Child Obesity

I choose child obesity as a chronic disease topic for this culminating project.   Obesity is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects people of all ages and is associated with potentially fatal health problems such as Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Obesity in children is an increasing problem in the United States, but Mexico is also facing a soaring childhood obesity rate. It ranks second only to the United States for highest rates in the world (Los Angeles Times, 2010).
Childhood obesity is becoming more common in the Mexico. Too much food with a high fat or sugar content and a lack of physical activity means that many children are becoming overweight and some even develop the health problems usually seen in adults.   In 2004, about 6 to 18 percent of Mexican boys of various ages were either overweight or obese and about 6 to 22 percent of girls of various ages were overweight or obese, according to a study in "Obesity Research." As of 2010, about 25 percent of Mexican school-aged children and more than 33 percent of Mexican teens are either overweight or obese.   In Mexico City, about 40 percent of children are overweight or obese.
As overweight children become overweight adults, the diseases associated with obesity and health care costs are likely to increase even more.   If your child is overweight or obese, it's more likely that he or she will develop some serious health problems more usually seen in adulthood, such as hardened and blocked arteries (coronary artery diseases), high blood pressure and diabetes.   Overweight children are twice as likely to be obese when they grow up as children who are not overweight. This means that in adulthood, they will be at an increased risk of high blood pressure, heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, osteoarthritis and certain cancers. The risk of health problems increases the more overweight the child becomes.   As well as being a risk to the child's health, being overweight as a child may also cause emotional problems....