"Overweight and physical inactivity account for more than 300,000 premature deaths each year in the U.S., second only to tobacco-related deaths. Obesity is an epidemic and should be taken as seriously as any infectious disease epidemic, " says Jeffrey P. Koplan, director of the CDC. Looking at the facts, it is easy to see that obesity is a serious and important topic to consider. More specically childhood obesity must be addressed in order to curb the growing rate of deaths in the United States. Childhood obesity is a problem because there are it can cause other serious health problems such as asthma, diabetes, gallstones, heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, liver problems, and osteoporosis. It is also a problem because it can also cause low self esteem, ridicule from others, and feelings of isolation and loneliness. A person physical and mental health are very important to their survival and well being. All of these factors collectively combine to form one huge crisis known as childhood obesity.

This problem is caused by many factors, but they all are caused by many dietary and physical deficiencies. A key factor in the rise in childhood obesity is the lack of exercise. Children resort to watching television or playing video games instead of going outside and participating in physical activities. Another contributor to the lack of exercise is the choice of schools to cut down on recess and physical education classes. There is also a rise in the consumption of high-calorie foods. This comes in the form of TV dinners, fast food, and substituting junk food in for real school lunches. Lastly, there is a cause that may be sometimes overlooked, and that is that obesity is genetic. This factor cannot be stopped or avoided. If the parents pass down this trait to their children, it will occur no matter how healthy they eat or how much exercise they get. These factors should be monitored to lower the risk of childhood obesity.

Even though there are a lot of things which contribute to obesity, there are also solutions to most of them. Some of the things that can be done by the parents are obvious yet can be overlooked. Keeping their children on a healthy diet and making sure that they spend enough time getting exercise are simple ways to curb obesity. Also, keeping away from the TV dinners and fast-food restaurants also helps keep their diet under control. School can also be an ally in the fight against childhood obesity. By requiring more time for physical activity, schools can give students not only a fun part of their day but also keep them healthy. Also, schools should remove the alternative options to getting a school lunch. These alternatives include chips, cookies, and all of the snack foods that kids use to supplement a healthy lunch. These solutions may seem simple, but they are never carried out.

There are feasible options that can be executed in order to bring the solutions mentioned above into action. If schools simply start by removing the option of buying alternative foods can be a great help. Also, by holding certain classes or seminars that teach students about healthy eating habits and why they are important to a person's life. By teaching healthy choices at a young age, schools will give the students good values that they can carry on throughout their lives. Schools should also bring in the parents for these classes so that the whole family can learn and practice these healthy eating habits together. If these values aren't carried into the home, the children will not follow them. By allowing the schools and the parents to work together to give children a healthy balance of diet and exercise, the epidemic of childhood obesity can be reduced.

The audience that this problem affects is the younger generation. This epidemic directly affects them. ItThe audience that this paper will convey to is the parents and school systems because they are the ones that must keep the children’s diets healthy and give them routine exercise. It indirectly affects America because all of us must worry about each other’s health.

You need to explain if it will be feasible to write this paper

GoodFood

I agree with GoodFood on this one, you need to explain if this is a feasible paper to write. Kids are already being taught about nutrition at a young age, maybe not directly but from the media and people around them in their everyday lives. They also have negative nutrition from cartoon characters and tv commericals about eatting junk food. So I feel they are already know about nutrition and obesity is still a growing problem.