argumentative essay about childhood obesity

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Leave Fat Kids Alone

The “war on childhood obesity” has only caused shame.

By Aubrey Gordon

Ms. Gordon is the author of the forthcoming book “What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat.”

I was in the fourth grade, sitting in a doctor’s office, the first time my face flushed with shame. I was, I had just learned, overweight.

I will remember the pediatrician’s words forever: It’s probably from eating all that pizza and ice cream. It tastes good, doesn’t it? But it makes your body big and fat.

I felt my face sear with shame.

There was more: Just imagine that your body is made out of clay. If you can just stay the same weight, as you grow, you’ll stretch out. And once you grow up, you’ll be thin and beautiful. Won’t that be great?

I learned so much in that one moment: You’re not beautiful. You’re indulging too much. Your body is wrong. You must have done it. I’d failed a test I didn’t even know I’d taken, and the sense of failure and self-loathing it inspired planted the seeds of a depression I would live with for many years.

As the holiday season approaches, with its celebratory family meals and seasonal treats, I worry about the children across the country who will endure similar remarks, the kind that shatter their confidence, reject their bodies and usher them into a harsh new world of judgment.

For the rest of my childhood, I weathered the storm of conversations like the one I had at the doctor’s office. Well-meaning, supportive adults eagerly pointed out my perceived failings at every turn. As the years went on, more and more foods, I was told, were off limits.

It wasn’t just that I shouldn’t eat them; it was that they were sinful, bad, tempting . Many of those foods — eggs, nuts, avocados — would later fall back into the good graces of healthy eating. At the time, though, they were collateral damage in a crusade to cut calories at all costs. Fiber, vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, protein — they were all sacrificed at the altar of calories in, calories out. The focus was never on enjoying nutritious foods, just on deprivation, will and lack.

My life was filled with self-flagellation, forced performances to display my commitment to changing an unacceptable body. Adults asked openly about what I had eaten, when I had exercised and whether I knew how to do either correctly. After all, if I was still fat, it must be my fault.

My body wasn’t just a body, the way a thinner one might have been. It was perceived as a burden, an inconvenience, a bothersome problem to solve. Only thinness would allow me to forget my body, but despite my best efforts, thinness never came.

The more I and others tried to change my size, the deeper my depression became. Even at such a young age, I had been declared an enemy combatant in the nation’s war on childhood obesity, and I felt that fact deeply. Bodies like mine now represented an epidemic, and we were its virus, personified.

The war on obesity seemed to emerge, fully formed, near the turn of the millennium, but its roots run deeper than that. C. Everett Koop, surgeon general under President Ronald Reagan, made fatness a priority for his office in the 1980s. In 2004, nearly three years after the Sept. 11 attacks, Surgeon General Richard Carmona compared the war on obesity to the war on terror. Suddenly, fat people weren’t just neighbors, friends or family members — we were enemies to be feared.

The war on childhood obesity reached its zenith with the 2010 introduction of the national “Let’s Move!” campaign, “dedicated to solving the problem of obesity within a generation.” It was a campaign against “childhood obesity” — not specific health conditions or the behaviors that may contribute to those health conditions. It wasn’t a campaign against foods with little nutritional value, or against the unchecked poverty that called for such low-cost, shelf-stable foods. It was a campaign against a body type — specifically, children’s body types.

In 2012, Georgia began its Strong4Life campaign aimed at reducing children’s weight and lowering the state’s national ranking: second in childhood obesity. Run by the pediatric hospital Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, it was inspired in part by a previous anti-meth campaign. Now, instead of targeting addiction in adults, the billboards targeted fatness in children. Somber black-and-white photographs of fat children stared at viewers, emblazoned with bold text. “WARNING: My fat may be funny to you but it’s killing me. Stop childhood obesity.” “WARNING: Fat prevention begins at home. And the buffet line.” “WARNING: Big bones didn’t make me this way. Big meals did.”

The billboards purported to warn parents of the danger of childhood fatness, but to many they appeared to be public ridicule of fat kids. Strong4Life became one of the nation’s highest-profile fat-shaming campaigns — and its targets were children.

These declarations of an obesity epidemic and a war on childhood obesity all doggedly pursued one question, and one question only: How do we make fat kids thin? In other words, how do we get rid of fat kids?

Overwhelmingly, childhood anti-obesity programs hinged on shame and fear, a scared-straight approach for fat children. As of 2017, fully half of the states required that schools track students’ body mass index. Many require “B.M.I. report cards” to be sent home to parents, despite the fact that 53 percent of parents don’t actually believe that the reports accurately categorize their child’s weight status. And observational studies in Arkansas and California have shown that the practice of parental notification doesn’t appear to lead to individual weight loss or an overall reduction in students’ B.M.I.s. One eating disorder treatment center called the report cards a “pathway to weight stigma” that would most likely contribute to the development of eating disorders in predisposed students.

Experiencing weight stigma has significant long-term effects, too. A 2012 study in the journal Obesity asked fat adults to indicate how often they had experienced various weight-stigmatizing events. Seventy-four percent of women and 70 percent of men of similar B.M.I. and age reported others’ making negative assumptions. Twenty-eight percent of women and 23 percent of men reported job discrimination. The effects of stigma were especially dire for young people, very fat people and those who started dieting early in life. To cope, 79 percent of all respondents reported eating, 74 percent isolated themselves, and 41 percent left the situation or avoided it in the future. Rather than motivating fat people to lose weight, weight stigma had led to more isolation, more avoidance and less support.

Despite ample federal and state funding, multiple national public health campaigns and a slew of television shows, the war on obesity does not appear to be lowering Americans’ B.M.I.s. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, since 1999 there has been a 39 percent increase in adult obesity and a 33.1 percent increase in obesity among children.

Weight stigma kick-starts what for many will become lifelong cycles of shame. And it sends a clear, heartbreaking message to fat children: The world would be a better place without you in it.

Yet, despite its demonstrated ineffectiveness, the so-called war on childhood obesity rages on. This holiday season, for the sake of children who are told You’re not beautiful. You’re indulging too much. Your body is wrong. You must have done it, I hope some parents will declare a cease-fire.

Aubrey Gordon, who has written under the pseudonym “Your Fat Friend,” is a columnist for Self magazine, a co-host of the podcast “Maintenance Phase” and the author of the forthcoming book “ What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat .”

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook , Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram .

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Childhood Obesity (Argumentative Essay Sample)

Childhood obesity.

Obesity among children has become one of the greatest health challenges in the world. Childhood obesity occurs when children have excess body fat in relation to their body index as a result of the adoption of unhealthy eating behavior at an early age, making them clinically unhealthy. Numerous studies such as by the CDC estimate that one five school children in the U.S are obese amounting to about 15 percent of the population. Numerous causes have been identified as major contributors to childhood obesity.

Consumption of unhealthy foods is the primary reason precipitating obesity in children. Research in the United States documents that most children feed on fast foods, processed junk foods and vending machine snacks, candy, baked wheat products and fruit juices that contain high amounts of sugars and calories with minimal or no nutrients whatsoever that they feed on them in excess. Thus, their bodies absorb excess calories and fat that are stored resulting in them becoming obese.

Lack of regulation in the food industries contributes to childhood obesity. Many manufacturers process their foods stuff, majoring on increasing their sales as opposed to promoting the health of the consumers. Most of them have penetrated the school systems in the U.S. where they have filled it with unhealthy foods for the children thereby increasing the development of unhealthy eating habits.

Television and advertising companies have been linked to childhood obesity. Advertisers spend on average two billion dollars in the U.S each year marketing foods to children. The majority of the foods advertised are unhealthy foods containing calories, sugar, and sodium that bombard children every time they watch televisions. Such advertisements are aired during children’s shows at daytime while others are incorporated in children cartoons. Consequently, children influence their parents to buy these unhealthy foods thereby increasing the consumption of unhealthy foods.

Lack of physical exercise is another contributor to childhood obesity. In the past children’s enjoyment and fun activities included walking, sports and other outdoor activities that elicited physical exercise. However, with the onset of computer games, the internet, chatting, television, and radios, children have adopted sedentary lifestyles where they spend most of their time in front of various electronic devices. Moreover, fewer children walk to school or engaged in sporting activities thereby increasing their chances of obesity.

Despite the above-listed causes, various institutions have brought on opposition. Food and advertising companies making junk and fast foods argue that advertising of foods to children does not lead to childhood obesity. According to them, obesity in children results due to lack of self-control and discipline among parents and children whereby parents fail to control their children’s intake of these foods and permit them to feed on as much as they want. However, fast foods and processed foods, whether taken in moderation or not, contain harmful substances that are unhealthy.

Food services executives argue that the government has no right whatsoever to introduce regulations that impact the lives of the people. According to them, dictating the types of foods that people should eat violates their right to freedom and choice particularly in schools. Thus, individuals particularly children should be allowed to consume the foods they want. I disagree because many children do not have the knowledge on the dangers of consuming various foods or self-control over them, thus regulations are vital.

In conclusion, various aspects in our society such as advertisements, the food consumed, food regulations and physical exercises should be enforced and observed and not opposed. Arguing that lack of discipline and need for freedom to consume unhealthy foods are misguided arguments that should be done away.

Childhood obesity: are parents really to blame?

Doctoral candidate in Health and Physical Education, Charles Sturt University

Disclosure statement

Darren Powell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Charles Sturt University provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU.

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Should a child’s obese body be used as evidence to support their removal from their parents’ care? According to a recent report in The Age newspaper, the Children’s Court of Victoria thinks so.

Victoria’s Department of Human Services (DHS) has cited a young person’s obesity in at least two child protection cases this year. A spokesperson for the DHS told The Age obesity was not of itself grounds for child protection workers to become involved with a family. Nevertheless, the fact that obesity was used as evidence at all demonstrates that a child’s obese body is considered proof of abusive or neglectful parenting. But should it be?

Both Victorian children seem to have been placed into care, in part, because their mothers contributed to their obesity. The teenage girl was allowed to eat too much, while the boy’s medical intervention had failed because his mother let him sit “in his room, eating and inactive”. The courts and DHS assumed that if these children had different parents – or no parents at all – they would not be obese.

The central argument in these two cases is that the parents have neglected their child’s medical needs: the need to not be obese. Indeed, much of the debate around this issue (and childhood obesity in general) frames obesity as a medical problem that may be solved by medical intervention – including hormone treatment, medication and surgery – and of course, by making healthy lifestyle choices.

But there is a moral undercurrent to this issue of neglect. This stems from our societal understanding of what it means to be fat . The body is wrongly assumed to be an accurate indicator of a person’s moral worth – or lack of. Someone who is lean, even skinny, is perceived to be a “good person”: healthy, fit and active.

Conversely, a person who is fat is judged as having a lack of morals. They must be lazy, unhealthy, greedy, inactive, unfit, even stupid. In short, a fat person is deemed to be a bad person and a drain on the economy and society.

These two parents, as well as parents of fat children in general, are criticised and even demonised for failing to save their children from the sins of sloth, gluttony, and greed. They have been judged to be neglectful in their duty to protect their children from being fat. And when a parent is accused of causing or contributing to their child’s fatness, it’s insinuated that they’re also corrupting their child and creating a “bad person”.

These two Victorian children have been removed from their parent’s care to save them from neglectful parenting, ill-health, a fat body – and their soul. This is not to say that there were no medical reasons for placing these children into state care. But when we talk about obesity, our understandings of the fat body are imbued with both moral and medical assumptions. And it has become difficult to separate the two.

Within a modern understanding of health, the fat body is also seen as the failure of individuals to look after their own (or their own children’s) bodies. By judging fat people as irresponsible - neglecting to make healthy “choices” - fat people are unfairly blamed for being fat. In these cases though, the parents have been blamed for allowing their children to be fat.

Who’s to blame?

There will be commentators who continue to argue that people just need to take more responsibility for their own health and actions by making the right choices. But this isn’t always easy. And blaming a mother for making her child fat does not begin to acknowledge the multiple, oppressive forces that restrict the choices a parent can make.

As Associate Professor John Dixon has rightly pointed out , parents and children who are obese are themselves victims. It is well established that economic, environmental, social, cultural, historical and political forces act as determinants on children’s health and bodies. These factors also affect the ability to parent well.

Children who live in poverty are highly represented in obesity statistics. Does this mean poor parents are the most neglectful and abusive parents? Or poor children are the laziest? There are obviously many other forces at play.

I don’t know all of the details of these particular cases, and thus cannot say whether these children and their parents needed to be separated. There were obviously other issues of neglect or abuse that alerted the authorities to begin with. However, it appears that these two Victorian children’s fatness was, to some degree, used as evidence of child abuse or neglect.

My concern is that it is not only courts and DHS who blame a child’s fatness on the parents. Teachers, journalists, politicians, doctors, academics and members of the public are sometimes quick to judge fat kids and their bad parents without considering other determinants on health or the assumptions that shape how we understand a fat body.

Perhaps instead of criticising parents of all fat children, or fat children themselves, it is more productive and positive to confront the wider issues of neglect. Yes, there are many families who need sustained support and help with their children’s health. However, just making fat kids thinner will do little to address the fat elephant in the room – the social injustices which continue to be perpetuated by social inequalities.

• Childhood obesity

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List Of Unique Argumentative Essay Topics About Childhood Obesity

The issue of childhood obesity is one that crops up on daily basis, both in developed and in developing countries. If you have been asked to write an argumentative essay about this topic, it is important that you find out as much as possible before you start the actual writing. Being overweight is a serious issue and has a lot of issues waiting to be addressed. Before you can make a meaningful contribution to the argument, you first have to choose a topic. This seems to be where you get stuck but not to worry, this article contains unique topics that you can choose from for your argumentative essay about childhood obesity. These topics include the following:

• Are parents contributing to their children being overweight?
• What are the major contributory factors to childhood obesity?
• Children can help themselves towards avoiding childhood obesity

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• Overweight can be influenced by a family’s genetics
• A child’s environment contributes to childhood obesity
• There is a relationship between food and excess weight gain
• Do calories play a significant role in excess weight gain in children?
• Planned-meal diets – Do they help in controlling childhood obesity?
• Maintaining a good exercise routine can help a child stay obese free
• Low carbohydrate diets are the best option in preventing childhood obesity
• Should obese prone children be forced to live on calorie-counting diets?
• Are vegetarian diets the best option for obese children?
• Should gluten-free diets be made compulsory for children?
• Does sugar play a huge role in excessive weight gain in children?
• Should school vending machines only sell health-friendly snacks and sodas?
• What are the safest methods to help obese children lose excess weight gain?
• Intermittent fasting helps keep young children from becoming obese
• Can over-weight children be positively influenced by weight-loss TV shows like “The Biggest Loser”?
• The healthcare costs of obese children are more expensive than normal weight children
• Is it safe for obese children to undergo surgery to help them lose weight?

These are some of the unique argumentative essay topics about childhood obesity that you can write on. In order to make sure that your paper is very interesting, you should engage in adequate research. Make sure that the information or materials you use are only from reputable sources, including statistics. Now that you no longer have any excuse in the form of lack of topic, it is time to sit down and start working on your essay about childhood obesity.

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Free Childhood Obesity Argumentative Essay Sample

Type of paper: Argumentative Essay

Topic: Obesity , Exercise , Food , Parents , Family , Childhood , Children , Social Issues

Words: 2500

Published: 03/05/2020

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Childhood obesity has become a worldwide plague and an uphill task for many parents. The number of obese children has become enormous around the globe, and action should be taken in order to decrease this alarming rate. Many children in the society are suffering from obesity and this makes them prone to serious health risks in the future. Obesity exposes a child to diseases like high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, as well as sleep problems in the future. Obesity is a disorder that is characterized by increased body weight due to excessive fat intake. It can be caused when the calories consumed exceeds the amount of calories burned. Parents are to blame for their children becoming overweight and obese; this is because of the kinds of food that they feed their children. Many children suffer from the obesity epidemic across the globe, and it is as a result of the type of food given to them by their parents or guardians. Therefore, parents are to watch out on the kind of foods given to their children, and provide healthy lifestyle choices to them. Parents are to infuse healthy eating habits in their children, for the reason that, without the aspiration of children to eat healthily, no progress will be made in the fight against childhood obesity. This can only be done by educating parents on the ways to tackle childhood obesity, and the main way is prevention. Childhood obesity can be caused by parents feeding their children with foods rich in fats, for instance junk food. Most parents prefer giving their children junk food bought from fast foods, instead of a suitable balanced diet. When a child is fed on a lot of fats, the fat is transformed into calories, whereby after accumulating in the body, they lead to obesity and overweight. According to Gable and Lutz, most children living with obesity are said to get it from the foods parents serve them at home (Gable and Lutz, 2000). Parents can only eliminate obesity in their children by feeding them on a strict balanced diet. In addition, childhood obesity can be caused by too much eating. Many parents feed their children with a lot of food and they grow up eating too much. While many children are faced with the obesity problem as they grow up, childhood obesity is preventable. Even though there are a number of ways parents can use to tackle childhood obesity identified by researchers, the most effective way to handle this epidemic is by prevention. According to Leann, prevention is the most effective way of handling the obesity scourge in children (2011). Childhood obesity is a phenomenon that needs to be addressed from our homes. When addressed by parents, the children with the obesity scourge will be reduced in numbers, as many of them will be prevented from suffering from obesity and overweight. Preventing obesity will involve dealing with the main factors that cause obesity, which are physical inactivity, and feeding children on the wrong diet. Parents are supposed to work together with their children, and with teachers for those school going children, in preventing obesity, and only prevention can be used to eliminate this worldwide scourge that is increasing among young children worldwide. First, parents should make sure that their children eat a balanced diet. A healthy diet is vital in the prevention of childhood obesity. Parents should encourage their children to take a balanced diet and make sure that they discourage them from taking junk foods (Mille, Rosenbloom, and Silverstein, 2004). This can be done by making sure that children are not exposed to junk foods at home, as well as at school. Reducing caloric intake in children is the best way to prevent childhood obesity. Mille, Rosenbloom, and Silverstein further state that, many school going children makes wrong choices in the foods they take, especially during break time or lunch hours, by taking junk foods that is easily available to them in school canteens and café (2004). Parents should work hand in hand with the school administration in closing up canteens that sell junk foods to children and only encourage the selling of fruits in schools. Parents have the chance to stop their children from becoming obese and overweight by giving them a proper food or a balanced diet. Furthermore, parents can determine if their children become obese on not depending on the kind of diet they give them in their development stage. Moreover, parents should teach their children on how to be responsible and avoid junk foods, since it is not good for their health, this will help a lot in preventing children from taking in more calories. Therefore, in order to prevent childhood obesity, parents should provide their children with healthy food options, and limit their intake of foods rich in fat in addition to sugary foods. Secondly, parents should ensure that their children exercise on a regular basis. Making exercise a fun activity is vital for every household, as it will help encourage kids to exercise regularly. Parents should encourage physical activities for their children on a daily basis. When children fail to exercise, they are prone to obesity and overweight, since most of the fats remains in the body and can only be burned out through physical exercises. Parents should emphasize physical activities for their children both at home and school in order to prevent their children from becoming overweight and obese. A study done by Li and Hooker indicates that, physical exercises and activities help to reduce obesity risks in children (2010). Moreover, physical activities are the main ways to burn calories in the body; therefore, parents should ensure that, their children exercise on a regular basis in order to burn calories and this will prevent them from becoming overweight and obese. Most children prefer a lifestyle whereby, they spend most of their free time watching the television, movies, and playing computer and video games. Parents should seize this opportunity and encourage them to exercise by playing outside with other children, riding bikes, skating, and even jumping ropes. This will help their children become physically fat, since the fats stored in the body will be burned out (Li and Hooker, 2010). Through these exercises and physical activities, parents will be able to prevent their children from becoming obese and overweight. Third, parents should make sure that they prevent their children from becoming obese by breastfeeding them for at least six months. According to Pruitt (1998), breast milk plays a vital role if whether a child might become obese in the future or not. Moreover, parents can prevent their children from becoming obese by teaching them to eat less food as they grow up. Many parents feed their children on large amounts of food and this makes them suffer from obesity. The propensity to eat more than the body needs significantly contributes to the childhood obesity scourge. Giving children food in the right quantities helps a lot in preventing childhood obesity as children will grow up knowing the amount of food that should be taken. Parents should practice a responsive feeding program for their children, as this will encourage them to eat appropriate quantities that keep to their body’s requirements. In addition, they will grow up aware of the kinds of foods that are good for their health and those that expose them to the risk of suffering from obesity. According to Koplan, Liverman, and Kraak, parents highly influence the ability of overeating in their children, especially according to the way they eat themselves, and their eating beliefs (2005). Therefore, parents should consider a strict intake of food for their children in order to regulate the quantity of food being taken by their children. Lastly, in order to prevent childhood obesity, parents should focus on a more healthy and active lifestyle for their children. The parents should practice good eating habits, as their children will take after them. Additionally, parents should enhance their parenting skills by developing an authoritative approach in shaping their children’s eating habits. Brown and Ogden state that, children’s food preferences will always be similar to those of their parents; hence, parents are supposed to become role models for their children by eating healthily (2004). Most children will always want to eat what their parents eat, and when parents eat a balanced diet on a daily basis, they will be able to influence their children, thus prevent them from becoming overweight and obese. As they have been portrayed to be the major cause of obesity in their children, parents should try their best to prevent obesity in their children, and reduce overweight in the children who already have obesity. When parents put all of the above into consideration, they will be able to prevent their children from becoming overweight and obese. Most studies done on childhood obesity reveal that, the sooner parents get involved in their children’s nutrition, the better, because, they are the only people who can prevent their children from obesity. Parents need to take a greater responsibility, in finding ways to reduce the risk of obesity in their children by serving as role models. Parents greatly influence their children’s health and fitness, since they serve as Heros to them. Parents can encourage their children to take lots of fruits and vegetables and exercise daily, by simply doing it themselves as role models. However, most parents have failed to realize their role as role models to their children, and this has highly influenced their children’s health thus making them prone to obesity. Obesity has become a global epidemic that affects children, adolescence and even adults. Children with obesity have a great risk of becoming obese adults, and this makes them at risk of numerous medical conditions related to obesity in the future. In addition, children with obesity are at risk of having a reduced life expectancy because of the greater risk of complications (Lindsay, Sussner, Kim, and Gortmaker, 2006). The rising prevalence of obesity in children is as a result of poor eating habits, and they are associated with parents. Therefore, it is a high time for parents to take charge and prevent their children from becoming obese. It is the duty of the parents to tackle the obesity scourge in their children. Parents should be educated on how to tackle the obesity epidemic through seminars and community based programs and this will help reduce obesity prevalence in children. Parents should encourage their children to eat less and move more. The fight against childhood obesity requires a communitywide effort of parents. According to many studies done, parents are the main cause for the increase of obesity in young children. Therefore, parents should come together in the community and find appropriate ways to prevent obesity in their children. Crow and Golan state that, parents can learn about the best ways to prevent their children from the obesity scourge through seminars (2004). Through education programs and community based programs, parents will be able to handle to the obesity epidemic effectively. Moreover, they will be able to learn how to feed their children with a properly balanced diet, and the types of exercises that are recommendable for young children. Moreover, parents will learn how to evaluate their children’s weight and this will help them monitor any abnormal weights, which might lead to obesity. Through this, many parents will be able to educate their children on the kind of food that is good for their health, in addition to exercising on a regular basis. In conclusion, childhood obesity is a global scourge. It is evident that, there is an increase in the number of obese and overweight children around the globe. Due to these startling increases, dealing with obesity has become a priority in many nations, although it is an uphill task for many parents. Childhood obesity is mainly caused by parents, depending on the choices of foods they give to their children. Most parents give their children foods full of fats thus making them to be at a high risk of becoming obese. As they are the main cause of obesity in their children, parents should take a preventive measure to reduce obesity prevalence in children. Most kids consume more calories than they need on a daily basis, take larger meals, and are addicted to sugary foods and even soda. In addition, they are being drawn into obesity unaware, and by the time they grow old, they cannot take control of their eating habits since, poor eating habits have been engrained in them. Therefore, it is the duty of parents to prevent their children from becoming obese by learning, how to tackle this global epidemic. Prevention is said to be the best cure for obesity, as it will eliminate the problem completely. Parents can prevent their children from suffering from obesity by making sure that they eat a balanced diet. In addition, parents should encourage their children to exercise on a daily basis in order to burn excess calories in the body, since physical inactivity leads to overweight, thus obesity. Parent should focus on taking care of their children by taking a closer look at the foods they give them, unless they want their children to be obese and overweight. Hence, it is important for parents to work out on ways to prevent their children from obesity, and this can be best done through prevention, by providing them with a balanced diet and encouraging physical activities. Childhood obesity is a growing problem that needs to be taken seriously. Obese children will always end up becoming obese adults, unless parents make a change in their lifestyles and diet. Therefore, preventing childhood obesity and setting up children for a better future is the way forward for a healthy nation free from the obesity scourge.

Miller, J. Rosenbloom, A., and Silverstein, J. (2004). "Childhood obesity". J. Clinic. Endocrinol Metab. 89 (9): 4211–8. Lindsay, A. C., Sussner, K. M., Kim, J. and Gortmaker, S. (2006). The Role of Parents in Preventing Childhood Obesity. Future of Children, 16(1), 169-186. Leann, B. L. (2011). Early Childhood Obesity Prevention Policies. Retrieved from http://site.ebrary.com/lib/alltitles/docDetail.action?docID=10520724&p00=childhood obesity risk factors. Li, J. and Hooker, N. H. (2010). Childhood Obesity and Schools: Evidence from the National Survey of Children's Health. Journal of School Health, 80(2), 96-103. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier. Pruitt, D. (1998). Your Child. New York: Harper and Collins. Brown, R. and Ogden, J. (2004) Children’s eating attitudes and behavior: a study of the modeling and control theories of parental influence. Health Education Research, 19(3) pg 261-271. Crow, S. and Golan, M. (2004) Targeting Parents Exclusively in the Treatment of Childhood Obesity: Long-Term Results. Obesity Research, 12(1) pg 357-361. Gable, S. and Lutz, S. (2000). Household, Parent, and Child Contributions to Childhood Obesity. Family Relations, 49(3) pg 293-300. Koplan, J.P., Liverman, C.T. and Kraak, V.I. (2005) Preventing Childhood Obesity: health in the balance. Washington, DC: The National Academic Press.

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Child — Persuasive Essay On Child Obesity

Persuasive Essay on Child Obesity

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Published by laceyjenkins

Lacey Jenkins is a 29-year-old blogger who writes about education. She has a degree in communications and is currently working on her doctorate in education. She has been writing since she was a teenager and has been published in several magazines and newspapers. View all posts by laceyjenkins

Parental Responsibility for Childhood Obesity Essay

Did you know that at least thirty present (31.9%) of children in the USA have the Body Mass Indexes (BMI) that characterize them as overweight or obese (Benson and Mokhtari 233)? What is even more interesting, the statistic gives the same one-third of obese people among the adult population (Benson and Mokhtari 233). In other words, the numbers of overweight children and adults are almost the same.

And although it does not directly follow from two facts mentioned above, it suggests the idea that overweight parents usually have overweight children, i.e., transmit their eating habits to them. It is widely known and proven by numerous studies that parents have the most significant influence on their children’s lifestyles, especially their eating habits; in addition to the fact that children copy everything their parents do, including eating habits and lifestyles, which also affect the BMI, even work positions that parents occupy matter.

To start with, parents are the most important people in the lives of their kids – they are role models to them. That is why they have a direct influence on their children to make decisions, and eating habits are not an exception. Researchers claim that children who have parents who lead healthy lifestyles are more likely to lead healthy lifestyles by themselves (Driscoll par. 2).

As an example, children whose parents drink soda or eat quick meals are almost twice more likely to eat junk food than children of parents who eat healthier (Driscoll par. 7). Similarly, if parents eat fruits and vegetables regularly, children, nearly 20% are more likely to eat healthy meals than children whose parents do not follow any diet (Driscoll par. 7). That is how parents are responsible for their children’s obesity because of their own eating habits.

Nevertheless, even if parents lead healthy lifestyles, it does not mean that they are free from responsibility for their children’s obesity. The way in which a child is treated at home and how much time he or she spends with the parents mean a lot. As a prime example, Benson and Mokhtari have established a stable connection link between parents’ working schedules and children’s BMIs (241).

Children whose mothers work and have not enough time to keep an eye on their kids’ nutrition tend to omit breakfasts, eat unhealthy foods, eat away from home, have unreasonably large portions, and so on (Benson and Mokhtari 234). If both parents work, the situation becomes even more disturbing. Apparently, if parents do not have time for their children for other reasons, apart from the working schedule, the same consequences follow. So, if parents do not teach their children to eat healthy foods, the responsibility still lies on them, even if their own eating habits are perfect.

Another important reason why parents are responsible for their children’s body weight is the fact that they control their daily schedule, particularly how much they move and how physically active or inactive they are. Sedentary lifestyles and activities, which include watching TV, playing video games, excessive use of the Internet, and so forth, are directly related to obesity levels (LeBlanc et al. 2).

And the origins of those sedentary lifestyles usually go back to childhood. In addition to the fact that watching television contributes to overweight, it is also full of food commercials that advertise fatty foods, which also makes children prefer unhealthy meals (Cevallos par. 1). If parents do not control how much time their children spend in front of computers and TV sets, children can become overweight, especially if their nutrition is not so good either.

As one of the most common counterarguments, many people state that not parents are responsible for the high levels of obesity among children, but schools are. Admittedly, schools do have some impact on children in this regard, for instance, educators can teach students to eat healthier, show them how to read nutritional labels, which nutritional supplements are good and which should be avoided, etc. (Richmond par. 3). However, parental influence is much more significant.

Firstly, students rarely copy the behaviors and habits of their teachers while they do it with their parents. Secondly, teachers are able to control students only while those are in school while parents get the rest of the time. Finally, even in schools, educators do not have such an influence on children, as their parents do. It is impossible to control what students bring in their lunch boxes from home or buy somewhere else (Richmond par. 2).

With this in mind, not many doubts remain regarding who is responsible for children’s obesity and who is able to change the situation. While teachers in schools do have some impact on their students’ eating habits, parental influence is much more significant. So, that is parents who should use their power and make a difference, pushing their children to eat fruits or vegetables to get a desert, providing them with healthy snacks to schools, and so on (“Parenting Practices” par. 5-11).

However, even though this conclusion is evident after all the arguments and evidence presented in the paper, some limitations and exceptions can be seen. For example, in boarding schools or orphanages, educators are the most influential figures. So, I am ready to reconsider my conclusion in such a case.

Works Cited

Benson, Lisa and Manouchehr Mokhtari. “Parental Employment, Shared Parent-Child Activities and Childhood Obesity.” Journal of Family and Economic Issues 32 (2011): 233-244. Print.

Cevallos, Marissa. TV fast-food ads encourage childhood obesity, pediatricians say . 2011. Web.

Driscoll, Gwendolyn. New factor in teen obesity: parents. 2009. Web.

LeBlanc, Allana, Peter Katzmarzyk, Tiago Barreira, Stephanie Broyles and Jean-Philippe Chaput. “Correlates of Total Sedentary Time and Screen Time in 9-11 Year-Old Children around the World: The International Study of Childhood Obesity, Lifestyle and the Environment.” PLoS One 10.6 (2015): 1-20. Print.

Parenting Practices Influence Childhood Obesity. 2015. Web.

Richmond, Emily. Should Schools Be Responsible for Childhood Obesity Prevention? . 2015. Web.

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IvyPanda . 2024. "Parental Responsibility for Childhood Obesity." March 1, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/parental-responsibility-for-childhood-obesity/.

1. IvyPanda . "Parental Responsibility for Childhood Obesity." March 1, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/parental-responsibility-for-childhood-obesity/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Parental Responsibility for Childhood Obesity." March 1, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/parental-responsibility-for-childhood-obesity/.

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