5 Responses

1. Jesse D

   2009 Nov 28 1

   Write about how elementary school cafeterias don’t give enough healthy options, setting the example for kids that eating junk food and pizza everyday is okay. It’s not like they have a choice to eat anything else, you know? I remember seeing a little news clip on Dateline or something about that.

   I know in my high school, they didn’t have any healthy options. It was pizza or hot dogs or chicken nuggets every day.
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2. mrsd

   2009 Nov 28 2

   When my son was in elementary school, there was a boy who was very overweight, and he would but TWO lunches and TWO breakfasts.
   The issue is, is it his right to purchase 2 meals?
   Our schools have a healthy lunch program, no fried foods, no sweets.( fresh fruit is served for dessert, no cake, cookies, etc)
   So, you could consider the role of the school in childhood obesity on issues such as lunches, PE. etc.
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3. Sabrina

   2009 Nov 28 3

   Well, bullying goes along with kids who are obese, so that should take up alot of space. You could talk about how parenting styles affect the childs weight as well. There’s also the media standard of what a child should look like, health and social problems, whether or not junk foods should be banned from schools, low self esteem and depression linked to kids who are obese and how obese kids are treated by other kids and adults (things other than direct bullying; such as staring, etc.)
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4. Kelly S

   2009 Nov 29 4

   Well the idea with child obesity is that it is a controversial topic in and of itself. How did we become such a society where the gluttony and lack of self control and respect has entered into a problem where we can’t "figure out" how to keep the weight of our nation’s children down.

   Basically for your paper, you could find the root of child obesity in your opinion. Is it the fast food industry’s advertising ploy? Is it the parent’s fault for allowing children to eat whatever they want as long as it taste good? Or is it that children aren’t exercising enough and spending too much time in front of the tv?

   Your paper has many different options because childhood obesity is a controversial topic anyway because there aren’t people willing to take the blame and because of that the nation is having issues addressing the problem and it is not getting any better. There is going to be plenty of research, but really you need to figure out what angle of childhood obesity you want to look into. You just have to take any angle and run with it. Because really that is what a persuasive answer is. Politicians do it everyday.
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5. Trouble

   2009 Nov 29 5

   Some experts consider childhood obesity to be an indicator of future health problems as an adult i.e. "Fat kids turn into fat adults". If a child does not learn healthy eating habits early they will risk diabetes and heart disease (as well as other complicated psychological issues) as an adult. Essentially they are at risk for a shorter life span.

   Some radical people have viewed childhood obesity as child abuse. Parents who allow their children to live on a diet of fast food and junk products have been seen as enablers for an unhealthy lifestyle. I believe 20/20 had a news story on a father who won custody of his obese child by claiming the mother was abusing him with her unhealthy lifestyle (she was morbidly obese). The boy was twice the size of his peers, and lost all of the excess weight when he moved in with his father through diet and exercise.

   I would research news stories, and present both sides of childhood obesity. Is it inherited (genetic) or environmental (and controllable)? What do the health experts say about the likelihood of childhood obesity leading to adult obesity?
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