Childhood obesity is a growing epidemic in the United States. According to the CDC, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 12.5 million of the children in America are considered to be obese. That’s just fewer than 20%. There are many varying factors and statistics. Probably the most shocking statistic offered from the CDC is the fact that the obesity rates among children in America has tripled in prevalence since 1980. So the question is what is the cause of this outrage? One of the biggest questions on everyone’s minds is whether or not the home environment has anything to do with it. The short answer to that question is yes.
There are many related factors that the majority of obese children seem to have in common – and they all have to do with their home and family life. For instance, according to one study, over a six year period, nearly 3,000 children were examined. Their family lives-specifically their race, family income, maternal education, marital status, parental occupation and standardized measures of the home environment were scrutinized. The factors that were present come as no real surprise to those who suspected home environments to be the major culprit. For instance, maternal obesity, or having a mother who is overweight, greatly increased the chances of childhood obesity.
What with all the potential factors that were tested, there were two other largely contributing factors to the likelihood of childhood obesity. The first was family income and parental job-type while the second was a home cognitive score. This leads to the undeniable fact that children who come from low income families, who have obese mothers and who have low cognitive scores are those who are most at risk. Of course, this is not to mention that certain races are more prone to obesity as well. For instance, Hispanic boys and African American girls are more likely to reach obesity than non-Hispanic boys and African American girls.
Many wonder what the problem is with childhood obesity, anyway. Does it really hurt anyone? Obesity is one of the leading factors in developing heart disease. Heart disease is one of the main causes for death in this country. Obese children lead to obese parents. In addition to increasing the risks of deadly diseases such as heart disease and diabetes, there are other concerns too. Primarily, low self esteem, increased risk of being bullied and even uncomfortable ailments such as hemorrhoids. Children who have to rely upon a
hemorrhoid remedy at such an early age are often embarrassed of their situation. It can also be difficult to find
natural cures for hemorrhoids that are recommended for children.
The sooner parents realize that childhood obesity is in fact very much related to the home environment, the sooner the fight against childhood obesity can start to gain ground. If everyone does their part to pay attention to the home environment and help children get healthier, this raging epidemic might not win out after all.
