The involvement of the children affected by obesity, their parents, the public, the government and the medical community in a combined effort can help with the prevention, education and intervention of this disease.
Issues and/or Problems Associated with Obesity.
There is evidence that shows the connection of obesity and the negative impact that it has on children and adolescents. There are short term risks that include risks for orthopedic, neurological, pulmonary, gastroenterological, and endocrine conditions that are largely limited to severely overweight children but are becoming more common with the prevalence of severe overweight rises [Mus, 99]. There are many factors and influences that work together to create the causes of childhood obesity and ultimately health risk factors. Convenience of fast food, take-out and vending machines gives parents an alternate pathway to feeding their children instead of healthy cooking, healthy habits and healthy lifestyles. These foods are usually high in calories that result in children becoming overweight. With this in mind consider the mechanics of the body and how they process calories and energy to burn calories. Obesity is caused by an imbalance between caloric intake in a 24 hour period and the calories an individual utilizes in a 24 hour period. There are other behaviors that affect this caloric imbalance such as watching television, consuming fast food and consuming large portion sizes. There are several issues including genetic, behavioral and environmental that cause a child to be overweight or obese and it's those factors that influence physical, psychological, and social health problems. The psychological issues could be lowered self-esteem, poor self-image, eating disorders and poor quality of life. .
Psychological and Social Health.
There is little known about how younger children view body image. When dealing with gender differences in obesity.