that is high in calories, fat, salt, and sugar without bringing any nutritional value to the table. According to the editorial “Junk it”, published on The San Diego Union-Tribune on March 10th 2005, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is unequivocal on his fight for healthier food for students in public schools. Nowadays obesity threatens to overtake tobacco as the number one cause of death in America.
Governor Schwarzenegger made the right decision to terminate obesity in children by eliminating junk food in the public school system. Okay, terminate may be a little too overzealous, since the causes of obesity are rooted in the home and in the genes of each kid, but at least if the school districts listen to the Governor, they will be doing
Junk Food X Obesity in Children There is an alarming rise in childhood obesity throughout the United States, making it an epidemic in this country. Over the past thirty years obesity has continued to increase and become a threat to the health of many children. Since the 1970s’ obesity has doubled in children from ages of 2-5, and young adults between the ages of 12 and 19. The most significant increase is seen between the ages of 6-11 where the numbers have tripled; approximately 9 million children over the age of six are obese. Obesity is defined by Webster’s dictionary as “increase body weight due to excessive accumulation of body fat”, though that concept is continually being refined. In humans, the current measurement of obesity is the body mass index (BMI). A person with a BMI over 25 is considered overweight; a BMI over 30 is considered obese. The American Institute for Cancer Research considers a BMI between 18.5 and 25 to be an ideal target for a healthy individual (although several sources consider a person with a BMI of less than 20 to be underweight). The term “junk food” that will also be discussed in this paper refers to any food that is high in calories, fat, salt, and sugar without bringing any nutritional value to the table. According to the editorial “Junk it”, published on The San Diego Union-Tribune on March 10th 2005, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is unequivocal on his fight for healthier food for students in public schools. Nowadays obesity threatens to overtake tobacco as the number one cause of death in America.
Governor Schwarzenegger made the right decision to terminate obesity in children by eliminating junk food in the public school system. Okay, terminate may be a little too overzealous, since the causes of obesity are rooted in the home and in the genes of each kid, but at least if the school districts listen to the Governor, they will be doing
Cited: 1. http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/obesity 2. “Junk it”. The San Diego Union-Tribune. March 10th 2005. 3. Miller. “Don’t Sugar Coat It”. Health Source Consumer Edition. 2003. Retrieved from: http://libsys.uah.edu 4. Jacobson, Michael F. “Funding Schools”. Health Source Consumer Edition. 2003. Retrieved from http://libsys.uah.edu