Obesity

Childhood obesity is a growing problem in today's society, but it is a very controllable disease through healthy eating habits and physical activity. "Currently 10% of children ages 2 years old and younger are overweight and 21% of children ages 2 to 5 years old are considered to be overweight." (Dolinsky et al., 2011) Childhood obesity has become a serious problem for many different reasons, but most importantly because unless something is done to stop this problem from continuing to grow more children may find themselves in this situation with increased health risks and other health-related problems. Obesity has been linked to various serious illness and diseases for people of all ages. Studies have shown that "overweight and obesity in childhood often leads to adult obesity, and obese adults are at risk for diabetes, cardiovascular disease and early mortality." (Armstrong et al., 2011).

Obesity is often commonly measured using the body mass index (BMI). The body mass index is a number calculated from a person's weight versus their height, this number is used to determine if a person is healthy, overweight, or obese. While the BMI is the most commonly used form of screening, it is not used as a diagnostic measure. The only thing the BMI tells us is if a person is within good weight standards according to their height. Just like every building has a foundation and that foundation is built based on how much weight the architect wants it to be able to withstand. A person may become overweight or obese from an energy imbalance. An energy imbalance can occur when you consume more calories than you burn. We take in calories from everything we eat and drink, and the amount of calories we burn is based on how many activities we do throughout the day.

The goal for maintaining a healthy weight is to burn more calories than you consume. Unfortunately, a calorie is a calorie no matter where or what the calorie came from. You get calories from everything you eat, from a candy bar all the way to a salad. Everyone needs calories in order to survive, but it is the amount of calories we take in that determine how well we live. To stay healthy it is important to counteract all of these calories consumed with daily activities. You burn calories with everything that you do; you do not always have to go to the gym or go running to burn calories. It is possible to burn calories in other ways, however exercise is considered to be a faster way of burning calories. The fewer calories you burn the more weight you gain, and the more weight you gain the further you move away from a good BMI ratio.

A very common contributor to obesity is a sedentary life style. A sedentary lifestyle, or also commonly known as the couch potato, is a life with few activities. People that live sedentary lives are ones that prefer to watch television and play video games versus doing any other outdoor activities. "Current guidelines for physical activity for children and young people are 60 minutes of moderate exercise, twice a week. " (Sheperd, A, 2009) A sedentary lifestyle is one of the most common contributors to obesity; however it is also one of the easiest things to prevent. "Understanding and addressing the level of activity that an individual exhibits as a child or an adolescent is important as this level is likely to continue into adulthood." (Lawrence et al, 2010) Television viewing has become an increased habit for many people with sedentary lifestyles, which has ultimately helped lead to the problem with increased obesity in children. Studies have shown that "young children who sleep fewer than 12 hours a day and watch more than 2 hours of TV a day have 6 times the odds of being overweight by age 3 compared with their well-rested, TV-free counterparts." (Dolinsky et al, 2011) These studies further show the risks related to sedentary lifestyles and how important it is to prevent these problems before they begin.

A person's genetics are also considered to be relevant when trying to determine if a person will struggle with weight gain and weight loss, but is rarely the sole cause for a person or child to become overweight. Genetics are relevant in that a fast or slow metabolism