The obesity epidemic has been in existence for quite a while, and its effect is projected to have a significant impact on U.S.A 5 or 10 years to come. My close friend who works at a local firm happens to be obese, and this has in one way affected me. He has always struggled with performing some small activities such as driving and therefore always ask for my assistance whenever he needs to travel. I generally look after him to ensure that he lives comfortably, and this has consumed so much of my personal time.
Childhood obesity occurs when a child's weight is above his or her healthy weight. The primary causes of obesity in children are the same as to those for adults, which are genetics and behavior. Behaviors mostly involve dietary patterns, lack of doing activities, use of medication and other exposures ("What Are the Health Risks of Overweight and Obesity? - NHLBI, NIH", 2016).
One of the primary preventive measures to reduce child obesity may include doing more advertising on less healthy foods to influence children, especially those in schools so that they can make healthy food choices. Another preventive measure to reduce child obesity involves introducing more recreational centers since many homes are built in ways that make it difficult or unsafe to be physically active. In addition, introducing safe routes for walking and biking to school may be a great move to make children more active.
One of the sociological theories that correlate with the obesity is functionalism theory. In this case, sociologists would argue that obesity is important to the society. This is based on their primary argument that everything that exists must have a meaning and useful towards society as a whole. Therefore, it's likely that functionalists would argue that having obese children will draw attention to issues related to health and thus make obesity essential in learning about human psyche or human emotional connection to various types of foods.
References
What Are the Health Risks of Overweight and Obesity? - NHLBI, NIH. (2016). Nhlbi.nih.gov. Retrieved 20 June 2016, from http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/obe/risks
