The Rise in Childhood Obesity Cause and Effect Essay by scribbler

The Rise in Childhood Obesity
A brief discussion on the causal factors behind the increase in childhood obesity.
# 153291 | 804 words | 4 sources | MLA | 2013 | US
Published on May 17, 2013 in Medical and Health (Nutrition and Exercise) , Nutrition (General) , Child, Youth Issues (General)


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Description:

The paper relates that American children are increasingly at risk for overweight and clinical obesity and the two most important contributing factors are the explosive growth of fast food franchise restaurants and junk foods and the decrease in physically active forms of recreation preferred by American children. The paper discusses how the passive play issue became an even greater problem in the last decade after personal computers became affordable enough to provide the necessary computing power to run the advanced computer games available to children today. The paper points out that these two changes have contributed to the problem of childhood obesity even more in combination than either could have individually.

Outline:
Introduction
The Ubiquitous Availability of Fast Food Restaurants and Junk Food
The Detrimental Effect of Passive Entertainment instead of Active Play
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Fast food restaurants existed in the 1970s but there were only a small number of companies and many fewer franchises in existence than there are today (Kotz, 2007; Larson-Duyff, 2005). Today, fast-food franchises number in the thousands and virtually every American community features multiple fast food establishments per every mile. At the same time, the fast food companies have dramatically increased the portion sizes of the items on their menus, mainly as a result of continual competition for patrons seeking maximum value for their money. As was demonstrated by the controversial independent film Super Size Me (Spurlock, 2004), the portion sizes available in American fast food franchise restaurants have more than tripled in the last thirty years and dwarf the comparable meals available in similar franchises in other countries.
"At best, fast food would be appropriate only for occasional consumption. Meanwhile, as a regular habit, it is tremendously harmful because it is loaded with the maximum amount of dietary fat and sodium in a single meal as an individual should consume in an entire day (Kotz, 2007; Larson-Duyff, 2005). Today, the typical American family with children eats out at fast food restaurants several times every week, largely because working parents are now so busy that the no longer have the time to prepare home-cooked meals (Kotz, 2007)."

Sample of Sources Used:

  • Baldauf, S. "Too Fat? No More Excuses: Research Is Revealing How Very Damaging Extra Baggage Is." U.S. News & World Report. (Jan. 14, 2008): 57-61.
  • Desapriya, E. B. R. "Obesity epidemic" The Lancet Vol. 364, No. 9444; (2004): 1488.
  • Kotz, D. "Kids and Weight: How To Win the Weight Battle." U.S. News & World Report, (Sep. 10, 2007): 60-69.
  • Larson-Duyff, R. (2005). American Dietetic Association Complete Food and Nutrition Guide. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley & Sons.

Cite this Cause and Effect Essay:

APA Format

The Rise in Childhood Obesity (2013, May 17) Retrieved March 25, 2023, from https://www.academon.com/cause-and-effect-essay/the-rise-in-childhood-obesity-153291/

MLA Format

"The Rise in Childhood Obesity" 17 May 2013. Web. 25 March. 2023. <https://www.academon.com/cause-and-effect-essay/the-rise-in-childhood-obesity-153291/>

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