Child Obesity and Poor Parenting Skills

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Child obesity and poor parenting skills
Introduction
Whenever one is in the public spaces there is a way that they are supposed to conduct themselves, which is generally take to be the personal manners. These are habits that trickle down from what our parents have taught us plus what all figures of authority around us enact in us as we grow up. As such, when a child misbehaves in public it is their parents that are at shame and is to blame for their lack good parenting skills. It is rarely the child, the person seated next to them, the government or the food store where the child is portraying the poor parenting skills of their parents or guardian.Why is it then that when a child is obese the blame is placed in the fast food stores and the adverts that are cast on the public spaces, the internet and in the television? Why is it that their guardian is absolved of all the blame, while they are the ones who are responsible for what the child take on a daily basis?
Problem Justification
Most of the research point towards the fact that fast foods are the reason that most of the children are obese. This is the case among other factors such as inactivity and genetic lineage of the children. However much of the blame is placed on the fast food companies such McDonalds, citing that their foods are not healthy and they may lead to health complications in the future for the majority of the population. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, this is mostly the case relative to the fact that most of the children who are obese today stand a great risk of developing cardiovascularcomplications, diabetes, high blood pressure, joint problems, osteoarthritis, stroke, as well as a number cancers including breast cancer, colon, esophagus, pancreases, kidney, cervical, gall bladder, endometrium, thyroid, prostate and ovarian cancer(Cdc.gov). All these are complications that could affect the children that are obese min the short run and some in the long run when there are older and in their adulthood. Compared to the general population that are much healthier and with normal BM, the risk of the obese children is much higher and more severe. Other than the health complications, there are also some social implications, given the fact that, children that are obese may be seen to be unfit and branded by the rest of the children in school. They may tend to have fewer friends as most of the children ridicule their size and their inability to be agile in the field of play. Such social stigmatization is not limited to the children play grounds as it also finds its way into the corporate sector, where certain body types are considered ideal. The society also tends to have certain standards that do not include one having an overweight problem.Ironically, a fair majority of the people in the US have been found to be obese. While that may be a concern, the main concern is that, in the last three decades according to the CDC, child obesity has more than quadrupled. In 1980 the percentage of children that were found to be obese between the ages 6 and 11 was a mere 7%, however, by the year 2012, the percentage was at 18%. The same predicament befell the adolescents between the age of 12 and 19. In the year 2012 a third of all the children and adolescents were found to have been obese or at least overweight (Cdc.gov).
Definitions of terms
Overweight, simply means that the person in question has too much weight for their height. This is weight that results from the cumulative weights of their bones, muscles, body fluids and fat.
Obese, simply means that one is found to have excessive body fat in their body.
Cause and effect
According to the CDC obesity among the children is caused by quite a number of factors. One of the factors that lead to children developing obesity is taking sugary drinks(Cdc.gov). This is a common habit as most children and adolescents like to take the soft drinks. Advertising of unhealthy foods to the school children also considered as a factor that reduces the abilityof the children to make quality choices on what they eat(Howard). The level of regulation that ensures children in dare care eat healthy foods is also lax and ineffective(Parenting.com). Lack of active physical activities also cited as a cause of obesity among the children. The availability of health foods is also quite low and unhealthy foods are quite readily available, leading to unhealthy eating habits and thus obesity in most children(Webmd.com). Poor breast feeding and allowing children to spend more time consuming media through the television, portable gadgets and computers also contributes towards obese children(Parenting.com).
Argument
While a good number of the causes is directed at the fact that fast food companies are selling unhealthy foods, the greater majority of the factors rest with the ability of the parents to harness their parenting skills. Ironically, the parents are absolved of the blame and mor...