Social Implications in Obese School-Aged Children in the U



Social Implications of Childhood Obesity

Ana Mora

CHHS-302

Professor Gayle Yamauchi-Gleason

December 8, 2011

Table of Contents

Section Page Number

I. Title Page 1

II. Table of Contents 2

III. Introduction 3

IV. Factor Contributors 3

V. Social Implications 5

VI. Awareness & Support 6

VII. Conclusion 8

VIII. References 10

IX. Appendix 12

Introduction

Childhood obesity has become an epidemic and rates continue to increase. According to Center for Diseases Control and Prevention, 17 % (12.5 million) of children and adolescents ages 2-19 are obese (CDC, 2011). The percentages seem to be rising every year only to negatively affect these children and their loved ones. The U.S Department of Health and Human Services concluded that overweight children have a 70% chance of becoming overweight or obese as adults. Childhood obesity is, in fact, relevant to our community, which is most importantly why awareness needs to be raised.

There are untold social implications to the childhood obesity epidemic that can certainly be addressed through support to the child and education to the community. Obesity brings a range of health problems to the child as well as many social problems. Social problems most often occur from the lack of acceptance from the overweight child’s peers. In addition, social implications can refer to many struggling aspects that negatively affect the child’s life. These implications include, low self-esteem, isolation, depression, anxiety and other emotional challenges. It is a shame that many of these social effects are often overlooked. Not only are they overlooked but they also intrude on the child’s social skills and affect their mental stability. In a study done by Schwimmer (2003), children were given a survey to rate their quality of life. What they found was alarming; children rated their quality of life as low as young cancer patients on chemotherapy (Mental Health Effects section, para.6). Given the data, obese children need immediate care and support so that they can grow to lead a happy healthy lifestyle.

Factor Contributors

When explaining the causes of childhood obesity, a strong argument is the perception of the parent being accountable for the child’s overweight problem. Some may argue that parents cater to the child’s food demands and feed them an excessive amount of foods. Others believe that it’s out of the parents’ control to enforce healthy eating in the child’s diet. To sum it up, parents do, in deed, play a huge role in their children lives. What is happening in the child’s household, diet and lifestyle that is causing social problems in their lives? Factors such as poor diet, inactive lifestyle and media influence (Smith, 2011) are all considered to be leading contributors to this epidemic.

Poor eating habits

In today’s society, families are very busy either with work or any other additional errands. As a result of this, they are eating out more often and spending less time cooking healthy meals at home. When they don’t have sufficient time to cook, they turn to the alternative, which is fast food. Fast food restaurants are fast, cheap and accessible to the public, which is why they are so popular among society. Children are consuming more calories, soft drinks and sweets than ever before. Fast food is not only high in calories but they are also serving larger portions of food causing the child to overindulge in food. The high consumptions of salt, sugar and starch are negatively taking a toll on their body leading to diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol and many more life-threatening diseases (CDC, 2011). Children are eating very few vegetables and fruits and at times none at all. Moreover, in many households, the parents are the main role models. In short, if the parent has bad eating habits, the child will perceive this as being the appropriate way of eating.

Another factor that links to poor eating habits is the economic recession. Many families are losing jobs or getting their wages cut down. The lack of jobs and stability leads to less income and limited money to spend on healthier food items. Furthermore, children who already are obese and are suffering from depression will eat more. Turning to food when feeling sad or down seems to be a good way for them to relieve some stress (Goodwin, 2010).

Inactive Lifestyle

Nowadays, households have more than one television. They may have a television in each room which only makes it more accessible for children to play video games and spend numerous hours watching TV while sitting on the couch. As a result, the child will lack physical activity because of the few hours actually spent outdoors. Children now have a tendency to spend many hours playing on the computer instead of using the computer for educational purposes. Some parents are avoidant of the situation and they don’t enforce any type of physical activity in the home (Klesges, 1990). Many schools are eliminating or cutting back their physical education programs (Help Guide, 2011) which is even worse for the child’s healthy lifestyle. This only means that students aren’t getting physical activity done at home, nor are they getting it at school.

Media Portrayal

The media highly influences a child. According to Smith (2010) millions of dollars are made through advertising in search of influencing children. Fast food restaurants are advertised through bright bold colors, cartoon characters and toys for a specific purpose. They want to be able to bring in as many children as possible to the restaurant. They reduce their prices so that it can be more affordable for families to buy. Most of the time, they succeed by portraying the toy figures by means of getting more and more people to buy their product. Children will want to fit in with their peers by having the latest modern toy. As the child pleads the parent to take them to McDonalds to get them a happy meal for instance, their only intention is to get ahold of the displayed toy. Attracting the public and getting the consumer to buy is frequently a success.

According to Child Obesity website (2006), this graph shows that 35% of the people lack parental control over their children's diets, and 32% answered the growth in sedentary activities such as TV and computer and video games. 14% blamed too little physical education in schools, and 15% cited the heavy marketing of food and drink to kids.

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As shown in the graph, the numerous factors all have different ways of somehow contributing to childhood obesity. Unfortunately, some parents aren’t aware of the high percentages and eventually the factors lead to possible social effects. Health effects are also linked to childhood obesity but social effects are great barriers to a child’s well-being as well.

Social Effects of Childhood Obesity

Obesity is a serious medical condition that occurs when a child is well above the normal weight for his or her age and height (Mayo Clinic, 2011). Obesity becomes troubling when the excess weight begins to deteriorate children’s health and mental stability. Much of the causes of childhood obesity are health issues, but more than that childhood obesity may also cause problems in social interactions and relationships (Pickett, 2004).

While growing up, most people deal with self esteem issues but a major problem is body image. So, how is this relevant to child obesity? In short, a body image issue in obese children often creates negative social effects. An obese child is typically ashamed of their body and will often wear baggy and slouchy clothes to detract attention away from their bodies. They tend to not care about their hygiene or the way they dress because it seems insignificant to them.

Children who experience weight issues often have a difficult time at school. Social seclusion, bullying, and depression are all social effects that may impact an obese child. Studies are now showing that the longer a child is obese, the higher the probability is that the child will develop depression or other mental health disorders (Lawson, 2003). Depression is very serious because it may eventually lead to suicidal thoughts. Other factors that contribute to depression are teasing and isolation. These children often have a difficult time maintaining and making friends.

Also, studies are now seeing continuous cases of early signs of developing anorexia in obese children because of body image issues. Another factor that is currently going on is children being bullied at school because of their weight problems. This automatically puts a burden on the child and causes major distress. Severe bullying can further cause isolation and depression in the child. It is crucial to understand how so many of these social effects can rapidly lead one to another.

The United States rates of childhood obesity are fast growing which is why immediate action must be taken. Below is a line graph representing the increasing number of overweight children in the U.S compared to other places around the world.

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Solutions through Awareness and Support

Presently, the awareness of the social effects of childhood obesity has become more apparent. By no means should organization stop here. Many organizations and programs only focus on the ways to prevent childhood obesity and fail to promote ways to intervene when obesity and its social effects have already occurred. They promote ways to lose weight and lead a healthier lifestyle but don’t focus on the present social effects that the child is now dealing with and ways to cope with them.

One of many great organizations that advocates for health and mental stability amongst children is, Health Corps. Health Corps is an organization that does its best to provide students with lesson and activities that integrate mental, physical and nutritional education. The way in which they approach and raise awareness for social effects is through a process called mental resilience. Through this workshop, they educate and promote self-esteem, enhance decision-making and communication skills, foster healthy relationships, and set long-term goals according to the Educating the Student Body section, (para. 1).

Parents Role

It is very important that parents and families dealing with an obese child be attentive to their child’s needs and look for any signs that are causing stress in the child’s life. Incorporating different meal plans, more exercise, health awareness and moral support might help make a difference. Parents should be very affectionate to their child as he or she may be going through a very difficult time. Of course, there will be parents that argue against this saying that they work all day and are too tired to do so. Spending good quality time with the child can help create a closer bond and lead the child to openly discuss any problems they are dealing with (Smith, 2010). Knowing how to identify any signs of depression is fundamental as well to prevent any further harm to the child. Parent education is a primary method to help obese children because the parents are the primary care holders of the child and spend the most time with them.

Schools

The school plays a huge role in the child’s life. A great way for the school to help this issue is to provide parent night meetings. Having incentives such as gift certificates, coupons, activity equipment and door prizes as a compensation for attending might attract more parents to attend. Teachers should educate parents on short and long term effects of childhood obesity. It would be a great idea for parents to become familiar with fun physical activities that can be done at home.

School systems should be reevaluated. For instance, states should revisit physical education standards so that children can become more physically active at school. Incorporating balanced meal programs could also help make a change.

Teachers and counselors all play a role in a child’s life and can really make a change depending on the type of measures that are taken. Counselors should be great real models so that the child can openly talk to them and be able to trust them. Perhaps the parent isn’t available to the child and the counselor or a teacher is all the child has. Knowing the types of moral support is good to know so you can be a good mentor for the child. School programs should develop curriculum that will enhance children’s self-esteem. Helping them to recognize their strengths and abilities will increase their self-worth. Another form of helping them cope with obesity is to teach children how to control stress and most important how to respond to it.

Organizations

Health Corps (2011) is a proactive health movement that fights obesity and mental resilience crisis by raising awareness through effective curriculum and support groups. It currently serves students in 11 different states, California being one of them. This health movement addresses the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle as well as coping with the many stressors of life. Their current curriculum does an amazing job to bring children together and work towards a goal. They teach kids different healthy recipes and actually allow them to cook the meals. The organization helps students understand the many benefits of healthy foods. Along with teaching healthier eating habits, they find ways to cope with stress.

Health Corps (2011) sets these objectives for children in order to help prevent possible social effects. Through effective strategies, students learn:

• The mind and body are integrally connected

• To recognize their strengths and self-worth

• To recognize realistic, healthy body-types

• To control stress and their reactions to stress

• To understand that mental health affects physical health

• To better manage their time

• To communicate effectively and in a positive way

• To control anger

• To understand how sleep is vital to their mood and their health

Community

Community involvement is important as well. Community centers should provide year round activities for children to allow them to exercise and interact with other peers. Providing activities and sports like soccer, basketball, baseball and football, etc. will create great physical activity for the child as well as allow them to challenge and set goals for themselves. A child being involved in year round activities will create more friends allowing them to better interact with different kids. Being active and having fun while doing it, will decrease the stress that the child may currently be dealing with. Increasing resources for the public is vital so that uninformed parents are aware of the social implications that come with childhood obesity.

Conclusion

Obesity can impact children of all ages, races and gender. It is very important to understand the complexity of this issue in order to develop effective programs to treat childhood obesity and the related social issues. It is very unfortunate for children to go through these situations. Childhood obesity is not something that only affects the child but also involves the people that surround the child. In addition to the health risks of childhood obesity, social effects are just as problematic to the child’s well-being. Experiencing social problems soon become barriers in a child’s life.

Like, Health Corps, many organizations are now being created and are aimed for obese children in order to help them with this issue. Even though there are more programs further research should acknowledge the actual effectiveness of these programs. Taking into consideration the strengths and weaknesses of certain programs will help further programs to recreate more effective strategies to help minimize childhood obesity and current social effects. The issue is quite complex but preventable.

By implementing the proper awareness and education, a positive change will be made in the child’s life. Community and parent involvement is critical for the situation. With time and with the proper awareness, a decrease in percentage of obese children will hopefully be seen. It is time to act now because these children will be our future leaders and will hopefully be advocates for this epidemic.

References

Andrews, J.M.Social implications of overweight children and obesity.

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Caryn, Roni.Child obesity risks death at early age, study finds. New York Times. (2010).

Epstein, Leonard H.; Kilanowski, Colleen K.; Consalvi, Angela R.; Paluch, Rocco A.

Reinforcing value of physical activity as a determinant of child activity level.

Health Psychology, Vol 18(6), Nov, 1999. pp. 599-603.

Goodwin, Jennifer. Obese kids may face social, emotional woes. Visalia Times Delta. (2010).



Ian, Janssen, Craig, Wendy M., Boyce, William F., and Pickett, William. Associations between overweight and obesity with bullying behaviors in school-aged children. Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. 2004; 113; 1187

Klesges, Robert C.; Eck, Linda H.; Hanson, Cindy L.; Haddock, C. Keith; Klesges, Lisa M.

Effects of obesity, social interactions, and physical environment on physical

activity in preschoolers. Health Psychology, Vol 9(4), 1990. pp. 435-449.

Lawson, Willow. The obesity depression link. Psychology Today. (2003).

Overweight and Obesity. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2011).

Smith, Melinda; Robinson, Lawrence. Weight problems and obesity in children.

. (2011).



Smith, Peter.Kids Watch Thousands of Hours of Fast Food Advertisements

(Almost None of Its Healthy). Good Food. (2010).

U.S Department of Health and Human Services. (2011)

Whitesell, Amanda. Health. Advocates seek “community solutions” to childhood

obesity .. (2011).

Appendix

Examples of Federal Programs and Initiatives (U.S Dept. of Health and Human Services)

Programs on overweight and obesity span multiple departments, offices, and agencies in the Federal Government and promote valuable research and action in various settings. These programs are amplified by State, Tribal, local, and private-sector activities. Some examples of Federal initiatives on overweight and obesity, and the programs that support them, are listed below.

Families and Communities

1. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a community planning tool called the Planned Approach to Community Health (PATCH). This tool can be valuable in the process of developing and sustaining action.

2. The Federal Highway Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Georgia Department of Transportation have developed Strategies for Metropolitan Atlanta’s Regional Transportation and Air Quality, a document that provides a framework for assessing which factors of land use and transportation investment policies have the greatest potential to reduce the level of automobile dependence, which may consequently increase walking and bicycling activities while promoting the economic and environmental health of the Atlanta metropolitan region.

Schools

The Assistant Secretary for Health, the Assistant Secretary of Elementary and Secondary Education, and USDA’s Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services co-chair a Federal Interagency Committee on School Health that serves to integrate efforts across three Cabinet departments to improve the health and education of young people, including efforts to prevent and decrease obesity.

CDC currently supports 20 State education agencies for coordinated school health programs to reduce the following chronic disease risk factors: tobacco use, poor eating habits, physical activity, and obesity. CDC also has developed guidelines for school health programs based on a review of published research and input from academic experts.

Health Care

1. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality is supporting the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force’s update to the 1996 Guide to Clinical Preventive Services chapter on screening for obesity. The report will be expanded to address screening and counseling for overweight and obesity and will assess the effectiveness of primary care-based interventions to prevent or treat obesity.

2. CDC has been active in leading discussions about reimbursement, or inclusion as a member benefit, for services relating to the prevention and treatment of overweight and obesity.

Media and Communications

CDC is using existing surveillance systems to develop biennial reports on national, State, and local trends in the prevalence of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes; the risk factors related to these diseases; and the school-based programs that may reduce these risk factors.

CDC, in conjunction with PCPFS and other private and public agencies, is Promoting Better Health for Young People Through Physical Activity and Sports, a document that reports on the strategies being used to involve families, school programs, recreation programs, community structural environment, and media campaigns on physical activity.

Worksites

1. CDC has developed the Personal Energy Plan (PEP), a self-help program that promotes healthy eating and physical activity in the workplace. Worksites are encouraged to supplement the PEP self-help kits with added activities and modifications to the nutritional and physical environment.

CDC has a Web site, Ready, Set, It’s Everywhere You Go: CDC’s Guide to Promoting Moderate Physical Activity, which provides resources and information on how adults can incorporate physical activity into their routines at the workplace.

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