Elite 6- Childhood Obesity

I think the Elite 6 group did a good job with their presentation. They discussed childhood obesity. In their presentation, they discussed different factors that contribute to obesity with children and the consequences that can come along with childhood obesity.

Some factors that can contribute to obesity within children are race, gender, and economic groups. For example, between the years 1976-2002, there was a lower percentage of white children with obesity problems than there were black children. Also, in respect to the economic groups, it is more likely for the children growing up in the poor economic groups to have obesity issues. Some consequences that can come along with childhood obesity are Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, and psychological child depression. The group explained that if parents were to spend more time with their children, the children would not have much depression. A fact that the group brought to light was that there is a direct correlation between the amount of television being watched and the amount of physical activity being done. I strongly agree with that fact. Many children would rather spend hours playing video games and watching television than going outside to play. A majority of weight gain comes from puberty. The more physical activity the child does, the less the weight gain during puberty will affect him/her.

In conclusion, the group decided that parenting and ethnic background are major contributors to obesity. I do agree that ethnic background can be the biggest contributor, as in the style of cooking and what is being served to the child.