Today not only in the United States but also across the world more children than was the case fifty years ago are becoming obese. These children are increasingly being placed at risk of contracting diabetes and other lifestyle diseases in their later life. Through scientific studies, researchers have established some of the reasons why more children are today being diagnosed with childhood obesity than before (Schmiege, Gance-Cleveland, Gilbert, & Aldrich, 2016). Their arguments revolve around the change of lifestyle being experienced today.
On average, almost a third of the children in America are suffering from childhood and the numbers are even higher in the most vulnerable communities such as the African Americans. In the modern world, children never walk to school rather they are driven by their parents or the school offers bus rides. Additionally, modern day parents are more concerned about their children's school performance and in the long run allow then less time to play after school. As a result, instead of after-school sports, a majority of children are either doing further studies or attending evening tuitions. Further, technology has also played a role in increasing childhood obesity. Children who would otherwise be sporting or engaging in physical, social activities are often watching television, playing video games, or using the internet during their free time (Schmiege et al., 2016). Evidently, therefore, modern day children are leading a sedentary lifestyle.
Finally, due to the nature of life in the modern world, parents are busier than a few years ago. They are busy with work and furthering their education. As a result, they never find time to prepare meals at home and opt to buy cooked food from food outlets. Years ago, children were served with home-cooked food where reasonable portions would be included and snacking was not common. Today, children often snack and this leads to an average additional 200 calories each day. (Schmiege et al., 2016) Additionally, more children are being fed with sugared beverages such as soda and these further increases some calories. In the long-run, more children are increasingly finding themselves at risk of childhood obesity. Therefore, childhood obesity being witnessed today is as a result of embracing of modern lifestyle which is characterized by sedentary living.
Reference
Schmiege, Sarah, Gance-Cleveland, Bonnie, Gilbert, Lynn, & Aldrich, Heather. (2016). Identifying patterns of obesity risk behavior to improve pediatric primary care. Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing 21, 18 - 28.
