Obesity Is Considered A Serious Condition For Children

OBESITY AND LOW BIRTHWEIGHT - HEALTH OF KIDS

Obesity is the most prevalent nutritional disorder among children and adolescents in the United States. Currently available data report that approximately 40% of children in the United States are either overweight or obese; the prevalence of obesity is highest among specific ethnic groups.
A new study by Duke University in North Carolina Rising obesity rates and a large percentage of children born with low birthweights are dragging down the overall health of American children in their first decade of life, according to a report tracking the health and well-being of young children in the United States.

Obesity is the #1 nutritional disorder in our nation. In fact, it is one of the major causes of suffering, disability, and death. Obesity is associated with significant increases in risk for type II diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, high cholesterol, coronary artery disease, degenerative joint disease and psychosocial disability. Certain cancers - colon, rectum and prostate in men; uterus, biliary tract, breast and ovary in women - are more prevalent in the obese. Obesity is seen as an individual problem, but in the case of children, they have very little control over their environment. Often, the paren ts have grown up with the same negative environmental factors (fast food availability, little in centive for exercise) and don't know how or why to change what has become a way of life.